Springer The Philosophy of Zoology Before Darwin: A translated and annotated version of the original French text by Edmond Perrier

Product Description This long-overdue survey eschews Darwin and follows the work of naturalists of many nationalities who used paleontology, comparative anatomy, and embryology in order to establish a linear continuity of evolving life though the long span of geological time. Review From the reviews: “The 20 chapters cover a range of pre-Darwin naturalists and scholars, primarily discussing their ideas with admirable conciseness and perspective. Rarely does a relatively short opus address so much in such detail as this one. Cook and Retallack … supply a comprehensive glossary of terms and a ‘Biographical Index.’ … Summing Up: Highly recommended. All collections.” (F. S. Szalay, Choice, Vol. 47 (7), March, 2010) The Philosophy of Zoology Before Darwin. A Translated and Annotated Version of the Original French Text by Emond Perrier is a welcome and much-needed addition to a huge volume of literature in the history of biology. As McBirney notes in his introduction to this translation, he was surprised to find Perrier’s history so ignored within the canon of history of biology. Perrier’s history provides a unique synthesis of pre-Darwinian philosophical assumptions―he traces these premises throughout the centuries and millennia of their influence in his short, informative, biographical sketches. The book is a solid reminder of a time in the history of biology when history itself carried legitimate explanatory power. Review by Lydia Pyne, PaleoAnthropology 2010 From the Back Cover This long-overlooked survey of the development of evolutionary theory is by far the most thorough and balanced account of its kind. Unlike most of the recent Anglo-centric literature that tends to focus almost exclusively on Darwin and natural selection, it follows the work of naturalists of many nationalities who used paleontology, comparative anatomy, and embryology in order to establish a linear continuity of evolving life though the long span of geological time. Thorough historical survey of the development of the concept of evolution before the publication of Darwin’s 'The Origin of Species'. Providing an alternative view of the recent literature and journal articles commemorating Darwin’s 200th birthday and the 150th anniversary of publication of 'The Origin of Species'. Richly annotated with up to date information and explanations of the changing concepts and terminology as well as featuring an extensive Glossary and Biographical index. About the Author Alex McBirney, a retired professor of Geology at the University of Oregon is the author of several books on the history of science, as well as his many studies on volcanology and igneous petrology. He developed an interest in Darwin while working in the Galapagos Islands and learned about Perrier’s long-overlooked book through his friend, Philippe Janvier, at the Museum of Natural History in Paris. He saw that it was a very scholarly book of broad interest, but after reading few pages he realized why it had been almost totally ignored. Much of the text is very convoluted and almost incomprehensible, even to native French speakers. Enlisting the help of two colleagues, Gregory Retallack, a paleontologist, and Stanton Cook, a biologist, he undertook the task of translating it into a more readable form, so that it would be available to wide audience. The text has been annotated to take into account more recent work, and an extensive Glossary and Biographical Index have been added to provide a ready reference to the technical terms and persons cited in the text.