Mutation and evolution

Tag: randomness

  • Revolt of the clay: updated evidence

    In a previous post called “The revolt of the clay“, I described four different ways to think about the role of variation as a process with a predictably non-random impact on the outcome of evolution.  The main point was to draw attention to my favorite idea, about biases in the introduction of variation as…

  • Conceptual frameworks and the problem of variation

    Conceptual frameworks guide our thinking Our efforts to understand the world depend on conceptual frameworks and are guided by metaphors.  We have lots of them.  I suspect that most are applied without awareness.  If I am approaching a messy problem for the first time, I might begin with the idea that there are various “factors”…

  • Randomness in Evolution (Bonner)

    John Tyler Bonner’s Randomness in Evolution (2013; Princeton University Press) is a small and lightweight book— 123 pages, plus a bibliography with a mere 43 references.  So, I won’t feel too bad for giving it a rather small and lightweight review, based on a superficial reading.   Last year, I was tasked…