Sober E. Evidence and Evolution - The Logic Behind the Science

Cambridge, New York, Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, 2008. — XX, 392 p.How should the concept of evidence be understood? And how does the concept of evidence apply to the controversy about creationism as well as to work in evolutionary biology about natural selection and common ancestry? In this rich and wide-ranging book, Elliott Sober investigates general questions about probability and evidence and shows how the answers he develops to those questions apply to the specifics of evolutionary biology. Drawing on a set of fascinating examples, he analyzes whether claims about intelligent design are untestable; whether they are discredited by the fact that many adaptations are imperfect; how evidence bears on whether present species trace back to common ancestors; how hypotheses about natural selection can be tested, and many other issues. His book will interest all readers who want to understand philosophical questions about evidence and evolution, as they arise both in Darwin’s work and in contemporary biological research.For anyone who is interested in increasing one’s understanding of evidence and how it bears on evolutionary theory, Sober’s book is the best place to begin. In fact, it is the best place to end as well. The likelihood that anyone else will be able to do a better job is slim to non-existent. Sober utilizes evolution and cited evidence as the proving ground for detailed philosophical account of evidence for empirical claims. A well-grounded philosophical account of the logic of evidence or induction.This volume belongs on every biologist's bookshelf and should be on the required reading list of every graduate student with the least interest in evolutionary biology. Evidence and Evolution: The Logic Behind the Science offers a masterful epistemological treatment of scientific inference and justification in the context of evolutionary biology.Evidence
Intelligent design
Natural selection
Common ancestryConclusionBibliography
Index