Skip to main content

Molecular Genetics and the Falsifiability of Evolution

  • Chapter
The Kaleidoscope of Science

Part of the book series: Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science ((BSPS,volume 94))

  • 142 Accesses

Abstract

In 1982 in the United States the American Civil Liberties Union won a legal battle against a state law requiring teaching of the creationist view of man’s origin along with any teaching of evolution in public schools. But despite this victory it is clear that skepticism about evolution remains a threat — and not only in the United States — to efforts to build our understanding of man on scientific insights into reality.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Notes

  1. Since Popper introduced ’falsifiable’ as a technical term in philosophy, I use it here, though many scientists prefer the terms ’testable’ or ’disprovable’, and Popper has also used ’testable’ and ’refutable’.

    Google Scholar 

  2. K.R. Popper, The Poverty of Historicism( London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1957 ).

    Google Scholar 

  3. K.R. Popper, The Logic of Scientific Discovery( London: Hutchinson, 1959 ).

    Google Scholar 

  4. P.S. Schilpp, The Philosophy of Karl Popper(LaSalle, 111.: Open Court Press, 1974 ).

    Google Scholar 

  5. K.R. Popper, Dialectic32 (1978): 344.

    Google Scholar 

  6. K.R. Popper, New Scientist87 (1980): 611.

    Google Scholar 

  7. M. Ruse, “Karl Popper’s Philosophy of Biology,” Phil. Sci. 44 (1977): 638. Also in M. Ruse, Is Science Sexist? ( Holland: Reidel Dordrecht, 1981 ), p. 65.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. E. Mayr, The Growth of Biological Thought(Cambridge, Ma.: Harvard Universty Press, 1982 ).

    Google Scholar 

  9. W.B. Provine, The Origins of Theoretical Population Genetics ( Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1971 ).

    Google Scholar 

  10. E. Mayr, Animal Species and Evolution(Cambridge, Ma.: Harvard University Press, 1963 ).

    Google Scholar 

  11. T. Dobzhansky, Genetics of the Evolutionary Process( New York: Columbia University Press, 1970 ).

    Google Scholar 

  12. J.S. Huxley, Evolution, the Modern Synthesis( London: Allen and Unwin, 1942 ).

    Google Scholar 

  13. E. Mayr and W.B. Provine (eds.), The Evolutionary Synthesis( Cambridge, Ma.: Harvard University Press, 1980 ).

    Google Scholar 

  14. A.C. Wilson, S.S. Carlson, and T.J. White, “Biochemical Evolution,” Annu. Rev. Biochem.46: 573, 1977.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. M.C. King and A.C. Wilson, “Evolution at Two Levels in Humans and Chimpanzees,” Science188 (1975): 107.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. P. Zambryski, M. Holsters, K. Kruger, A. Depicker, J. Schell, M. Van Montagu, and H. Goodman, “Tumor DNA Structure in Plant Cells Transformed by A. tumefaciensScience209 (1980): 1385.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. J.P. Martin, Jr. and I. Fridovich, “Evidence for a Natural Gene Transfer from the Ponyfish to its Bioluminescent Bacterial Symbiont Photobacter leiognathi,” J. Biol. Chem. 256 (1981): 6080.

    Google Scholar 

  18. M. Busslinger, S. Rosioni, and M.L. Birnstiel, “An Unusual Evolutionary Behavior of a Sea Urchin Historic Gene Cluster,” EMBO J. 1 (1982): 27.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors

Editor information

Edna Ullmann-Margalit

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1986 D. Reidel Publishing Company

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Davis, B.D. (1986). Molecular Genetics and the Falsifiability of Evolution. In: Ullmann-Margalit, E. (eds) The Kaleidoscope of Science. Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science, vol 94. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-5496-0_9

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-5496-0_9

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-90-277-2159-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-009-5496-0

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics