Adaptationism and Optimality

Download or read book Adaptationism and Optimality written by Steven Hecht Orzack and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2001-06-11 with total page 420 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The theory of adaptationism argues that natural selection contains sufficient explanatory power in itself to account for all evolution. However, there are differing views about the efficiency, or optimality, of the adaptation model of explanation. If the adaptationism theory is applied, are energy and resources being used as optimally as possible? Adaptationism and Optimality combines contributions from biologists and philosophers, and offers a systematic treatment of foundational, conceptual, and methodological issues surrounding the theory of adaptationism.