Life Out of Balance – Homeostasis and Adaptation in a Darwinian World
Homeostasis and Adaptation in a Darwinian World
Series: NEXUS: New Histories of Science, Technology, the Environment, Agriculture, and Medicine;
- Publisher's listprice GBP 50.00
-
23 887 Ft (22 750 Ft + 5% VAT)
The price is estimated because at the time of ordering we do not know what conversion rates will apply to HUF / product currency when the book arrives. In case HUF is weaker, the price increases slightly, in case HUF is stronger, the price goes lower slightly.
- Discount 10% (cc. 2 389 Ft off)
- Discounted price 21 499 Ft (20 475 Ft + 5% VAT)
Subcribe now and take benefit of a favourable price.
Subscribe
23 887 Ft
Availability
Estimated delivery time: In stock at the publisher, but not at Prospero's office. Delivery time approx. 3-5 weeks.
Not in stock at Prospero.
Why don't you give exact delivery time?
Delivery time is estimated on our previous experiences. We give estimations only, because we order from outside Hungary, and the delivery time mainly depends on how quickly the publisher supplies the book. Faster or slower deliveries both happen, but we do our best to supply as quickly as possible.
Product details:
- Publisher MP–ALB University of Alabama
- Date of Publication 30 April 2021
- Number of Volumes Hardback
- ISBN 9780817320898
- Binding Hardback
- No. of pages360 pages
- Size 228x154x35 mm
- Weight 675 g
- Language English
- Illustrations 13 black & white figures 149
Categories
Short description:
Traces historical developments in physiology, ecology, behavior, and evolutionary biology during the decades following World War II. Life Out of Balance focuses on a period in history when new ideas of self-regulation, adaptation, and fitness became central to a variety of biological disciplines.
MoreLong description:
Traces historical developments in physiology, ecology, behavior, and evolutionary biology during the decades following World War II.
If natural selection constitutes the first law of biology, supporters claim that homeostasis is a second law, equally important and closely related to the first. Such claims notwithstanding, homeostasis has generated a series of controversies since it was formalized by Walter Cannon in the late 1920s. Critics contended that Cannon took a too optimistic view of life, ignoring not only pathological deviations from normality, but also failing to adequately explain the ability of living things to respond adaptively to environmental challenges.
Underlying these controversies was the unresolved problem of integrating physiology and other areas of functional biology with the emerging evolutionary synthesis of Mendelian genetics and Darwinian natural selection. The physiological idea of homeostasis as the adaptive “fit” between the organism and its environment and the Darwinian idea of adaptation and fitness in terms of reproductive success might seem to be complementary in an unproblematic way, but historically they have had an uneasy relationship.
Life Out of Balance focuses on a period in history when new ideas of self-regulation, adaptation, and fitness became central to a variety of biological disciplines. During the decades surrounding World War II, these ideas developed in several quite different contexts and led to greater debates about the merits of such models as applied to larger systems, including society at large. Particularly in its later cybernetic form homeostasis seemed to provide new ways of discussing balance and regulation that avoided discredited approaches of earlier champions of vitalism and mechanism. It provided a common perspective and terminology for discussing self-regulating “systems” whether mechanical, biological, or social. Although enormously fruitful and influential, homeostatic perspectives also generated numerous controversies when critics questioned the degree to which biological systems are characterized by balance and self-regulation. Resolving these controversies continues to be a challenge in modern biology.
Bach-Jahrbuch 2005: (91. Jg.)
5 723 HUF
Socially Responsible Engineering: Justice in Risk Management
38 220 HUF
34 398 HUF
