Evolution by Association: A History of Symbiosis

by Jan Sapp

Overview

In this comprehensive history of symbiosis theory--the first to be written--Jan Sapp masterfully traces its development from modest beginnings in the late nineteenth century to its current status as one of the key conceptual frameworks for the life sciences. The symbiotic perspective on evolution, which argues that "higher species" have evolved from a merger of two or more different kinds of organisms living together, is now clearly established with definitive molecular evidence demonstrating that mitochondria and chloroplasts have evolved from symbiotic bacteria. In telling the exciting story of an evolutionary biology tradition that has effectively challenged many key tenets of classical neo-Darwinism, Sapp sheds light on the phenomena, movements, doctrines, and controversies that have shaped attitudes about the scope and significance of symbiosis. Engaging and insightful, Evolution by Association will be avidly read by students and researchers across the life sciences.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195358537
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	09/15/1994
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	499 KB

About the Author

Jan Sapp is a professor of Science Studies at York University, Canada. He is author of Beyond the Gene: Cytoplasmic Inheritance and the Struggle for Authority and Where the Truth Lies: Franz Moewus and the Origins of Molecular Biology.

Table of Contents

	Introduction	xiii
1.	Symbiosis: Evolution in Action	3
	The Origins of the Word	3
	Making Associations	10
2.	The Meanings of Mutualism	15
	The Political Context of Mutualism	15
	The Plover and the Crocodile	18
	Protesting the Gladiator's Show	20
	Symbiosis as Mutualism	23
	Organicism, Symbiosis, and the Division of Labor	25
	Symbiosis as Parasitism	28
	The Synthesis of New Individuals	31
3.	Socially Constructing the Individual	35
	Cell Theory Is Social Theory	36
	The Cell as a Collective	38
	Nucleocentricism	45
4.	Symbiogenesis in Russia	47
	The Experimental Ideal	48
	Merezhkovskii Claims Priority	51
	Mycoplasm and Amoeboplasm	53
	Refuge in Geneva	54
	The Sacred Fire of the Lighthouse	55
5.	Engendering Genesis Stories	60
	Feminine Nature	61
	Convoluta	64
	Problems with Protista	66
	Organisms without Cells	67
	A Midsummer-Night's Fantasy?	71
	Missing Mitochondria	73
6.	Les Symbiotes and Germ Theory	76
	Neo-Lamarckism, Infection, and Immunity	77
	The Prince and the Pauper	80
	Challenging the Doctrine of Asepsis	82
	Symbiotes and Vitamins	85
	The Rhetoric of Les Symbiotes	86
	Mitochondria Are Bacteria	88
	Cultivating Mitochondria	89
	The Physiological Role of Symbiotes	90
7.	The Pasteurization of Les Symbiotes	93
	Making a Revolution--Winning the Election	94
	A Showdown with the Pasteurians	95
	Protests and Priority	97
	Critiques from Lyon	99
	"Wrong on Every Point"?	101
	Les Mythes des Symbiotes	103
	Bacteriophage and "Microlichen"	106
	"The Thankless Task of Precursor,"	108
8.	Les Symbiotes Revisited	110
	Rediscovery in the United States	113
	Translation and Transformation	114
	Local Debates in a Global Context	116
	Theory Mongering in the United States	120
	The Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics	122
	A Failed Revolution	127
	Falling in the Cracks	128
9.	Verbal Phantoms	131
	A Committee on Terminology	131
	Problems in Cost-Benefit Accounting	132
	Hostile Symbiosis	134
	Conflict in Cooperative Ecology	137
	Evolution in the Study of Symbiosis?	141
	The Organism as Functional Field	143
	One Germ Plasm--One Organism	146
10.	Organisms and the Edge of Disciplines	148
	Plasmagenes, Viruses, and Viroids	149
	Inherited Symbionts: Bad Pennies	153
	Changing Concepts of Heredity	155
	Lysogeny, Symbiosis, and Technoevolution	157
	The Plasmid: A Discursive Ploy	160
	The Unbound Organism	161
	"Switching" Metaphors	163
11.	Molecular Reconstruction	165
	Poor Cousins	166
	The Genetics of Symbiosis	168
	Eukaryote Origins: The Space Race	170
	The Argument from Dr. Pangloss	172
	Serial Endosymbiosis Theory	174
12.	The Dull Edge of Ockham's Razor	179
	The Argument for Simplicity	179
	Together They Stand; Divided They Fall	183
	A Revival of Special Creation?	185
	Are Origin Stories Scientific?	186
	Closing the Controversy	188
13.	Is Nature Motherly?	191
	The Human Nature of Origin Stories	191
	Back to Gaia	193
	Mother Nature, Antiscience and Myth	196
	Tit for Tat	200
	Delimiting Symbiosis	202
	Concluding Remarks	205
	Notes	213
	Index	249

Editorial Reviews

"Sapp provides some interesting thoughts on what could constitute acceptable 'proof' in biology with respect to 'origin stories,' which seek scientifically to describe nonrepeatable one-time events such as the emergence of eukaryotes in the Precambrian. We might add that this applies equally well to evolutionary and ecological phenomena, most of which are equally unsusceptible to repeatable experiments."—Douglas R. Weiner, Isis, v.87

"A thorough, balanced, and readable account of symbiosis research and theory from the 19th century to the present day . . .Sapp accomplishes the delicate task of providing a competent account of the research itself with its limitations and implications while placing it in the particularly rich broader context surrounding the subject of symbiosis and its potential role in evolution. . .A fine piece of scholarship, whole and satisfying in itself." —Science

"Many popular studies in the history of science describe events that have either been completed or are past their peak. Sapp's book is not only a scholarly account of one of the most important, yet neglected, areas of 20th-century biology, but it may also be pointing the way to a major element of biology in the next millennium." —New Scientist

"Symbiosis is still not taught as a central principle of biological evolution on a par with Darwinian theory and the neo-Mendelian synthesis of heredity. With extraordinary erudition, insight, and clarity of exposition, Sapp's work is a synthesis of history, philosophy, and biology that should go a long way towards repairing this hiatus in the history of ideas." —Joshua Lederberg, University Professor, The Rockefeller University

"Most of Sapp's book concentrates on the history of symbiotic theories of the eukaryotic cell, and this theme works well. His chapters that focus on this issue. . .highlight, somewhat unexpectedly, the contributions of Joshua Lederberg. . .I was intrigued by several of Sapp's sociological asides." —Bioscience

"Overall, the book is a delightful historical complement to the available texts describing symbiotic associations and a scholarly overview of the conceptual aspects of the subject. It will be enjoyed both by symbiologists and by those interested in the history of biological thought." —Nature

"The author has assembled a systematic history of this emerging field, in this engaging, wide-ranging account of the growth of an important biological idea." — Ethology, Ecology and Evolution

"By situating the history of symbiosis with within the interstices of biological specialization, Sapp has written a compelling historical narrative that transcends disciplinary allegiances....required reading for all historians of twentieth-century life science." —Journal of the History of Biology

"This book. . .skillfully weaves history, politics, egos, indisputable facts, and vigorously disputed interpretations of those facts into a cohesive story. . .It will convince readers of the need for goos libraries, good reviews of the old literature, and a good sense of history no matter how fresh the ideas." —Choice

From the Publisher