Evolution in Four Dimensions: Genetic, Epigenetic, Behavioral, and Symbolic Variation in the History of Life. Revised Edition. Life and Mind: Philosophical Issues in Biology and Psychology. By Eva Jablonka and Marion J. Lamb; illustrated by Anna Zeligowski. A Bradford Book. Cambridge (Massachusetts): MIT Press. $29.95 (paper). xii + 563 p.; ill.; index. ISBN: 978-0-262-52584-8. 2014.

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Previous articleNext article FreeEvolutionEvolution in Four Dimensions: Genetic, Epigenetic, Behavioral, and Symbolic Variation in the History of Life. Revised Edition. Life and Mind: Philosophical Issues in Biology and Psychology. By Eva Jablonka and Marion J. Lamb; illustrated by Anna Zeligowski. A Bradford Book. Cambridge (Massachusetts): MIT Press. $29.95 (paper). xii + 563 p.; ill.; index. ISBN: 978-0-262-52584-8. 2014.Russell BondurianskyRussell BondurianskyEvolution & Ecology Research Centre and School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia Search for more articles by this author Evolution & Ecology Research Centre and School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, AustraliaPDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmailQR Code SectionsMoreThis volume is a sequel to Jablonka and Lamb’s groundbreaking 1995 book Epigenetic Inheritance and Evolution: The Lamarckian Dimension (Oxford (UK): Oxford University Press), a work that aroused heated controversy and inspired the growth of a new research field. In the current volume, the authors reimagine evolution as the outcome of four interwoven hereditary processes: genetic, epigenetic, behavioral, and symbolic. This is a radical departure from the straitlaced population genetics of the Modern Synthesis, with its underlying assumption that natural selection on random genetic variation provides a perfectly adequate model of evolution. Jablonka and Lamb believe that their far more complicated view is necessitated by recent discoveries in molecular biology, as well as advances in the fields of cultural evolution, symbolic communication, and niche construction, and this book may be the most comprehensive attempt thus far to incorporate these insights into a revised concept of evolution.This is a thick and sometimes difficult volume that bristles with bold, contentious ideas. It is an example of that rare sort of scientific writing that can leave readers either fuming or inspired (or both). Of all the hypotheses elaborated, the most controversial may be the suggestion that evolution is driven not just by natural selection but also by inherently adaptive and self-guiding “instructive” processes, in which the epigenetic, behavioral, and symbolic dimensions play key roles. Admittedly, Jablonka and Lamb do not quite pull off the Herculean feat of clarifying how all of these dimensions and processes fit together into a coherent picture of evolution. Yet, this book certainly succeeds in a more modest but still important objective—to compel readers to ponder new evidence and question long-held assumptions.Not content merely to shatter evolutionary biology’s most cherished certitudes, the authors also do away with the dusty stylistic conventions of scientific writing. Complex molecular, hereditary, and evolutionary processes are illustrated with self-consciously silly cartoons, while every chapter ends with a lengthy dialogue between the authors and a pipe-smoking alter ego named Ipcha Mistabra (“the opposite conjecture” in Aramaic) who elicits clarification by playing straight man, a bit like the imaginary interlocutors in Plato’s Dialogues. The discussion ranges over a dizzying diversity of topics and examples (aficionados of Jewish cuisine can look forward to reading about Polish gefilte fish and Yemenite schug on pages 175–178), but also includes very clear and intuitive explanations of molecular processes.The new edition incorporates an overview of advances made since the publication of the first edition in 2005. To the elation of some readers and the despair of others, much of this material is presented in an additional 78-page dialogue with old imaginary friend Ipcha Mistabra. This section outlines many new, interesting empirical examples that illustrate Jablonka and Lamb’s four dimensions of heredity and evolution (but, unfortunately, very little space is devoted to discussion of new theory). The new edition certainly provides a valuable update, and ensures that this book will continue to challenge general readers, students, and practicing biologists to reimagine evolution. Previous articleNext article DetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The Quarterly Review of Biology Volume 92, Number 1March 2017 Published in association with Stony Brook University Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/690868 For permission to reuse, please contact [email protected]PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.