What Darwin Got Wrong

Jerry Fodor and Massimo Piattelli-Palmarini

ISBN 1846682193

ISBN 13 9781846682193

February 2010

Price £20.00

Hardback, 258 pp.

Buy this book at amazon.co.uk

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Subject: Popular Science

Jerry Fodor and Massimo Piatelli-Palmarini, a distinguished philosopher and scientist working in tandem, reveal major flaws at the heart of Darwinian evolutionary theory. They do not deny Darwin’s status as an outstanding scientist but question the inferences he drew from his observations. Combining the results of cutting-edge work in experimental biology with crystal-clear philosophical argument they mount a devastating critique of the central tenets of Darwin’s account of the origin of species.

The logic underlying natural selection is the survival of the fittest under changing environmental pressure. This logic, they argue, is mistaken. They back up the claim with evidence of what actually happens in nature.

This is a rare achievement – the short book that is likely to make a great deal of difference to a very large subject. What Darwin Got Wrong will be controversial. The authors’ arguments will reverberate through the scientific world. At the very least they will transform the debate about evolution.

Richard Mabey picks What Darwin Got Wrong as his summer read in the Guardian.

‘an overdue and valuable onslaught on neo-Darwinist simplicities’
— Mary Midgley, Guardian

‘[the authors] make a persuasive case that the role of natural selection in evolution is ripe for reassessment. To say so should not be seen as scientific heresy or capitulation to the forces of unreason — it is a brave and welcome challenge.’
— Philip Ball, Sunday Times