Portland Public Library

A voice in the wilderness, a pioneering biologist explains how evolution can help us solve our biggest problems, Joseph L. Graves Jr

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 331-362) and index

illustrations

index present

non fiction

A voice in the wilderness

bibliography

1291312111

Joseph L. Graves Jr

a pioneering biologist explains how evolution can help us solve our biggest problems

Evolution has, ever since its inception, been one of the most ideologically fraught fields in all of science. It has given birth to the myth about biological racial "types," with distinct rankings of "genetic superiority." Evolution has always been mistrusted by religious fundamentalists, contributing to a rise in creationist education that dovetails with the mass scientific illiteracy we see in the early twenty-first century. And the coronavirus is mutating into ever more dangerous strands because huge swaths of the population have rejected the science that predicted this outcome if people remained unvaccinated. With so much fear and misunderstanding, it is crucial to set the record straight. Enter evolutionary biologist Joseph Graves. In this book, he makes the case that widespread understanding of evolution is crucial to solving all these problems. He shows how the science of evolution can lead us to new paths of achieving social unity. He refutes common, pseudoscientific misconceptions that undergird racism, homophobia, sexism, classism, and more - all issues on which many perceive evolutionary biology to be a reactionary force. He shows how evolution can either make pandemics better, or - if its lessons are unheeded - worse. And he tackles the political and religious objections to the study of evolution as well. Graves' own experience powers much of the narrative. As a pioneering Black biologist, a leftist, and a Christian, Graves uses his personal story from a child of the Jim Crow south to a major researcher and leader to rewrite his field - and to show how it can be a force not for reaction, but for justice. This book is at once a powerful work of scientific antiracism and a moving history of a trailblazing life. --, Provided by publisher

Part I: Black Darwin. The unexpected path ; In your next life, you should be a parasite ; Men plan and God laughs : why dynamical complexity is at the heart of some of our most "stormy" problems ; What brings you here takes you away ; Black Darwin ; My great predecessors : standing on the shoulders of giants -- Part II: Why evolution matters. America's biggest lie : race and intelligence ; A book that should be read by everyone ; Relax : evolution is a fact, but it doesn't tell us anything about the existence of God ; Evolution, sex, and gender ; Homage to Santa Rosalia, or all hail the pandemic! ; America's biggest lie : slight return ; Evolution in Silico ; The evolutionary science of social justice ; A voice in the wilderness