Rhetoric of Science and Technology
Series Editor: Alan G. Gross
The rhetoric of science and technology is a branch of rhetorical criticism that has grown rapidly since its inception four decades ago. Its initial focus was the texts of such well-known scientists as Darwin, Newton, and Watson and Crick. The field has since expanded to encompass important work on interdisciplinarity, the role of rhetorical schemes, the popular meanings of the gene, the rhetorical history of the scientific article, the question of incommensurability, and the critical engagement with emergent technologies. But this work and these topics by no means exhaust the field. Although the point has already been made that science and technology are in some sense rhetorical, the field remains open to new topics and innovative approaches. For submission information, please visit the series page at http://www.parlorpress.com/science.
Other Books in the Series
Communicating Science: The Scientific Article from the 17th Century to the Present by Alan G. Gross, Joseph E. Harmon, and Michael S. Reidy (2009)
Evolution by the Numbers
The Origins of Mathematical Argument in Biology
James Wynn
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S A N: 2 5 4 - 8 8 7 9
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wynn, James, 1972-
Evolution by the numbers : the origins of mathematical argument in biology / James Wynn.
p. cm. -- (Rhetoric of science and technology)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-60235-216-2 (pbk. : alk. paper) -- ISBN 978-1-60235-217-9 (hardcover : alk. paper) -- ISBN 978-1-60235-218-6 (Adobe ebook) -- ISBN 978-1-60235-219-3 (epub)
1. Evolution (Biology)--Statistical methods. 2. Evolution (Biology)--Mathematics. 3. Biometry. I. Title.
QH362.W96 2011
576.801’51--dc22
2011010840
Cover design by Michael West, Cygnus Design.
Author photo by Shane Wynn of Shane Wynn Photography.
Printed on acid-free paper.
Parlor Press, LLC is an independent publisher of scholarly and trade titles in print and multimedia formats. This book is available in paper, cloth and eBook formats from Parlor Press on the World Wide Web at http://www.parlorpress.com or through online and brick-and-mortar bookstores. For submission information or to find out about Parlor Press publications, write to Parlor Press, 3015 Brackenberry Drive, Anderson, South Carolina, 29621, or email [email protected].
Contents
2 A Proper Science: Mathematics, Experience, and Argument in Nineteenth-Century Science
3 Evolution by the Numbers: Mathematical Arguments in The Origin of Species
4 Hidden Value: Mendel, Mathematics, and the Case for Uniform Particulate Inheritance
6 Behind the Curve: Karl Pearson and the Push for Theoretical Mathematical Biology
7 Weightless Elephants on Frictionless Surfaces: The Ethos of Biometry
Acknowledgments
This book would not be possible without the help and generosity of many people and organizations, a few of whom I would like to briefly thank. Travel to the archives at the University College London and the John Innes Horticultural Institute was made possible through the generosity of Carnegie Mellon’s Falk Grant and Berkman Faculty Development Fund. I would also like to thank the University College London and John Innes Horticultural Institute, along with the Hunt Botanical Library for opening up their collections for my research. Additionally, the University of Adelaide, The Royal Society of Edinburgh, Cambridge University Press, and The Royal Society of London deserve recognition and thanks for the use of the figures and tables in this text.
In addition to material resources, this book has benefitted from the intellectual generosity of a number of scholars who have shared their time and expertise with me. I am particularly indebted to Jeanne Fahnestock, who has read and critiqued this book in many of its different stages. I am also grateful to Alan Gross for his incisive editing of the text. In addition, I would like to thank Lorain Daston for taking time to read and provide feedback on the historical framing discussed in the second chapter of the book. Colleagues who have read and offered advice on various parts of this text also deserve recognition, including: Leah Ceccarelli, Andreea Ritivoi, Kristina Straub, Lynda
