A voice in the wilderness : a pioneering biologist explains how evolution can help us solve our biggest problems

A voice in the wilderness A pioneering biologist explains how evolution can help us solve our biggest problems

Joseph L. Graves, 1955-

Book - 2022

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 biologis...t 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. --

Saved in:
Place a Hold Save to List Email this

2nd Floor Show me where

576.8/Graves
1 / 1 copies available
Location Call Number   Status
2nd Floor 576.8/Graves Checked In
Subjects
Evolution (Biology) > Philosophy.
Evolution (Biology) > Social aspects.
Social evolution.
SCIENCE / Life Sciences / Biology / General.
Published
New York : Basic Books 2022.
Language
English
Main Author
Joseph L. Graves, 1955- (author)
Edition
First edition
Physical Description
viii, 375 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 331-362) and index.
ISBN
9781541600713
  • List of Figures
  • List of Tables
  • Introduction
  • Part I. Black Darwin
  • Chapter 1. The Unexpected Path
  • Chapter 2. In Your Next Life, You Should Be a Parasite
  • Chapter 3. Men Plan and God Laughs: Why Dynamical Complexity Is at the Heart of Some of Our Most "Stormy" Problems
  • Chapter 4. What Brings You Here Takes You Away
  • Chapter 5. Black Darwin
  • Chapter 6. My Great Predecessors: Standing on the Shoulders of Giants
  • Part II. Why Evolution Matters
  • Chapter 7. America's Biggest Lie: Race and Intelligence
  • Chapter 8. A Book That Should Be Read by Everyone
  • Chapter 9. Relax: Evolution Is a Fact, but It Doesn't Tell Us Anything About the Existence of God
  • Chapter 10. Evolution, Sex, and Gender
  • Chapter 11. Homage to Santa Rosalia, or All Hail the Pandemic!
  • Chapter 12. America's Biggest Lie: Slight Return
  • Chapter 13. Evolution in Silico
  • Chapter 14. The Evolutionary Science of Social Justice
  • Conclusion: A Voice in the Wilderness
  • Notes
  • Index
Review by Kirkus Book Review

An evolutionary biologist mixes his life story with an attack on bigotry. Graves, professor of biological sciences and the first African American to receive a doctorate in evolutionary biology, is candid about the racism he has experienced during his life. Born in Plainfield, New Jersey, in 1955, he attended integrated schools in which "it seemed that all the children of African descent were assigned to the slow group." The author praises a few teachers but is unafraid to call out those who ignored or denigrated him. Graves received a scholarship to Oberlin, but he performed poorly until his final years, when he became fascinated by evolutionary biology and buckled down. Entering an overwhelmingly White scientific discipline, he regularly heard that he had been forced on the department to meet affirmative action quotas, accusations that continued even when test scores placed him near the top. Now a leading figure in his field, Graves continues to devote much energy to encouraging Black students' interest in science and to opposing pseudoscience, including eugenics and similar movements. "Racializing a genetic predisposition for intelligence," he writes, "creates in persons of Eurasian descent a pride in their genetic heritage." Such scientific racism thrived in the 19th century, but the evidence proved so spurious that it disappeared from the mainstream by the middle of the 1900s. Still, the recent rightward swing in politics in recent decades has energized these ideas; in 1994, the publication of The Bell Curve proved to be "a powerful tool buttressing anti--affirmative action arguments." Along with other scientists and educators, Graves works hard to disprove these harmful--and scientifically unsound--concepts, but they refuse to go away completely. The author is inspiring in his arguments for human equality, but readers with no background in genetics and population studies may find some chapters difficult to navigate. Convincing arguments against scientific racism from an acclaimed researcher and scholar. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Similar Items