Biology Under the Influence: Dialectical Essays on Ecology, Agriculture, and Health

by Richard Lewontin and Richard Levins

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How do we understand the world? While some look to the heavens for intelligent design, others argue that it is determined by information encoded in DNA. Science serves as an important activity for uncovering the processes and operations of nature, but it is also immersed in a social context where ideology influences the questions we ask and how we approach the material world. Biology Under the Influence: Dialectical Essays on Ecology, Agriculture, and Health breaks from the confines of determinism, offering a dialectical analysis for comprehending our dynamic social and natural world.

In Biology Under the Influence, Richard Lewontin and Richard Levins provide a devastating critique of genetic determinism and reductionism within science while exploring a broad range of issues including the nature of science, biology, evolution, the environment, public health, and dialectics. They dismantle contemporary ideologies that attempt to naturalize social inequalities, unveil the alienation of science and nature, and illustrate how dialectical philosophy provides a basis for grappling with a world characterized by constant change. Biology Under the Influence brings together the incisive essays of two prominent scientists who are working to empower the public by demystifying science and nature.

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Average Customer Review: 4 out of 5 stars

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3 out of 5 stars

Could be better, 2008-09-29
I love the work by Levins and Lewontin. They are great thinkers. The make exellent reflections about the history of natural sciences (especially biology). But I think that the essays on this book do not represet the full capacity of this authors. In part this may be caused by a misunderstanding of the role of social sciences in the explication of social phenomena. They use mostly Marx, and very lightly. I do not want to imply that marxism is not a good way to aproach social events but I think that it is innapropiate considering the incredible number of theories (modern and posmodern) that social scientis have produced. Mabye this is in part to allow for some causalism (wich is one of the things they criticize). The book still has great passages and explanations but those passages are not trying to do a pseudo-marxist interpretation of the "role"of sciencie in society. I think that to complement Levins and Lewontin one should also read Latour, Hacking, Foucault, Keller (feminist biologist) and Gould (paleontologist).

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5 out of 5 stars

biology under the influence, 2008-05-30
this is a collection of essays by two of America's leading biologists. It is generally written for the general public, although some of the essays are a bit more technical. On the whole, Lewontin and Levins succeed in providing a comprehensive picture of some of the leading debates in the field, notably, the relevance of molecular biology and evolutionary thought for issues such as education and other aspects of social policy. Highly recommended.

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