The Rise of Chance in Evolutionary Theory

Charles H. Pence is Chargé de cours (Assistant Professor) at the Institut supérieur de philosophie, and director of the Center for the Philosophy of Science and Society (CEFISES) at the Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium. Previously, he was Assistant Professor and Director of the LSU Ethics Institute at Louisiana State University. He is the author of 2 books and over 20 articles and book chapters on the philosophy and history of evolutionary theory. His work centers on the integrated philosophy and history of biology, with a particular focus on the introduction and contemporary use of concepts of chance and methods of statistics in evolutionary theory.

1. Chance governs the descent of a farthing: Charles Darwin 2. The wonderful form of cosmic order: Francis Galton 3. The only ultimate test of the theory of natural selection: The Early Years of Biometry 4. Here is the true gospel: Biometry After Mendelism 5. Reconciling the biometrical conclusions: Evolution from 1906 to 1918 6. What natural selection must be doing: R. A. Fisher’s Early Synthesis 7. Conclusions, historiographical and philosophical Index