Synopses & Reviews
When Edward O. Wilson published
Sociobiology, it generated a firestorm of criticism, mostly focused on the book's final chapter, in which Wilson applied lessons learned from animal behavior to human society. In
Defenders of the Truth, Ullica Segerstrale takes a hard look at the sociobiology controversy, sorting through a hornet's nest of claims and counterclaims, moral concerns, metaphysical beliefs, political convictions, strawmen, red herrings, and much juicy gossip. The result is a fascinating look at the world of modern science.
Segerstrale has interviewed all the major participants, including such eminent scientists as Stephen Jay Gould, Richard C. Lewontin, Richard Dawkins, John Maynard Smith, Nobel Laureates Peter Medawar and Salvador Luria, and of course Edward Wilson. She reveals that most of the criticism of Wilson was unfair, but argues that it was not politically motivated. Instead, she sees the conflict over sociobiology as a drawn-out battle about the nature of "good science" and the social responsibility of the scientist. Behind the often nasty attacks were the very different approaches to science taken by naturalists (such as Wilson) and experimentalists (such as Lewontin), between the "planters" and the "weeders." The protagonists were all defenders of the truth, Segerstrale concludes, it was just that everyone's truth was different.
Defenders of the Truth touches on grand themes such as the unity of knowledge, human nature, and free will and determinism, and it shows how the sociobiology controversy can shed light on the more recent debates over the Human Genome Project and The Bell Curve. It will appeal to all readers of Edward O. Wilson or Stephen Jay Gould and all those who enjoy a behind-the-scenes peek at modern science.
Review
"The author...has written an expansive and objective account of the controversy....she provides a thorough overview of one of the most contentious and publicized academic skirmishes in recent years. For larger public and all academic libraries."--Library Journal
Review
"Ullica Segerstrale's splendid book on the controversies over sociobiology-a book 20 years in the making, and well worth the waiting." --
Alison Jolly, Science"Segerstrale has given us an authoritative account of how it all began."--Science and Technology
"The author...has written an expansive and objective account of the controversy....she provides a thorough overview of one of the most contentious and publicized academic skirmishes in recent years. For larger public and all academic libraries."--Library Journal
"Segerstrale begins at the start of the clash, with Harvard titans Wilson and Richard Lewontin; backtracks to Britain in the mid-1960s, with a population biologist's investigations of altruism; and zooms forward to the 'Science Wars' of the mid-1990s and the international slugfest over The Bell Curve. Partisans in these controversies will likely find something here to make them angry; they will also learn much they didn't know. Even those who might dispute Segerstrale's conclusions will appreciate her assiduous chronology of these tangled issues and her accounts of what many of the participants thought they were doing in their 'battle for the soul of science in one of the few fields where it might still be fought.'"--Publishers Weekly
"Segerstrale gives us a blow-by-blow account of the sociobiology feud and a multilevel analysis of its components and historical setting."--Science
Synopsis
An insightful look at the sociobiology debate and what it tells readers about the nature of science and its roll in society. "Defenders of the Truth" will appeal to all those who enjoy a behind-the-scenes peek at modern science.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. [429]-468) and index.
About the Author
Ullica Segerstrale is Professor of Sociology at Illinois Institute of Technology, in Chicago. She holds advanced degrees in organic chemistry and biochemistry, in communications, and in sociology. Born and raised in Finland, she now lives in Chicago.
Table of Contents
Preface. 1. The sociobiology debate as a battle for truth -- Pt. 1. What happened in the sociobiology debate? 2. The storm over Sociobiology ; 3. Colleagues on collision course: Wilson's and Lewontin's contrary moral-cum-scientific agendas ; 4. The British connection ; 5. The 'deep background' of sociobiology ; 6. Assault on adaptationism, a delayed scientific critique ; 7. The unit of selection and the connection with culture ; 8. Sociobiology adapts to criticism: Genes, mind and culture ; 9. The moral/political conflict continues -- Pt. 2. Making sense of the sociobiology debate. 10. Inside the mind of the critics ; 11. Planters and weeders in the garden of science ; 12. To be or not to be, in the sociobiology controversy ; 13. A clash of traditions ; 14. Conflicting views of the nature of science ; 15. Capitalizing on controversy -- Pt. 3. The cultural meaning of the battle for science. 16. The sociobiologists and their enemies: taking stock after 25 years ; 17. Truth by dispute? The sociobiology debate ahd the Science Wars ; 18. Interpreting the Enlightenment quest ; 19. The tension between scientific and moral truth ; 20. The battle for the soul, and for the soul of science --Notes -- References -- Glossary -- Index.