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Description

Social scientists, philosophers, and mathematicians have adapted evolutionary theory for use in a variety of disciplines for several decades, but until now historians have lagged behind. In The Return of Science, several distinguished historians join prominent scholars from a wide range of disciplines to debate the applications of evolutionary theory to cultural, social, economic, and political phenomena. The contributors offer original theoretical approaches and deal with issues such as the benefits, limits, and dangers of using evolutionary theory in the social sciences, the problem of defining units of evolution, the use of mathematics in historical study, and the appropriateness of chaos theory in historical study. Originally published as part of the journal History and Theory, these revised and updated essays are a valuable resource for historiographers.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 An Interdisciplinary Paradigm Shift
Chapter 2 History and the Scientific World View
Chapter 3 A Brief History of Evolution
Chapter 4 Evolving toward History
Chapter 5 Human Nature and History
Chapter 6 Evolutionary Theory and Group Selection: The Question of Warfare
Chapter 7 Evolutionary Theory of History
Chapter 8 Darwinizing History: The Evolution of Power in Russia
Chapter 9 On the Role of Mathematical Biology in Contemporary Historiography
Chapter 10 History, Differential Inclusions, and Narrative
Chapter 11 Does Culture Evolve?
Chapter 12 On the Problem of Laws in Nature and History: A Comparison

Product details

Published May 07 2002
Format Paperback
Edition 1st
Extent 320
ISBN 9780742521612
Imprint Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Dimensions 9 x 6 inches
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Anthology Editor

Philip Pomper

Anthology Editor

David Gary Shaw

Contributor

Bruce Mazlish

Contributor

Donald E. Brown

Contributor

Doyne Dawson

Contributor

Alonso Pena

Contributor

Noel Bonneuil

Contributor

Joseph Fracchia

Contributor

R C. Lewontin

Contributor

Stephan Berry

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