Navigation überspringen
Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg
Status: Bibliographieeintrag

Verfügbarkeit
Standort: ---
Exemplare: ---
heiBIB
 Online-Ressource
Verfasst von:Tamborini, Marco [VerfasserIn]   i
Titel:Paleontology and Darwin’s theory of evolution
Titelzusatz:the subversive role of statistics at the end of the 19th century
Verf.angabe:Marco Tamborini
E-Jahr:2015
Jahr:11 March 2015
Umfang:38 S.
Fussnoten:Gesehen am 29.06.2020
Titel Quelle:Enthalten in: Journal of the history of biology
Ort Quelle:Dordrecht [u.a.] : Springer Science + Business Media B.V, 1968
Jahr Quelle:2015
Band/Heft Quelle:48(2015), 4, Seite 575-612
ISSN Quelle:1573-0387
Abstract:This paper examines the subversive role of statistics paleontology at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries. In particular, I will focus on German paleontology and its relationship with statistics. I argue that in paleontology, the quantitative method was questioned and strongly limited by the first decade of the 20th century because, as its opponents noted, when the fossil record is treated statistically, it was found to generate results openly in conflict with the Darwinian theory of evolution. Essentially, statistics questions the gradual mode of evolution and the role of natural selection. The main objections to statistics were addressed during the meetings at the Kaiserlich-Königliche Geologische Reichsanstalt in Vienna in the 1880s. After having introduced the statistical treatment of the fossil record, I will use the works of Charles Léo Lesquereux (1806-1889), Joachim Barrande (1799-1833), and Henry Shaler Williams (1847-1918) to compare the objections raised in Vienna with how the statistical treatment of the data worked in practice. Furthermore, I will discuss the criticisms of Melchior Neumayr (1845-1890), one of the leading German opponents of statistical paleontology, to show why, and to what extent, statistics were questioned in Vienna. The final part of this paper considers what paleontologists can derive from a statistical notion of data: the necessity of opening a discussion about the completeness and nature of the paleontological data. The Vienna discussion about which method paleontologists should follow offers an interesting case study in order to understand the epistemic tensions within paleontology surrounding Darwin’s theory as well as the variety of non-Darwinian alternatives that emerged from the statistical treatment of the fossil record at the end of the 19th century.
DOI:doi:10.1007/s10739-015-9402-y
URL:Bitte beachten Sie: Dies ist ein Bibliographieeintrag. Ein Volltextzugriff für Mitglieder der Universität besteht hier nur, falls für die entsprechende Zeitschrift/den entsprechenden Sammelband ein Abonnement besteht oder es sich um einen OpenAccess-Titel handelt.

Volltext: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10739-015-9402-y
 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10739-015-9402-y
Datenträger:Online-Ressource
Sprache:eng
K10plus-PPN:1702835286
Verknüpfungen:→ Zeitschrift

Permanenter Link auf diesen Titel (bookmarkfähig):  https://katalog.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/titel/68593493   QR-Code
zum Seitenanfang