In Search of Nature by Edward O. Wilson, Island Press,
$19.95, ISBN 1 55963 215 1
Sixty Years of Biology: Essays on Evolution and Development by John
Tyler Bonner, Princeton, 拢18.95/$24.95, ISBN 0 691 02130 9
CALL me cynical but I doubt that I am alone in being suspicious of essayists.
In contrast to the peer-reviewed scientific paper, the essay grants authors the
freedom to grind their axes with impunity before a large, possibly naive,
audience. I am not so suspicious as to suppose that all essayists are
opinionated self-publicists, but why else would anyone choose a medium that
commands so little respect in the academic community and, at the same time, is
so easily abused?
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The motivation could, of course, be a pragmatic need for money. Or it could
be an entirely praiseworthy desire to share an enthusiasm or to counter
misrepresentation. But whatever the motivation, the essay remains a double-edged
sword. I am especially wary of evolutionary biologists who turn to the essay to
address issues of human evolution.
The sound of Edward O. Wilson grinding his axes and expounding his theory of
sociobiology (that human nature is the product of selection) has proved too much
for some. Most notable among his critics has been Stephen Jay Gould, fellow
Harvard professor and even more prolific essayist. The debate has been heated,
and Wilson revisits his old hunting ground with In Search of Nature.
Although not acknowledging his accuser, he is clearly rebutting his criticisms
in several of the 12 reprinted essays. The experience is akin to watching only
one half of a tennis court during a match.
For more of the time, however, Wilson is at his sociobiological best. In a
discourse on snakes, he starts with entertaining recollections of his
snake-catching days and provides deliciously gruesome details of their biology.
All this lures the reader in and then, with a lunge as fast as a rattlesnake,
Wilson strikes. Why, he asks, are we afraid of snakes? The answer is obvious.
But why does our ability to learn this fear appear to be innate? Again we are
lured into the obvious answer: natural selection favoured those with the
ability.
Wilson keeps one eye on Gould, who has accused sociobiologists of confusing
plausibility with proof. Some effort is made to test the hypothesis, but that
does not seem to be his overriding concern. Once he makes the case that the
snake is deeply embedded in the human psyche, Wilson argues that if we come to
appreciate 鈥渢hat wild nature and human nature are closely interwoven鈥� we might
be more inclined to study and conserve other species. In addition, we should try
to understand other organisms 鈥渘ot only to understand our species but more
firmly to secure its future鈥�.
I am unconvinced by the argument. Discussing sharks, Wilson concludes that
they 鈥渁re part of the world in which we evolved and therefore part of us鈥�. But
syphilis, malaria, typhoid and gonorrhoea are also part of the world we evolved
in and often much more part of us than we would choose. It would not be to our
advantage to ensure their preservation.
The more serious problem with the book鈥攚hich claims to have been
updated鈥攊s that the essays have been only slightly modified. The only new
contribution is a brief preface. No hint is given of the fact that we are in the
middle of a second renaissance of sociobiology. Remarkably, the man who was
instrumental in the first renaissance makes the weakest case for sociobiology
that I have read for quite a while.
The greatest disappointment of the collection is this missed opportunity.
Since Wilson鈥檚 1993 discussion of the rate of species extinction (the
penultimate chapter), a debate has been raging over whether we should be worried
by the rate of rainforest destruction. Wilson is so good that his assessment of
the arguments would have been extremely valuable.
John Tyler Bonner cannot be accused of being behind the times. Neither can he
be accused of having many political axes to grind. So why does he choose the
essay format? Probably because his message cannot be contained in the confines
of a scientific paper, as to some extent his essays are exercises in thinking
aloud.
Unlike Wilson鈥檚 book, which is clearly directed at a general audience, the
intended readership for Sixty Years of Biology: Essays on Evolution and
Development is less clear. The four essays assume too much to be useful to
a broad audience and are too lightweight for a scholarly dissertation. But I
could see many a biology undergraduate gaining great pleasure from them. The
final chapter, a series of reminiscences of great biologists, although a little
out of place in this context, is delightful.
The sweep of the essays is grand, and Bonner clearly relishes the squeezing
of many disparate facts together under one roof. When it works, such synthesis
is inspiring. But Bonner passes over necessary distinctions. For example, he
lumps together competition between genetically identical cells and competition
between alleles in a population. In the absence of mutation, the interactions
between cells may look like competition, but one trait is not replacing another
and hence he misses a critical distinction by putting them in the same
pigeonhole.
The essays are also too patchy to be generally recommended to an uninitiated
audience. Bonner鈥檚 opinions can sometimes be very middle-of-the-road, at other
times highly contentious. The assessment of the recently trendy view that the
self-organisation of matter dictates evolution, for example, is relatively
ordinary.
By contrast, the suggestion that division of labour appears as a result of
selection for efficiency is highly suspect. Division of labour in some contexts
is much more likely to appear as a result of individual avoidance of
competition: if I come to a new town, I am best off doing a job that no one else
does. This may increase the efficiency of the town, but this is just a
consequence鈥� selection does not favour my action because of any
improvement to the town鈥檚 state of being. It favours it because it increases my
success.
Some discussions are highly original, others revisit old ground. The problem
of how a process can be rigidly guided by genes in one species, while in others
genetics takes a back seat, is discussed in a novel way. On the other hand, the
thesis that competition acts at all levels of life is a slight reworking of
Richard Dawkins鈥檚 vision of Universal Darwinism. Bonner gives much bolder
examples, though, which extend over more contentious and more exciting
ground.
In spite of these weaknesses, Sixty Years of Biology is never dull.
Furthermore, while I disagree with a few of its ideas, I suspect Bonner would
prefer it that way. His suggestions seem to be designed to stimulate the reader
and to enable a broadening of perspective. Indeed, he leaves us to discover the
connections between the essays.
How refreshing to find an essayist who prefers to guide rather than to preach
and who only wants to understand the world, not to change it.