Biology Quote by David Quammen

Evolution works by selection, not by instruction. There is no final cause, no teleology, no purpose guiding the overall process

— Gerald Edelman

Evolution thus is merely contingent on certain processes articulated by Darwin: variation and selection.

— Ernst Mayr

We have seen that in certain respects operant reinforcement resembles the natural selection of evolutionary theory. Just as genetic characteristics which arise as mutations…

— B. F. Skinner

Evolution ... is opportunistic, hence unpredictable.

— Ernst Mayr

Evolutionary game theory is a way of thinking about evolution at the phenotypic level when the fitnesses of particular phenotypes depend on their frequencies…

— John Maynard Smith

The essence of Darwinism lies in its claim that natural selection creates the fit. Variation is ubiquitous and random in direction. It supplies raw…

— Stephen Jay Gould

The theory of natural selection reduces to a banal truth: if a kind of creature flourishes in a kind of situation, then there must…

— Jerry Fodor

We can and do control the direction of our own evolution.

— Jasmuheen

Natural selection involves no plan, no goal, and no direction — just genes increasing and decreasing in frequency depending on whether individuals with those…

— Randolph M. Nesse

I think of evolution as an error-making and error-correcting process, and we are constantly learning from experience.

— Jonas Salk

For our own species, evolution occurs mostly through our behavior. We innovate new behavior to adapt.

— Michael Crichton

Evolution: The Modern Synthesis.

— Julian Huxley