‘Sapp’s book is not only a scholarly account of one of the most important, yet neglected, areas of 20th-century biology, but it may also be pointing the way to a major element of biology in the next millennium.’
Tom Wakeford, University of York, New Scientist, December 1994
Overall, the book is a delightful historical complement to the available texts describing symbiotic associations and a scholarly overview of the conceptual aspects of the subject. It will be enjoyed both by symbiologists and by those interested in the history of biological thought. ―
S.J. Simpson, University of Oxford, Nature, Vol. 374, April 1995
The author has assembled a systematic history of this emerging field, in this engaging, wide-ranging account of the growth of an important biological idea. ―
Ethology, Ecology, & Evolution 7: 1995
“a thorough, balanced, and readable account of symbiosis research and theory from the 19th century to the present day” ―
Taxon 44 – November 1995
From the Back Cover
In this comprehensive history of symbiosis theory – the first to be written – Jan Sapp masterfully traces its development from modest beginnings in the late nineteenth century to its current status as one of the key conceptual frameworks for the life sciences. The symbiotic perspective on evolution, which argues that ‘higher species’ have evolved from a merger of two or more different kinds of organisms living together, is now clearly established with definitive molecular evident demonstrating that mitochondria and chloroplasts have evolved from symbiotic bacteria. In telling the exciting story of an evolutionary biology tradition that has effectively challenged many key tents of classical neo-Darwinism, Sapp sheds light on the phenomena, movements, doctrines, and controversies that have shaped attitudes about the scope and significance of symbiosis.
About the Author
Jan Sapp is a professor of Science Studies at York University, Canada. He is author of Beyond the Gene: Cytoplasmic Inheritance and the Struggle for Authority and Where the Truth Lies: Franz Moewus and the Origins of Molecular Biology.
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