Orthogenesis Versus Darwinism: The Russian Case
Popov, Igor
Orthogenesis Versus Darwinism: The Russian Case - 2008.
65
« Russia - the second native land of Darwinism » - this statement by Russian Darwin's apostle Kliment Timiriazev (1843-1920) serves as the motto for the Russian historians and biologists up to today. However, various Russian versions of anti-Darwinism were not as insignificant as would be desirable by their opponents. One of these versions claimed the following : living organisms have a predisposition to vary in certain directions, and this very predisposition determines trends of evolution first of all ; as crystals grow, accepting a certain form, so phylogenetic trends develop following internal laws irrespective of adaptation and natural selection. This idea was most often called « directed evolution » or « orthogenesis » (orthos, straight). In the 1920s two Russian scientists - Lev S. Berg and Dmitry N. Sobolev - presented evolutionary concepts based on this idea. In the following years in Russia this idea developed not only in itself, but also exerted an essential influence on the Russian versions of modern Darwinism. This fact represents a significant difference between the recent histories of evolutionary biology in Russia and in the English-speaking world.
Orthogenesis Versus Darwinism: The Russian Case - 2008.
65
« Russia - the second native land of Darwinism » - this statement by Russian Darwin's apostle Kliment Timiriazev (1843-1920) serves as the motto for the Russian historians and biologists up to today. However, various Russian versions of anti-Darwinism were not as insignificant as would be desirable by their opponents. One of these versions claimed the following : living organisms have a predisposition to vary in certain directions, and this very predisposition determines trends of evolution first of all ; as crystals grow, accepting a certain form, so phylogenetic trends develop following internal laws irrespective of adaptation and natural selection. This idea was most often called « directed evolution » or « orthogenesis » (orthos, straight). In the 1920s two Russian scientists - Lev S. Berg and Dmitry N. Sobolev - presented evolutionary concepts based on this idea. In the following years in Russia this idea developed not only in itself, but also exerted an essential influence on the Russian versions of modern Darwinism. This fact represents a significant difference between the recent histories of evolutionary biology in Russia and in the English-speaking world.
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