Biology Under the Influence

How do we understand the world? While some look to the heavens for intelligent design, others argue that it is determined by information encoded in DNA. Science serves as an important activity for uncovering the processes and operations of nature, but it is also immersed in a social context where ideology influences the questions we ask and how we approach the material world.Biology Under the Influence: Dialectical Essays on the Coevolution of Nature and Societybreaks from the confirms of determinism, offering a dialectical analysis for comprehending a dynamic social and natural world.InBiology Under the Influence, Richard Lewontin and Richard Levins provide a devastating critique of genetic determinism and reductionism within science while exploring a broad range of issues including the nature of science, biology, evolution, the environment, pubic health, and dialectics, They dismantle the ideology that attempts to naturalize social inequalities, unveil the alienation of science and nature, and illustrate how a dialectical position serves as a basis for grappling with historical developments and a world characterized by change.Biology Under the Influencebrings together the illuminating essays of two prominent scientists who work to demystify and empower the public's understanding of science and nature.

Richard Lewontin is Alexander Agassiz Research Professor at the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University Richard Levins is John Rock Professor of Population Sciences, Department of Population and International Health at Harvard University