The Masterpiece of Nature the Evolution of Genetics and Sexuality Reviews
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BOOK REVIEWS TheMasterpiece ofNature. By Graham Bell. Los Angeles: University ofCalifornia Press, 1982. Pp. 635. $45.00. The evolutionary significance of sex is one of the principal unresolved problems in population biology. Since John Maynard Smith pointed out in 1971 that sexual reproduction has a built-in twofold disadvantage over asexual reproduction , in that location has been a steadily increasing volume of literature aimed at showing why and then many organisms indulge in sex—or, more, precisely, how it increases their Darwinian fitness. The Masterpiece ofNature is the latest, and the near elaborate , assault on the paradox. The author brings a diversity ofapproaches to touch the subject and discusses the taxonomic and ecological distribution of sex, the cytological details of sexual and asexual reproduction, and theoretical models with equal diligence. Every slice of data and variant of theory is given shut and critical scrutiny. The wealth of ideas and facts independent in it makes this volume the almost informative one bachelor on the natural history of sex activity. It will exist a valuable source to refer to for a long fourth dimension. The paradox of sexuality which stimulated the book arises from the cost of sex, the reasoning that sexual activity is invariably associated with a huge disadvantage. Unlike many recent authors, Bell correctly acknowledges that the cost of sex was recognised last century by A. Weismann. Unfortunately, the account of the toll of sex is flawed because Bong does not accept the distinction between the two versions of the price of sexual practice. These advise that sexually reproducing parents are disadvantaged either considering they contribute but i ofthe ii sets ofgenes to each offspring or because a proportion of their reproductive attempt goes to producing male gametes. The writer's failure to recognise the unlike implications of the ii postulates leads to some inaccuracies. Almost everyone, including Bell in this book, has concluded that there must exist a compensating reward for sex and that this is derived from the greater genetical diversity of sexual offspring. The problem is, exactly how does this benefit a parent? 7 competing hypotheses, some with several variants, are given colorful titles (the Vicar of Bray, the Reddish Queen, etc.) and carefully distinguished . The writer might have pointed out, notwithstanding, that none of the contending hypotheses, in whatsoever oftheir diverse forms, has been mostly accepted as offering a satisfactory caption for the prevalence of sexual practice in eukaryotes. The impression is given instead that there is an overabundance of acceptable hypotheses . The most distinctive feature of the book comes out in the fourth chapter, when an ambitious try is made to discriminate amidst the hypotheses ofsex, Permission to reprint a volume review printed in this section may exist obtained just from the author. 162 I Book Reviews using a "comparative method." The taxonomic, ecological, and geographical distributions of sexual and asexual reproduction are closely examined in a series of pairwise comparisons of rival hypotheses. One alternative is eliminated by each comparison, until the one hypothesis that all-time explains the facts is left. The procedure is analogous to the functioning of a taxonomic key. The called winner of the exercise is the "tangled bank" hypothesis, the title coming from Darwin's metaphor in the final chapter of The Origin of Species. Co-ordinate to the tangled bank hypothesis, the genetically diverse offspring of sexual parents succeed more frequently in a spatially complex environment in which a single genotype is best adapted in only a fraction of the full environment. Bong considers that his search for the reward of sex comes to a successful conclusion with the emptying of all hypotheses other than the tangled bank. The reviewer remains unconvinced, however. The comparative method assumes that a unmarried hypothesis is responsible for the persistence of sex in near eukaryotes, and that the "right" hypothesis is amidst those considered. The tests are futile if either of these questionable assumptions is not valid. Moreover, many of the dichotomous tests that are applied accept insufficient ability for the tasks asked of them, either considering they rest on inadequate facts or considering they contain restrictive qualifications. The assay often succeeds in ruling out ane or more hypotheses in particular cases, but I believe it fails in the stated aim...
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Source: https://muse.jhu.edu/article/403726
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