Laws, History, and the Nature of Biological Understanding

Abstract

Michael Clegg, in the Preface to this volume, notes the role Biology is expected to play in application to policy:

I was stimulated to consider the limits to knowledge in the applied science of conservation Biology as Chair of the National Research Council Committee on Science and the Endangered Species Act. The theoretical foundations of ecology and population genetics play a major role in the science of biological conservation. For instance, theory, in conjunction with empirical information, informs approaches to reserve design and to the elaboration of breeding strategies. The fundamental science of evolutionary Biology is called on by managers in deciding when a species is no longer in danger of extinction and when a listing is the appropriate action, (p. viii)