Plasticity, Robustness, Development and Evolution

Professor Sir Patrick Bateson FRS is Emeritus Professor of Ethology at the University of Cambridge. He is President of the Zoological Society of London and former Biological Secretary and Vice-President of the Royal Society. He has a long-standing interest in behavioural development and in evolutionary theory. Professor Sir Peter Gluckman FRS is arguably New Zealand's most recognised biomedical scientist. A University of Auckland Distinguished Professor, he is Professor of Paediatric and Perinatal Biology and former Director of the Liggins Institute for Medical Research. The bulk of his recent research has related to developmental plasticity and its relationship to human health.

• Preface; 1. Setting the scene; 2. Clarifications; 3. Developmental robustness; 4. Plasticity; 5. Integration of robustness and plasticity; 6. Current functions of integrated developmental processes; 7. Evolution of developmental processes; 8. Impact of developmental processes on evolution; 9. Development and evolution intertwined; Acknowledgements; References; Index.

'Although biologists typically treat change and constancy as independent, polar opposites, Bateson and Gluckman argue forcefully that they actually are - like yin and yang - interwoven and mutually interdependent. Their carefully constructed, systematic, and balanced new book provides a much-needed roadmap that guides the reader through the intricacies of development and its interplay with evolution.' Mark S. Blumberg, F. Wendell Miller Professor of Psychology, University of Iowa and author of Freaks of Nature: What Anomalies Tell Us About Development and Evolution