Ecological Understanding

Ecology is an historical science in which theories can be as difficult to test as they are to devise. This volume, intended for ecologists and evolutionary biologists, reviews ecological theories, and how they are generated, evaluated, and categorized. Synthesizing a vast and sometimes labyrinthine literature, this book is a useful entry into the scientific philosophy of ecology and natural history. The need for integration of the contributions to theory made by different disciplines is a central theme of this book. The authors demonstrate that only through such integration will advances in ecological theory be possible. Ecologists, evolutionary biologists, and other serious students of natural history will want this book.

"Given our growing need for ecologists and other environmental scientists with an ecumenical view of their subject, and a sensitive awareness of its complexities and inherent multiplicity of spatial and temporal scales, Pickett, Kolasa and Jones' book is especially timely." —From the Foreward by ROBERT M. MAY, Oxford University, U.K.

"A thought-provoking book."—BIOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY

"Since many ecologists may think that physics is the science, Ecology Understanding offers a refreshing alternative....Ecology Understanding offers the reader an interesting and thoughtful discussion of theory development, ecological integration, and scientific understanding from a philosophical viewpoint."—THE QUARTERLY REVIEW OF BIOLOGY