The Invite -- "Altenberg 16" Evolution Summit

Because of intense public interest in what a new theory of evolution might look like, I am posting the letter I was sent inviting 16 biologists and philosophers -- "the Altenberg 16" --to meet in July at the Konrad Lorenz Institute in Austria to discuss an “Extended Evolutionary Synthesis”. Following the invitation is a list of papers that will be discussed. And here is the link to my initial EES story:

Altenberg! The Woodstock of Evolution?

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Toward an Extended Evolutionary Synthesis Invite:

We are writing to invite you to what we hope will be a major event to be hosted by the Konrad Lorenz Institute of Evolution and Cognition Research, in Altenberg, Austria (http://www.kli.ac.at/), on 10-13 July 2008. Our idea is nothing less than getting together a high-level group of biologists and philosophers to have a frank exchange of ideas about what, if anything, might a new Extended Evolutionary Synthesis look like.

As you know because you have been involved in this to some extent, for some time now there have been persistent rumors that the Modern Synthesis (MS) in evolutionary biology is incomplete, and may be about to be completed. Such suggestions have been received with skepticism by a number of biologists, including some of the very originators of the MS.

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The challenge seems clear to us: how do we make sense, conceptually, of the astounding advances in biology since the 1940s, when the MS was taking shape? Not only we have witnessed the molecular revolution, from the discovery of the structure of DNA to the genomic era, we are also grappling with the increasing feeling – for example as reflected by an almost comical proliferation of "-omics," that we just don't have the theoretical and analytical tools necessary to make sense of the bewildering diversity and complexity of living organisms.

What is less clear is how much talk of an Extended Evolutionary Synthesis (EES) is actually going to coalesce into an organic conceptual structure capable of significantly augmenting the existing synthesis, while at the same time retaining the many key advances of Darwinism and neo-Darwinism – from population genetics theory to our still evolving understanding of the nature of species, to mention just two. The goal of the proposed symposium is, in fact, to accept the challenge and ask a number of prominent biologists and philosophers (see preliminary list of topics and contributors below) who have worked for an advancement of evolutionary theory exactly (or even approximately) what a meaningful EES would look like.

The central idea for the symposium is to have contributed papers on a range of conceptual issues that have not been addressed by (or at least are not an explicit part of) the MS, with the authors attempting not as much to give the latest technical update, but rather to provide an organic view of in what sense the new ideas can be said to extend the current scope of evolutionary theory. While it is of course impossible to be complete in such a bold survey of a rapidly changing field, we have put together a list of topics we think are crucial to an EES, and we are asking prominent scholars such as yourself to address such topics.

The goals of the workshop are two-fold: first, to bring a highly stimulating group of people together in Vienna to foster an open dialogue about the MS and the EES. Second, to produce a high-impact edited book (published by MIT Press), having the ambitious aim of providing a laboratory for ideas about what the EES might eventually look like. Since the intention is to have the book out for the Darwin anniversary year 2009, a prerequisite for accepting participation will be to agree to have a manuscript ready for the time of the workshop.

Both the workshop and the book are intended as tools for developing ideas, certainly not as finished products, yet, we think this very well could turn into a major stepping stone for the entire field of evolutionary biology.

We hope you will be joining us in Vienna next July. All travel and accommodation expenses will be paid for. If you are interested, please confirm your availability to us as soon as possible so that we may finalize plans for the workshop.

Sincerely,

* * ### * * *

Papers:

SELECTION AND ADAPTATION REFORMED
* Drift: John Beatty, University of British Columbia
* Neutralism: Sergey Gavrilets, University of Tennessee
* Multilevel selection: David Sloan Wilson, Binghamton University

NEW VIEWS ON GENOMES AND INHERITANCE
* Gene regulatory networks: Greg Wray, Duke University
* Genomes and post-genomes: Michael Purugganan, New York University
* Epigenetic inheritance: Eva Jablonka, Tel-Aviv University
* Niche inheritance: John Odling-Smee, Oxford University

UNDERSTANDING THE PHENOTYPE
* Dynamics of macroevolution: David Jablonski, University of Chicago
* Phenotypic plasticity: Massimo Pigliucci, Stony Brook University
* Origins of form: Stuart Newman, New York Medical College

CONTRIBUTIONS FROM EVO-DEVO
* Innovation: Gerd Müller, University of Vienna
* Modularity: Günter Wagner, Yale University
* Evolvability: Marc Kirschner, Harvard University

CHARACTERISTICS OF EXTENDED SYNTHESIS
* Non-centrality of the gene: Werner Callebaut, Hasselt University
* Principles of transition: Eörs Szathmary, Collegium Budapest
* Conceptual differences in the two syntheses: Alan Love, University of Minnesota

Suzan Mazur says her interest in evolution began with a Cessna single engine flight into Olduvai Gorge, across a closed Kenyan-Tanzanian border, to interview the late paleoanthropologist Mary Leakey. Their meeting followed discovery of the 3.5 million year old hominid footprints by Leakey and her team at Laetoli http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laetoli. Mazur says Leakey was the only reason the Tanzanian authorities agreed to give landing clearance. Her reports have since appeared in the Financial Times, The Economist, Forbes, Newsday, Philadelphia Inquirer, Archaeology, Connoisseur, Omni and others, as well as on PBS, CBC and MBC. She has been a guest on McLaughlin, Charlie Rose and various Fox Television News programs. Email: sznmzr@aol.com

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