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- Title
Human population biology: A developing paradigm for biological anthropology.
- Authors
Baker, Paul T.
- Abstract
This article focuses on the historical development of theory, scientific methods, and training in biological anthropology. The beginnings of biological anthropology are generally traced to the development of the medical profession and more specifically to the study of anatomy. As the subject developed into a separate scientific discipline, detailed training in human anatomy remained a firm requirement. This origin in the medical professions with its focus on a single species contrasted sharply with the broader training in most of the other biological sciences. The field of biological anthropology during the first half of the twentieth century remained an almost totally descriptive and taxonomic science. The fact that homo sapiens was morphologically and physiologically a product of evolution was accepted doctrine, hut why the species evolved was not a topic for research. The theoretical position generally accepted in the discipline is reflected in the position of Arthur Keith, who accepted human evolution and admired Charles Darwin but still doubted that Darwinian selection had explained the change.
- Subjects
POPULATION biology; PHYSICAL anthropology; HUMAN anatomy; TAXONOMY; SPECIES; KEITH, Arthur; DARWIN, Charles, 1809-1882
- Publication
International Social Science Journal, 1988, Vol 40, Issue 116, p255
- ISSN
0020-8701
- Publication type
Article