This is a book I've waited for all of my professional life (plus a bit--I'm 80).
---Gorkana Group, BiologistHomology, Genes, and Evolutionary Innovation makes a seminal contribution to evolutionary biology. As Wagner argues, his view provides an opportunity for a major research program on the study of novelty as distinct from adaptation.---Carl Simpson and Douglas H. Erwin, Science
"In this remarkably insightful and ambitious book, Wagner argues that homologies are real: they are not just surviving similarities between related organisms that have not yet been erased by selection and drift, and they shape evolutionary trajectories by organizing the flow of variation to selection. He develops a synthesis of adaptationist and structuralist perspectives on evolution that is both conceptually rich and empirically grounded."—Kim Sterelny, author of The Evolved Apprentice: How Evolution Made Humans Unique
"I have nothing but enthusiasm for this book. It's one of the most interesting books about biology I've read for quite some time. The examples are wonderful. The writing is engaging and attractive."—Peter Godfrey-Smith, author of Darwinian Populations and Natural Selection
[A]s a treatise on the homology concept in relation to evolutionary morphological novelties, we cannot think of a better current treatment. We congratulate the author for having written a truly inspiring book that will influence the field for many years to come.---Lennart Olsson, Systematic Biology
"Stimulating. No other book addresses biological homology from this perspective and with this depth of analysis."—Alessandro Minelli, author of Forms of Becoming: The Evolutionary Biology of Development
Deeply thought provoking. . . . This survey of homology in the light of modern genetic research . . . is timely and helpful.---Peter Moore, The Bulletin
The book is beautifully written, in a precise yet conversational and often humorous tone; still, it is not light reading. Like the chocolate tortes of the author's native Vienna, it requires time to savor. Buy it, and find a seat in your favorite library or café in which to appreciate its richness.---J. A. Bolker, Evolution and Development
It is with great pleasure that readers may learn in the pages of Günter Wagner's book how to solve such recalcitrant de Beerian puzzles by their own, guided by the author's expertise both as a gifted philosopher and first rank scientist. . . . Wagner's beautifully written four hundred and twenty five pages are full of important qualifications of the framework and excellent illustrations of each and every of the author's points.---Guillermo Lorenzo González, Theorema
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Winner of the 2018 Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal, National Academy of Sciences
"Wagner's contributions to the conceptual growth of developmental evolutionary biology are unrivalled. Homology, Genes, and Evolutionary Innovation shows the sweep of his creative and rigorous thinking. This is one of the most exciting books in evolutionary biology I have read in a long time."—Douglas J. Futuyma, coeditor of The Princeton Guide to Evolution
