The Ecological Theater and the Evolutionary Play

In the three lectures which give their title to this delightful collection of esays, the author of "The Enchanted Voyage" and "The Itinerate Ivory Tower" turns his attention to the influence of the environment on the course of evolution. The first lecture considers the nature of the terrestrial biosphere, both as a unique phenomenon on earth and as one of a class of possible spaces on other bodies; the second examines the nature of the ecological niche; and the third discusses some of the possible environmental interactions of a single species, emphasis being placed on the extremely recondite nature of the selective forces that act on man, as on other animals. Another of the pieces deals with the problem of the relation of natural beauty to works of art, particularly in the context of the similarities and differences apparent when natural history museums and art galleries are compared. The final essay, "The Cream in the Gooseberry Fool," is an account of the role of an English country clergyman and of the European magpie most in one of the most significant early discoveries of genetics.