This study provides a stimulating critique of contemporary evolutionary thought, analyzing the Modern Synthesis first developed by Theodosius Dobzhansky, Ernst Mayr, and Georgia Gaylord Simpson. 'Eldredge - the invertebrate palaeontologist renowned for his role in developing the theory of punctuated equilibria and the epistemological approach to phylogenetic pattern recognition known as cladistics - now gives us...one of the more important challenges to the neo-Darwinian evolutionary synthesis...This is a must for anyone, of any persuasion, interested in evolutionary theory.' Science Books and Films