Synthesizing Nature-nurture: Prenatal Roots of Instinctive Behavior

"...Gottlieb succeeds brilliantly in this book in describing in personal terms how discovery depends on keen observation and creative application of methods that continually refocus and refine the phenomena under inquiry. But it is also a book that puts one individual's research in the richer context of the ideas and studies of Gottlieb's historical predecessors. In this way, Gottlieb not only personally recounts a fascinating series of scientific investigations, but also carefully describes the succession of scientific beliefs that now make it possible to go beyond the modern synthesis." —Contemporary Psychology "This is an erudite book written by a leading developmental psychologist with an encyclopaedic knowledge of the relevant fields. Gottlieb's appreciation of the historical foundations of behavioural embryology and its close cousin developmental psychobiology is impressive....Synthesizing Nature-Nurture is a challenging piece of writing. It not only challenges molecular biology's hold on research into the origins and timing of development, but also will be challenging reading material for undergraduate courses in developmental psychology. It could be recommended for advanced undergraduates if accompanied by a knowledgeable and questioning form of tutorial guidance." —British Journal of Developmental Psychology "...a delightful combination of autobiographical detail and developmental science....Gottlieb's synthesis between nature and nurture is to be commended, not only because he lays down important principles for contemporary developmental science but also for his enthusiastic personal account of a lifetime's scientific creativity." —The Psychologist "In this new book, Gilbert Gottlieb, a comparative and developmental scientist of unparalleled theoretical sophistication and empirical accomplishment, turns his singularly creative attention to an analysis of the concept of probabilistic epigenesis. The result is a book that makes a unique and invaluable contribution to an integrated understanding of developmental systems, evolution, and plasticity. This superb volume is a watershed event in scholarship pertinent to the biological and contextual bases of development and is a necessary resource for all scholars concerned with the process of development." —Richard M. Lerner Tufts University "In contrast to the current consensus that believes biological science has nothing more to learn, Gottlieb's astonishing new book opens wide the door to a new 'developmental' view of the relationship between genes and early experiences, opening up the evolution of the mind--in the womb and during childhood--to the possibility of greatly improving what we mislabel 'human nature'." —Lloyd deMause Editor, The Journal of Psychohistory and Director, The Institute