Lewontin’s scientific works
(The following commented list was kindly provided by Andrew Berry.)
- First venture into multi-locus theory. This has become very important as underlying theory in the analysis of genetic variation in genomes.
THE EVOLUTIONARY DYNAMICS OF COMPLEX POLYMORPHISMS
R. C. Lewontin, Ken-ichi Kojima
Evolution, December 1960
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1558-5646.1960.tb03113.x - Multi-locus work continued.
THE INTERACTION OF SELECTION AND LINKAGE. I. GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS; HETEROTIC MODELS
R. C. Lewontin
Genetics, Volume 49, Issue 1, 10 January 1964, Pages 49–67
https://doi-org.ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu/10.1093/genetics/49.1.49 - What Dick is most famous for: founding the field of molecular population genetics by introducing a technique, protein gel electrophoresis, that allowed people to study variation in protein sequences in any species.
A MOLECULAR APPROACH TO THE STUDY OF GENIC HETEROZYGOSITY IN NATURAL POPULATIONS. II. AMOUNT OF VARIATION AND DEGREE OF HETEROZYGOSITY IN NATURAL POPULATIONS OF DROSOPHILA PSEUDOOBSCURA
R. C. Lewontin, J. L. Hubby
Genetics, Volume 54, Issue 2, 30 August 1966, Pages 595–609
https://doi.org/10.1093/genetics/54.2.595 - The sister paper on protein gel electrophoresis.
A MOLECULAR APPROACH TO THE STUDY OF GENIC HETEROZYGOSITY IN NATURAL POPULATIONS. I. THE NUMBER OF ALLELES AT DIFFERENT LOCI IN DROSOPHILA PSEUDOOBSCURA
J. L. Hubby, R. C. Lewontin
Genetics, Volume 54, Issue 2, 30 August 1966, Pages 577–594
https://doi.org/10.1093/genetics/54.2.577 - An influential theoretical paper on the levels at which natural selection may operate
The Units of Selection
Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics
Vol. 1:1-18 (Volume publication date November 1970)
https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.es.01.110170.000245 - In my opinion, Dick’s most significant contribution: the finding that so-called “racial” variation in humans does not apply to the vast bulk of genetic variation in our species. Only a tiny proportion of the total amount of human variation contributes to inter-continental differences
Lewontin, R.C. (1972). The Apportionment of Human Diversity. In: Dobzhansky, T., Hecht, M.K., Steere, W.C. (eds) Evolutionary Biology. Springer, New York, NY.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-9063-3_14
https://www.vanderbilt.edu/evolution/wp-content/uploads/sites/295/2022/04/lewontin1972.pdf - The heart of the evolutionary process: developing tests to distinguish between the actions of neutral (i.e. inconsequential) evolution and selectively driven evolution.
DISTRIBUTION OF GENE FREQUENCY AS A TEST OF THE THEORY OF THE SELECTIVE NEUTRALITY OF POLYMORPHISMS
R. C. Lewontin, Jesse Krakauer
Genetics, Volume 74, Issue 1, 1 May 1973, Pages 175–195
https://doi.org/10.1093/genetics/74.1.175 - A careful analysis of the misapplication of statistical reasoning
ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE AND ANALYSIS OF CAUSES
Lewontin, R. C.
American Journal of Human Genetics Volume 26 Issue 3 Page 400-411 Published 1974
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1762622/pdf/ajhg00442-0122.pdf - Dick’s most famous paper (and the most cited one): with Stephen Jay Gould, a critique of gung-ho adaptationist thinking (presuming that every feature of an organism serves a particular purpose)
The spandrels of San Marco and the Panglossian paradigm: a critique of the adaptationist programme
S. J. Gould and R. C. Lewontin
Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B. 205 581–598
http://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.1979.0086 - An important intervention in the early days of forensic DNA when prosecutors were making inflated claims in court about the probabilities of innocence or guilt of a defendant on the basis of flawed population genetic inferences.
Population Genetics in Forensic DNA Typing
R. C. Lewontin and Daniel L. Hartl
Science 20 Dec 1991 Vol 254, Issue 5039 pp. 1745-1750
10.1126/science.1845040
Other works from Lewontin
Books
- Lewontin, R. C. (1974). The Genetic Basis of Evolutionary Change. Columbia University Press.
- Lewontin, R. C. (1982). Human Diversity. Scientific American Library.
- Lewontin, R. C., Kamin, L. J., & Rose, S. P. R. (1984). Not in Our Genes. Pantheon books.
- Levins, R., & Lewontin, R. C. (1985). The Dialectical Biologist. Harvard University Press.
- Lewontin, R. C. (1992). Biology as Ideology: The Doctrine of DNA. HarperPerennial.
- Lewontin, R. C. (2000a). It Ain’t Necessarily So: The Dream of the Human Genome and Other Illusions. New York Review of Books.
- Lewontin, R. C. (2000b). The Triple Helix: Gene, Organism, and Environment. Harvard University Press.
- Lewontin, R. C., & Levins, R. (2007). Biology Under the Influence: Dialectical Essays on Ecology, Agriculture, and Health. Monthly Review.
Articles
- Lewontin, R. C. (1978). Adaptation. Scientific American, 239(3), 156–169.
- Lewontin, R. C. (1995). Genes, environment, and organisms. Hidden Histories of Science, 115–139.
- Lewontin, R. C. (1996). Evolution as engineering. Integrative Approaches to Molecular Biology, 1–10.
- Fracchia, J., & Lewontin, R. C. (1999). Does culture evolve? History and Theory, 38(4), 52–78.
- Ariew, A., & Lewontin, R. C. (2004). The confusions of fitness. The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 55(2), 347–363.
- Fracchia, J., & Lewontin, R. C. (2005). The price of metaphor. History and Theory, 44(1), 14–29. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2303.2005.00305.x