RONALD AYLMER FİSHER’IN “DOĞAL SEÇİLİMİN TEMEL TEOREMİ” ÜZERİNE TARİHSEL BİR İNCELEME

Yıl 2025, Cilt: 30 Sayı: 59, 159 - 179, 25.07.2025

Nefise Barak

https://doi.org/10.20519/divan.1654219

Öz

Bu çalışma, Ronald Aylmer Fisher’ın 1930 yılında yayınlanan The Genetical Theory of Natural Selection kitabında yer alan, “Herhangi bir organizmanın herhangi bir zamandaki uyum gücündeki artış oranı, o andaki uyum gücündeki genetik varyansına eşittir” şeklinde ifade edilen, “Doğal Seçilimin Temel Teoremi” (Kısaca: Teorem) olarak adlandırılan teoremi konu edinmektedir. Fisher bu teoremi biyoloji için bir yasa statüsünde görüp Teorem’e büyük önem atfetmiştir. Fakat tarihsel süreç içerisinde Teorem hem uzunca bir süre önemsenmemiş hem de birçok yanlış anlamaya maruz kalmıştır. Teorem’in matematiksel olarak doğruluğu ve biyoloji içerisinde bir düzenliliğe işaret ettiği konusunda ise Teorem ortaya konulduktan yaklaşık elli yıl sonra bir uzlaşıya varılmıştır. Nitekim uzlaşmaya varan, önde gelen bilimcilerden E. W. Ewens, 2024 yılında yayınlanan makalesinde fikrini değiştirmiş ve Teorem’in yanlış olduğunu ve literatürden yasaklanması gerektiğini öne sürmüştür. Fisher’ın Teorem’inin doğru olup olmadığı ve öneminin ne olduğu konusunda birçok belirsizlik vardır. Bu çalışmada, Fisher’ın Teorem’inin tarihsel arka planı, hangi koşullarda ortaya konulduğu, biyoloji tarihi içerisindeki serüveni ve Teorem’in biyoloji tarihinde tanıtılması amaçlanmaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Ronald Aylmer Fisher , Natural Selection , Charles Darwin , Modern Synthesis , Biology

Etik Beyan

Bu çalışma doktora tezinden türetilmiştir. Bu bilgi tezin ilk dip notunda bulunmaktadır.

A HISTORICAL STUDY ON RONALD AYLMER FISHER’S “FUNDAMENTAL THEOREM OF NATURAL SELECTION”

Öz

This study examines the "Fundamental Theorem of Natural Selection" (hereafter, the Theorem), first introduced by Ronald Aylmer Fisher in his 1930 book The Genetical Theory of Natural Selection. Fisher formulated the theorem as: "The rate of increase in fitness of any organism at any time is equal to its genetic variance in fitness at that time." He regarded this theorem as a biological law and attributed significant importance to it. Despite this, the theorem was largely overlooked and frequently misunderstood for decades. It was not until nearly fifty years after its publication that a consensus emerged confirming its mathematical validity and its indication of a biological regularity. Among those who supported this view was E. W. Ewens, a prominent geneticist. However, in a 2024 publication, Ewens reversed his position, arguing that the theorem is flawed and should be removed from scientific literature.The validity and significance of Fisher’s Theorem remain subjects of debate. This study aims to trace the historical background of the theorem, the context in which it emerged, its trajectory in the history of biology, and its reception and reinterpretation over time.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Ronald Aylmer Fisher , Natural Selection , Charles Darwin , Modern Synthesis , Biology

Kaynakça

• Ariew, André, ve Lewontin Richard. C.. "The Confusions of Fitness." The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science (2004): 347-363.
• Barton, N. H., & Coe, N. B. "On the Application of Statistical Physics to Evolutionary Biology." Journal of Theoretical Biology 259, no. 2, 2009: 317-324.
• Ettinger Lia, Jablonka Eva ve McLaughlin Peter. "On the Adaptations of Organisms and the Fitness of Types." Philosophy of Science (1990): 499-513.
• Bennett, J. H. "Review of Li." Herdity (1956): 275-278.
• Darwin, Charles. The Origin of Species. Cambridge University Press, 2009.
• —. Türlerin Kökeni. Çev. Ergi Deniz Özsoy. İstanbul: İş Bankası Yayınları, 2022.
• —. Türlerin Kökeni. Çev. Bahar Kılıç. 11. Baskı, İstanbul: Alfa, 2017.
• Depew, David J, ve Bruce H Weber. Darwinism Evolving: Systems Dynamics and the Genealogy of Natural Selection. MIT Press, 1995.
• Edelson, Edward. Gregor Mendel Genetiğin Temelleri. Çev. Füsun Baytok. Tübitak Popüler Bilim Kitapları, 2002.
• Edwards, A.W.F. "The Fundamental Thorem Of Natural Selection." Biological Review (1994): 443-474.
• Ewens, Warren J. A. Mathematical Account: Population Genetics. London: Methuen, 1969.
• —. "An Interpretation and Proof of the Fundamental Theorem of Natural Selection." Theoretical Population Biology (1989): 167-180.
• —. "The fundamental theorem of natural selection: the end of a story." Evolution (2024): 803-808.
• Fisher, Ronald, A. "Social Selection of Human Fertility." Nature (1932): 896–897.
• —. The Genetical Theory of Natural Selection. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1930.
• —. The Genetical Theory of Natural Selection. 2. Bs. New York: Dover Puplication, 1958.
• Frank , Steven A, ve Montgomery Slatkin. "Fisher's Fundamental Theorem of Natural Selection." Trends in Ecology & Evolution 7, no. 3 (1992): 92-95.
• Gasking, Elizabeth B. "Why was Mendel's Work Ignored?" Journal of the History of Ideas (1959): 60-84.
• Haldane, John Burdon Sanderson. The Philosophical Basis of Biology. Londra: Hodder and Stoughton Limited, 1931.
• Hodge, M. J. S. “Biology and philosophy (including ideology): a study of Fisher and Wright,” The Founders of Evolutionary Genetics. ed. S. Sarkar, 231–293. Kluwer Academic Puplishers, 1992.
• Jenkin, Fleeming. "[Review of] The origin of species." The North British Review (1867): 277-318.
• Kempthorne, Oscar. An Introduction to Genetic Statistics. New York: John Wiley and Son, 1957.
• Kojima, K, ve T. Kelleher. "Changes of mean fitness in random mating populations when epistasis and linkage are present." Genetics, (1961): 527-540.
• Li, Ching Chun. Population Genetics. University of Chicago Press, 1955.
• Lönnig, Wolf Ekkehard, "Mendel's Paper on the Laws of Heredity (1866): Solving the Enigma of the Most Famous ‘Sleeping Beauty’ in Science." Encyclopedia of Life Sciences (2017): 1-10.
• Mayr, Erns, The Growth of Biological Thought Diversity, Evolution, and Inheritance, 11. Bs. London: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press Cambridge, 2000.
• Mayr, Ernst. Evrim Nedir? Çev. Nurdan Soysal. İstanbul: Say Yayınları, 2016.
• Mayr, Ernst, ve Provine William B. The Evolutionary Synthesis. 4. Bs. Harvard University Press, 1998.
• Mendel, Gregor. "Experiments on Plant Hybrids." Genetics 204, no. 2 (2016): 407–422.
• —. Versuche über Pflanzenhybriden. Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden, 1970.
• Moran, P. A. P. "On the nonexistence of adaptive topographies." Annals of Human Genetics (1964): 383-393.
• Morris, Susan W. "Fleeming Jenkin and 'The Origin of Species': A Reassessment." The British Journal for the History of Science 27, no. 3 (1994): 313-343.
• Morrison, Margaret. "Physical Models and Biological Contexts." Philosophy of Science (1997): 315-324.
• —. Unifying Scientific Theories Physical Concepts and Mathematical Structures. Cambridge University Press, 2000.
• Okasha, Samir. "Fisher's Fundamental Theorem of Natural Selection: A Philosophical Analysis." The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science Oxford University Press 59, no. 3 (2008): 319-351.
• Otsuka, Jun. The Role of Mathematics in Evolutionary Theory. Cambridge University Press, 2019.
• Pence, Charles H. Charles Pence. The Rise of Chance in Evolutionary Theory: A Pompous Parade of Arithmetic. London: Academic Press is an imprint of Elsevier, 2022.
• Plutynski, Anya. "What was Fisher’s Fundamental Theorem of Natural Selection and What Was it for?" Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 7, no. 1 (2006): 59-82.
• Price, George R. "Fisher’s ‘fundamental theorem’ made clear." Annals of Human Genetics (1972): 129-140.
• Provine, William B. The Origins of Theoretical Population Genetics. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 2001.
• Recker, Doren A. "Causal Efficacy: The Structure of Darwin's Argument Strategy in the Origin of Species." Philosophy of Science (1987): 147-175.
• Ruse, Michael. "The Origin of Species." The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Darwin and Evolutionary Thought, ed. Michael Ruse, 95-102. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2013.
• Vanchurina, V., Wolfa , Y. I., Koonin, E. V., & Katsnelson, M. I. "Thermodynamics of evolution and the origin of life." PNAS 119, no. 6 (2022): 1-10.
• Vorzimmer, Peter. "Charles Darwin and Blending Inheritance." Isis 54, no. 3 (1963): 371-390.