Punctuated Equilibrium Theory Of Evolution

I recently came across the following quote by Leon Trotsky

(Marxist and follower of Lenin) concerning Darwinism and

evolution.

It is particularly eye opening since several advocates

of the 'punctuated equilibrium' theory of evolution are avowed

Marxists!

These advocates include Steven Jay Gould and Richard

Lewontin. Note particularly Trotsky's use of 'equilibrium' in

this passage.

"The Darwinian theory of the origin of species encompasses the

entire span of development of the plant and animal kingdoms. The

struggle for survival and the processes of natural and sexual

selection proceed continously and uninterruptedly. But if one

could observe these processes with ample time at one's disposal--a

millennium, say, as the smallest unit of measure--one would

undoubtedly discover with one's own eyes that there are long ages

of relative equilibrium in the world of living things, when the

laws of selection operate almost imperceptibly, and the different

species remain relatively stable, seeming the very embodiment of

Plato's ideal types.

But there are also ages when the equilibrium

between plants, animals, and their geophysical environment is

disrupted, epochs of geobiological crisis, when the laws of

natural selection come to the fore in all their ferocity, and

evolution passes over the corpses of entire plant and animal

species. On this gigantic scale Darwinian theory stands out above

all as the theory of critical epochs in plant and animal

development." Originally from: Portraits, Personal and Political

by Leon Trotsky. George Breitman and George Saunders, eds. New

York : Pathfinder Press, 1977.

These quotes were originally written in 1919 but not published

until 1922. Now compare Trotsky's view with that of Stephen Jay

Gould!

"Eldredge and I refer to this scheme as the model of punctuated

equilibria. Lineages change little during most of their history,

but events of rapid speciation occasionally punctuate this

tranquility." "The process may take hundreds, even thousands of

years; you might see nothing if you stared at speciating bees on a

tree for your entire lifetime. But a thousand years is a tiny

fraction of one percent of the average duration for most fossil

invertebrate species..."

"Eldredge and I were fascinated to learn that many Russian

paleontologists support a model similiar to our punctuated

equilibria."

From: The Panda's Thumb. New York : W.W. Norton, 1982. In: "The

Episodic Nature of Evolutionary Change," p. 184-185. Originally

published in 'Natural History' magazine.