On 7^th November 2024, the KLI hosted a symposium to launch Evolution Evolving, a book authored by KLI member Kevin Lala (University of St. Andrews), along with Tobias Uller (Lund University), Nathalie Feiner (Lund University), Marcus Feldman (Stanford University) and Scott Gilbert (Swarthmore College), and published by Princeton University Press. Evolution Evolving highlights the role of developmental processes in evolution, drawing upon new findings in areas such as evo-devo, epigenetics and symbiosis. A strength of the book is the complementary perspectives that the authors bring to the table, based upon their specific areas of expertise: Kevin Lala (evolutionary and behavioral biology, cultural evolution and niche construction), Tobias Uller (evolutionary ecology), Nathalie Feiner (evo-devo and molecular evolution), Marc Feldmann (evolutionary genetics and cultural evolution) and Scott Gilbert (developmental biology and eco-evo-devo).

The title of the book, according to the authors, alludes both to the evolution of the evolutionary process over time, as well as to the fact that evolutionary theory is evolving, which this book hopes to make a contribution towards.

The symposium was kicked off with a brief welcome by the KLI president, Philipp Mitteroecker, following which Kevin Lala, presented an overview of the book, taking the audience through a quick tour of its contents, the different chapters of the book and the many examples from natural history therein.

In the next part of the programme, commentaries on the book were provided by Gerd Müller, (theoretical biologist and former KLI President) and Tim Lewens (historian and philosopher of science, University of Cambridge). Gerd Müller, one of the pioneers of evo-devo and the extended evolutionary synthesis (EES), in his comments, succinctly explicated the key conceptual contributions that the book makes to evolutionary theory, highlighted its value for future research in evolution and allied fields, as well as raised the question of how Evolution Evolving sits in relation to the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis. Tim Lewens’ commentary, on the other hand, provided a historical and philosophical examination of Evolution Evolving’s main emphasis, which is the place of development in evolution. The final part of the programme was a panel discussion and Q & A with all the authors, which was impeccably conducted by KLI alumna, Lynn Chiu (philosopher of science, science communicator, University of Vienna). In this session, the authors were invited to respond to the commentaries as well as questions from Lynn Chiu and the audience, consisting of many of Vienna’s philosophers and evolutionary biologists including Fellows of the KLI, students as well as members of public.

The interactions between the guests and the authors continued over a splendid dinner reception hosted by the KLI. The entire event was wonderfully moderated by Barbara Fischer, a group leader at the KLI, and extremely well-attended, both in-person and online.