title: Jacques Monod and Chance and Necessity.
abstract: Charles Darwin proposed the theory that evolution of live organisms is based on random variation and natural selection. Jacques Monod, in his classic book Chance and Necessity, published 45 years ago, presented his thesis that the biosphere does not contain a predictable class of objects or events, but constitutes a particular occurrence, compatible indeed with the first principles but not deducible from those principles. The biosphere is therefore essentially unpredictable. In his book, Monod expounded at length on the conflict between science and religion. He saw religion as a collection of primitive myths that had been blown to shreds by science. At every turn, Monod emphasized the role of chance in human existence, an idea that is antithetical to essentially every religious doctrine that places humans as some inevitable intention of a Creator.
authors.affiliation: Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Neurosciences and Sensory Organs, University of Bari Medical School, Policlinico, Piazza G. Cesare 11, 70124 Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Domenico
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ribatti
mesh_terms: D005075:Biological Evolution; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D008967:Molecular Biology / Q000266:history*