That was because his hypothesis was that if linguistic evolution is jerky, the jerks will happen at the points where languages split the equivalent of species splits in biological evolution.

ECONOMIST: Linguistic evolution: Received pronunciation | The

This uses a process of randomisation and trial-and-error (akin to mutation and selection in biological evolution) to search the vast number of possible microstructures to find the most suitable design for each subsection.

ECONOMIST: MONITOR

"The implementation of the athlete biological passport is an important step in the evolution of the tennis anti-doping program as it provides us with a great tool in the fight against doping in our sport, " said ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti.

CNN: Tennis serves up new measures in the fight against doping

It is that evolution works by gradual improvements rather than sudden leaps (in this, Renault is aligning itself with biological orthodoxy).

ECONOMIST: The science of selling