How the leopard changed its spots : the evolution of complexity / Brian Goodwin ; with a new preface by the author.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Goodwin, Brian C., author.

Series:

Princeton Science Library ; 113

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Morphology.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xx, 252 pages) : illustrations

Place of Publication:

Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, [2001]

System Details:

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Summary:

Do genes explain life? Can advances in evolutionary and molecular biology account for what we look like, how we behave, and why we die? In this powerful intervention into current biological thinking, Brian Goodwin argues that such genetic reductionism has important limits. Drawing on the sciences of complexity, the author shows how an understanding of the self-organizing patterns of networks is necessary for making sense of nature. Genes are important, but only as part of a process constrained by environment, physical laws, and the universal tendencies of complex adaptive systems. In a new preface for this edition, Goodwin reflects on the advances in both genetics and the sciences of complexity since the book's original publication.

Contents:

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

PREFACE TO THE PRINCETON SCIENCE LIBRARY EDITION

PREFACE

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

CHAPTER 1 Whatever Happened to Organisms?

CHAPTER 2 How the Leopard Got Its Spots

CHAPTER 3 Life, the Excitable Medium

CHAPTER 4 Living Form in the Making

CHAPTER 5 The Evolution of Generic Forms

CHAPTER 6 New Directions, New Metaphors

CHAPTER 7 A Science of Qualities

REFERENCES

FURTHER READING

INDEX

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780691217802

0691217807

OCLC:

1202624573