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.
Author(s): Brian Goodwin
Year: 2001
Language: English
Pages: 275
Cover......Page __sk_0000.djvu
Copyright......Page __sk_0002.djvu
Contents......Page __sk_0003.djvu
Preface to the Princeton Science Library Edition......Page __sk_0005.djvu
Preface......Page __sk_0009.djvu
Acknowledgments......Page __sk_0017.djvu
1 Whatever Happened to Organisms?......Page __sk_0021.djvu
2 How the Leopard Got Its Spots......Page __sk_0038.djvu
3 Life. the Excitable Medium......Page __sk_0062.djvu
4 Living Form in the Making......Page __sk_0097.djvu
5 The Evolution of Generic Forms......Page __sk_0135.djvu
6 New Directions, New Metaphors......Page __sk_0189.djvu
7 A Science of Qualities......Page __sk_0216.djvu
References......Page __sk_0258.djvu
Further Reading......Page __sk_0262.djvu
Index......Page __sk_0265.djvu
