West Conshohocken: Templeton Press, 2015. — 496 p. — ISBN 9787-1-59947-465-6.How did human beings acquire imaginations that can conjure up untrue possibilities? How did the Universe become self-aware? In The Runes of Evolution, Simon Conway Morris revitalizes the study of evolution from the perspective of convergence, providing us with compelling new evidence to support the mounting scientific view that the history of life is far more predictable than once thought.
A leading evolutionary biologist at the University of Cambridge, Conway Morris came into international prominence for his work on the Cambrian explosion (especially fossils of the Burgess Shale) and evolutionary convergence, which is the process whereby organisms not closely related (not monophyletic), independently evolve similar traits as a result of having to adapt to similar environments or ecological niches.
In The Runes of Evolution, he illustrates how the ubiquity of convergence hints at an underlying framework whereby many outcomes, not least brains and intelligence, are virtually guaranteed on any Earth-like planet. Conway Morris also emphasizes how much of the complexity of advanced biological systems is inherent in microbial forms.Acknowledgments.
Introduction.
Dinner on the Lagoon.
Consider the Octopus.
Convergence: How Clear Is the Signal?
The Inevitability of Form.
Swallowing Convergence.
Biting Convergence.
Walking (and Swimming) to Convergence.
Sticking to Convergence.
When Evolution Begins to See.
The Color of Evolution.
The Smell and Taste of Evolution.
(In)tangible Evolution.
The Road to Mushrooms.
The Road to Plants.
The Arthropods Show the Way.
Converging on the Farm.
The Road to the Sky.
The Birds Converge.
Sexual Convergence.
The Road to Mammals.
The Roots of Sentience.
Convergent Brains.
The Road to King Cortex.
Convergent Minds.
Playing with Convergence.
The Final Steps.
Back to the Lagoon.
Notes.
General Index.
Index of Genera.
