Mouse Development: Patterning, Morphogenesis, and Organogenesis

Book Description

This book represents a classic compilation of current knowledge about mouse development and its correlates to research in cell biology, molecular biology, genetics, and neuroscience. Emphasis is placed on the research strategy, experimental design, and critical analysis of the data, disguishing this from other books that only focus on protocols for mouse developmental research. Selected chapters are indexed to electronic databases such as GeneBank, GenBank, Electronic Mouse Atlas, and Transgenic/Knockout, further increasing the utility of this book as a reference.

*Broad-based overview of mouse development from fundamental to specialist levels
*Extensive coverage of a wide range of developmental mutations of the mouse
*Excellent benchmark illustrations of brain, craniofacial, gut and heart development
*In-depth experiment-based assessment of concepts in mammalian development
*Focus on models of specific relevance to human development
*Comprehensive reference to key literature and electronic databases related to mouse development
*High-quality full-color production

Techniques and Technologies in Morphogenetic Design (Architectural Design)

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endorsement from a deeply suspicious crank

Techniques and Technologies in Morphogenetic Design (Architectural Design)

Manufacturer: Academy Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0470015292

Book Description

This issue of AD introduces a new approach to architectural practice based on the interrelationship of emergence and self-organisation concepts. A sequence to the successful Emergence: Morphogenetic Design Strategies title by the same guest-editors, it advances on the previous publication by taking on board the latest developments for fully integrated design evolution, manufacturing and construction.

Emergence requires the recognition of architectural structures not as singular and fixed bodies, but as complex energy and material systems that have a lifespan, exist as part of the environment of other active systems, and as an iteration of a series that proceeds by evolutionary development. Thus the focal point of this issue will be the exploration of techniques and technologies that enable the implementation of such morphogenetic strategies, requiring a new set of intellectual and practical skills. Though the publication stands alone as an investigation and presentation of cutting-edge techniques and technologies within the design and construction field supported by examples from adjacent industries, it also introduces a new springboard for understanding and rethinking the radical changes in which architecture is now being conceived, designed and produced. While representing a timely exploration of the embedding of techniques and technology in an alternative design approach, it also presents wholly new strategies for tackling issues of sustainability.

Customer Reviews:

endorsement from a deeply suspicious crank.......2007-06-21

I freely hate blobitecture and its practitioners; however, I found the work in this book to be the most convincing exploration of WHY you would look into the subject from a systems standpoint; to begin by observing natural structural systems (of bamboo, etc.), then deriving architectural systems from these observations, and then deforming these systems by introducing other architectural requirements (site, unit size variation, etc., etc.). I could see how computational design applied to complex topography would be a very elegant and useful application for such thinking, and beyond. Reluctantly accept the potential for this wide open field of architectural systematization. But practitioners beware!! 90% of that stuff is bs flash, and exemplifies the mentality of: "I don't know what I want, but I know how to get it."

The Presence of the Past: Morphic Resonance and the Habits of Nature

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Paradigm-shifting work
A Simple Idea Viewed from a New Perspective
UNFORGETTABLE IDEAS
Hmm? am i really the first to give 5 stars?
An excellent place to start

The Presence of the Past: Morphic Resonance and the Habits of Nature
Rupert Sheldrake
Manufacturer: Park Street Press
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ASIN: 089281537X
Release Date: 1995-03-01

Book Description

Rupert Sheldrake's theory of morphic resonance challenges the fundamental assumptions of modern science. An accomplished biologist, Sheldrake proposes that all natural systems, from crystals to human society, inherit a collective memory that influences their form and behavior. Rather than being ruled by fixed laws, nature is essentially habitual. The Presence of the Past lays out the evidence for Sheldrake's controversial theory, exploring its implications in the fields of biology, physics, psychology, and sociology. At the same time, Sheldrake delivers a stinging critique of conventional scientific thinking. In place of the mechanistic, neo-Darwinian worldview he offers a new understanding of life, matter, and mind.

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Paradigm-shifting work.......2007-03-15

Sheldrake's opus shakes the axioms of causality underlying experimental science. Not many books have done that. Not many books can address metaphysical topics, suggest alternatives to the standard Aristotelian underpinnings of science or "naturalism," and do so plausibly without recourse to superstition.

Sheldrake, a biologist, examines the many anomalous phenomena that seem to cut against some very basic beliefs about "how things work." The book integrates observations from many different fields of endeavor from physics to biology to psychology. The scope of this work as as wide as it is deep.

If you have ever read Thomas Kuhn's "Structure of Scientific Revolutions," this book will resonate along the same lines for you. Well worth your time and money.

A Simple Idea Viewed from a New Perspective .......2005-12-07

Legendary managment guru W. Edwards Deming spoke frequently of "profound knowledge." Basically, this is knowledge that profoundly changes the way you think and releases new creative energies. See his book The New Economics.

Rupert Sheldrake's ideas about "morphogenetic fields" and "morphic resonance" must surely be that kind of knowledge. He begins with a fairly simple scientific concept and brings it into another creative universe. Many of us are familiar with "fields". For example, there are electomagnetic fields, gravitational fields, and quantum matter fields.

We know from Science that we are immersed in a sea of electromagnetic fields of numerous frequencies. Waves of energy pass through each other without interfering with each other. Matter is condensed energy. We can see that form of energy, however there is a lot of energy we cannot see.

Based on mathematical calculations, we also know that an infinite spectrum of energy waves is theoretically possible. Waves in infinite variety might be passing through each other continuously without noticeably interacting. Perhaps, the world we know is just one spectrum connected to many other spectrums we haven't seen yet.

We'd have worlds have within worlds, in other words: "baby universes", ten dimensions in "space time", "superstrings", "universe splits", and so forth and so on.

Author and physcist David Bohn famously explained it this way. "Everything material is also mental, and everything mental is also material. But, there may be more infinitely subtle levels of matter than we are aware of." This is where Sheldrake's morphogentic fields come into the picture, or big picture, it seems to me. The forms and physical properties that we see resonating throughout existence are developed by some kind of know-how or knowledge. Could it be that there are fields in Biology and Chemistry like the fields we recognize in Physics?

If I've got it right, Sheldrake's morphogenetic fields are mental or maybe spiritual fields that spread know-how and knowledge throughout creation. Maybe I've skipped a rung of the inner and outer worlds of existence, but I feel like I'm getting pretty warm here.

Sheldrake doesn't want us to just take his word for this, however. Theories in Science need to be tested. And, Sheldrake's already working on that. He proposes several experiments in the last few chapters of the book. Browsing Amazon, I see there's another book or two in publication about these experiments.

You might want to read this book with Out of Control by Kevin Kelly and/or Living Systems by James Grier Miller, which is what I did. Several reviewers of this book have mentioned "metaphysics". If you'd like to go in that direction as well, you might enjoy What is Process Theology by Robert B. Mellert or Process Theology: A Basic Introduction by Robert Mesle.

UNFORGETTABLE IDEAS.......2004-01-19

I read this book some years ago and find the ideas in it have stayed with me, as they go a long way toward filling some holes in our understanding of reality. Sheldrake's Morphic Fields mean living things communicate even when they are not in physical proximity. This explains some of his other research, such as psychic connections between human and animal. Read Sheldrake's book, Dogs That Know When Their Owners are Coming Home, a fascinating look at the human-animal bond.

But the idea that once a new technique is learned by part of the population, it is more easily learned by the rest is startling. Can it explain the rapid spread of computer literacy? Like the old joke in school, can we actually learn "by osmosis?" Sheldrake's examples of group behavior and generational learning in the animal world points exactly in that direction. What one generation learns can be passed to the next. What I learn can make it easier for you to learn. This is a radical idea!

I've recently read astronaut Dr. Edgar Mitchell's book, The Way of the Explorer, in which he presents his view of reality, based on years of research into psychic and spiritual pehonomenon. His view incorporates Sheldrake's ideas in that he accounts for knowledge that does not come from standard learning methods. Knowledge received from spiritual insight or received psychically is part of the natural but unseen web underlying our universe, according to Mitchell. All knowledge of past and present is available, but is not sought by most people, since they do not know or practice the techniques for tapping into that source and there are no currently accepted scientific theories to explain how it works. Sheldrake's Morphic Fields are one such explanation.

The Presence of the Past is an influential book that will continue to be consulted and discussed. Since reading it, I've had more reason to think Sheldrake is right and I've read nothing elsewhere that disproves his fascinating conclusions.

Hmm? am i really the first to give 5 stars?.......2002-08-05

I felt compulsed to write a 5-star review after seeing only 3 reviews, all of them giving 3 or 4 stars to this classic masterpiece. Hey, don't get it wrong! this is a superb book you can't put down once you've started. I have read it twice and intend to translate it into Estonian.
Although, yes, only maybe a quarter of orthodox biologists can stand Sheldrake's name, the implications of his theory - if correct - are enormous. It would thoroughly change our present understanding of the concept of memory, which means that we need new fields of science - physical semiotics, for example. It would push the "borders" of semiotics to include the very first particles after the BB. Followers of C.S.Peirce would drink lots of champagne and would celebrate the victory. It would also require a radical revision of the ideas of evolution.
So - yes, yes, this IS a popular half-science-fiction book, easily dismissed by orthodox scientists. However, several of Sheldrake's examples are convincing and his theoretizing makes sense. So, I prefer to keep Sheldrake's ideas in "Interesting unsolved cases" drawer. Sheldrake is very much like Ken Wilber. "Serious" philosophers don't call Wilber a philosopher, but an "interesting individual". I would take it as a compliment.

An excellent place to start.......2002-04-19

Sheldrake's ideas, while controverial are an excellent place to add to anyone's ongoing exploration of Metaphysics. I agree with a previous reviewer in that these ideas can be interpreted using old terminology. Instead I have found it better to synthesize Sheldrake's excellent works with David Bohm, and any other relevant source I can find. Where do these Morphic fields come from? That is the truly interesting question.

Molecular Basis of Epithelial Appendage Morphogenesis (Molecular Biology Intelligence Unit)

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Molecular Basis of Epithelial Appendage Morphogenesis (Molecular Biology Intelligence Unit)

Manufacturer: Landes Bioscience
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1570594902

Book Description

Epithelial appendages are the derivatives of the epithelial sheet. On the body surface, they include hair, feathers, scales, claws, horns, sebaceous glands, mammary glands, etc. In the oral cavity, they include teeth, salivary glands, etc. Inside the body, the surfaces of the gut are covered with different derivatives that line the stomach, small intestine, colon, etc. Lung, pancreas and liver begin as epithelial derivatives of the endodermal tube. These organs are diverse in structure and function. However, is there a common theme underlying their formation?This book identifies simple principles underlying the seemingly diverse phenomena of organ formation. Data accumulated so far suggest that most of the molecular mechanisms are shared in different organogenetic processes, in body axis construction, and even have their roots in Drosophila morphogenesis. The new unifying concept is a pleasure to appreciate. Each chapter provides the most up-to date information written by leaders in the field.

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Biology of Floral Scent

Manufacturer: CRC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0849322839

Book Description

As with nearly all living creatures, humans have always been attracted and intrigued by floral scents. Yet, while we have been manufacturing perfumes for at least 5000 years to serve a myriad of religious, sexual, and medicinal purposes, until very recently, the limitation of our olfactory faculty has greatly hindered our capacity to clearly and objectively measure scent. Today, thanks to advances in practical methodologies and affordable instrumentation, we are now able to collect, separate, and identify volatile compounds with aromatic impact. These advances are leading to much intensive investigation that has already resulted in many highly insightful and useful discoveries. Biology of Floral Scent provides the first comprehensive treatment of the biology of floral scents. It reviews the impressive research being done across several disciplines, incorporating molecular biology, enzymology, chemistry, entomology, genetic engineering, and functional genomics. Organized into a single volume for the first time, this landmark work covers every major aspect of floral scent research including- · Function and significance in the interactions between plants and pollinators · Composition and enzymology · Evolutionary aspects · Commercial applications, including the use of recently identified scent genes to genetically engineer flowers to produce new scents Meeting the needs of plant scientists, cell and molecular biologists, natural product chemists, pharmacognosists, and entomologists, as well as students in these fields, this work provides the background, findings, and insight that will stimulate new research to further advance an understanding of floral scent biology.

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Mechanisms of Morphogenesis
Jamie Davies
Manufacturer: Academic Press
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Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 012204651X
Release Date: 2005-09-12

Book Description

Morphogenesis is the set of processes that generate shape and form in the embryo- an important area within developmental biology. An exciting and up to the minute account of the very latest research into the factors that create biological form, Mechanisms of Morphogenesis is a text reference on the mechanisms of cell and tissue morphogenesis in a diverse array of organisms including prokaryotes, animals, plants and fungi.

By combining hard data with computer modelling, this book will equip readers with a much broader understanding of the scope of modern research than is otherwise available. The book focuses on the ways in which the genetic programme is translated to generate cell shape, to direct cell migration, and to produce the shape, form and rates of growth of the various tissues. Each topic is illustrated with experimental data from real systems, with particular reference to gaps in current knowledge and pointers to future research.

* Includes over 200 four-color figures
* Offers an integrated view of theoretical developmental biology and computer modelling with laboratory-based discoveries
* Covers experimental techniques as a guide to the reader
* Organized around principles and mechanisms, using them to integrate discoveries from a range of organisms and systems

Morphogenesis: The Cellular and Molecular Processes of Developmental Anatomy (Developmental and Cell Biology Series)

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Morphogenesis: The Cellular and Molecular Processes of Developmental Anatomy (Developmental and Cell Biology Series)
Jonathan Bard
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
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Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0521361966

Book Description

This timely account provides a comprehensive contemporary analysis of morphogenetic processes in vertebrate and invertebrate embryos. Morphogenesis, the generation of tissue organization in embryos, is an increasingly important subject. This is partly because the techniques for investigating many morphogenetic mechanisms have only recently become available and partly because studying the genomic basis of embryogenesis requires an understanding of the developmental phenotype. Following an introduction covering case studies and historical and technical approaches, the book reviews the mechanistic roles of extracellular matrices, cell membranes and the cytoskeleton in morphogenesis. A detailed discussion of how mesenchymal and epithelial cells cooperate to build a wide range of tissues is also included. The book concludes with a dynamical analysis of the subject. With its extensive literature review (more than 500 titles), this book will interest developmental biologists and will also serve as an advanced textbook for postgraduate and final year students.

Vascular Morphogenesis: in Vivo, in Vitro, in Mente

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Vascular Morphogenesis: in Vivo, in Vitro, in Mente

Manufacturer: Birkhäuser Boston
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Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0817639209

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Dawkins' Plethora of Illustrated Examples of Gradual Evolution via Natural Selection
Not the Best Dawkins Book
There is current empirical evidence for evolution and speciation
Dawkins gets better with age.
A reducionist's view of evolution

Climbing Mount Improbable
Richard Dawkins
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
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ASIN: 0393316823

Amazon.com

How do species evolve? Richard Dawkins, one of the world's most eminent zoologists, likens the process to scaling a huge, Himalaya-size peak, the Mount Improbable of his title. An alpinist does not leap from sea level to the summit; neither does a species utterly change forms overnight, but instead follows a course of "slow, cumulative, one-step-at-a-time, non-random survival of random variants"--a course that Charles Darwin, Dawkins's great hero, called natural selection. Illustrating his arguments with case studies from the natural world, such as the evolution of the eye and the lung, and the coevolution of certain kinds of figs and wasps, Dawkins provides a vigorous, entertaining defense of key Darwinian ideas.

Book Description

A brilliant book celebrating improbability as the engine that drives life, by the acclaimed author of The Selfish Gene and The Blind Watchmaker. The human eye is so complex and works so precisely that surely, one might believe, its current shape and function must be the product of design. How could such an intricate object have come about by chance? Tackling this subject--in writing that the New York Times called "a masterpiece"--Richard Dawkins builds a carefully reasoned and lovingly illustrated argument for evolutionary adaptation as the mechanism for life on earth. The metaphor of Mount Improbable represents the combination of perfection and improbability that is epitomized in the seemingly "designed" complexity of living things. Dawkins skillfully guides the reader on a breathtaking journey through the mountain's passes and up its many peaks to demonstrate that following the improbable path to perfection takes time. Evocative illustrations accompany Dawkins's eloquent descriptions of extraordinary adaptations such as the teeming populations of figs, the intricate silken world of spiders, and the evolution of wings on the bodies of flightless animals. And through it all runs the thread of DNA, the molecule of life, responsible for its own destiny on an unending pilgrimage through time. Climbing Mount Improbable is a book of great impact and skill, written by the most prominent Darwinian of our age.

Customer Reviews:

Dawkins' Plethora of Illustrated Examples of Gradual Evolution via Natural Selection.......2007-09-25

Climbing Mount Improbable is an expanded transcript of Dawkins' Growing Up in the Universe, first broadcast in 1991 in five episodes, which was filmed during a series of Royal Institution Christmas Lectures (which have been held in London annually since 1825 first started by Michael Faraday). For those who have seen the series, Climbing Mount Improbable is that whole series plus five years worth of updates (this book was first published in 1996). For those who haven't seen the series, its worth getting because the series compliments this book wonderfully.

Climbing Mount Improbable is a collection of examples of gradual evolution via natural selection with a good load of illustrations and photographs to back it up. In terms of value for money this book is essentially a pinnacle in Dawkins' thoughts on evolutionary biology with the evidence to back it up and so for that reason really does offer a lot more than most books for the price.

Nobody does it better than Dawkins when it comes to presenting biology lessons of a lifetime. The fact that this book is based on the materials for a set of Royal Institution Christmas Lectures says it all about the quality of the information in the pages. If there is a biology book you are going to get then get this at all costs. It's both the foundation and the finishing touch on assembling the facts surrounding living things.

Dawkins covers ten chosen topics. Each topic is about evolutionary biology. The main theme of the book is about the illusion of intelligent design and how natural selection is the right approach to understanding the gradual development of complex organisms from simpler ones. The metaphor of the mountain with many peaks is used throughout the book to describe the process of evolution via natural selection. This mountain is what Dawkins calls Mount Improbable.

Chapter 1 "Facing Mount Rushmore"
This chapter deals with illusions in natural design such as seeing John F. Kennedy in a mountain face and comparisons to actual intelligent designs such as Mount Rushmore. Dawkins then examines mimicry in insects such as ants mimicking beetles and beetles mimicking termites, all explained by natural selection. Dawkins covers several designoid objects such as the pitcher plant and pots made by potter wasps and mason bees. Convergent evolution describes how specific environmental conditions can produce the same evolved characteristics in separate species. Millipedes copulate face to face. The wild cabbage has bred an amazing diversity of cabbage-like plants. The Chihuahua has eventually been bred from the wolf. Dawkins famous blind watchmaker program is then shown to produce a variety of computer generated biomorphs to illustrate how complex organisms form through heredity via natural selection.

Chapter 2 "Silken Fetters"
Dawkins describes in deep detail the evolution of the spider-web before going on to explain adaptive variations and in the web design.

Chapter 3 "The Message From the Mountain"
Dawkins gives a general rundown on how natural selection gradually works including mutation and the error of calling evolution chance. Dawkins gives examples including the evolution of the elephant trunk and the giraffe neck. The topics of macro-mutations and punctuated evolution are covered.

Chapter 4 "Getting Off the Ground"
Dawkins describes the evolution of flight. Magnitude and volume in relation to evolutionary constraints under the laws of physics is extremely interesting. Creatures that glide are illustrated. Dawkins answers why mammals are found in the sea if mammals evolved from fish and then proceeds to give examples of fish that have strange adaptations via natural selection such as the flat-fish.

Chapter 5 "The Forty-fold Path to Enlightenment"
Dawkins describes the evolution of the eye in vast detail. The evolution of the eye is often called impossible by some yet the solution is again found in the gradual process of natural selection. Dawkins then goes on to show how the eye has independently evolved in other species.

Chapter 6 "The Museum of All Shells"
Using just three mathematical variables of the flare, verm and spire Dawkins systematically develops complex shells. Then by adding another dimension of size and change of each possible variable Dawkins surprises the reader with an array of every complex form of life on the planet today. This is a real eye-opener... and an evolved eye at that.

Chapter 7 "Kaleidoscopic Embryos"
If you have ever wondered how those amazing jellyfish look so mechanical Dawkins explains it using the idea of kaleidoscopes and natural selection. This chapter then leads up to another surprise of how body parts evolve into their complexities from less complex designs. This is yet another brain raiser... and an evolved brain at that too.

Chapter 8 "Pollen Grains and Magic Bullets"
Dawkins illustrates and describes the symbiotic relationships between flowers and the insects they need to reproduce them, all developed via natural selection.

Chapter 9 "The Robot Repeater"
All living things are in fact hosts for DNA. DNA for wings is there so that wings can help DNA spread. DNA says copy me to copy me. That's it! This is the meaning of life in a nutshell. Shockingly simple but this is what has been at the heart of all biological questions since humans first asked "why we are the way we are?" using our emergent consciousness.

Chapter 10 "A Garden Inclosed"
Dawkins does the evolution of the fig via natural selection in a way that only very patient readers or professional biologists will appreciate. It's the book's example of tour-de-force natural selection. It is highly complex and requires several readings to even begin to comprehend it.

This book is a world beyond the question of whether evolution is real or not. Not only is this book dealing with the fact of evolution but its business is with the mechanisms of natural selection in all its forms as a real process that is observable, testable and verifiable. For people who are still unsure about evolution this book will not only convince but does so by going into the deep end and presenting what biologists know about this certainty of life.

The style of critical thinking is also something to learn outside of the book's topic. Dawkins writes likes it is the reader who is doing all the work, and they are if they can think through every step of his mountain climb. You will never see life the same way again. Everything, and I mean everything, you see will be subject to analysis. Dawkins has set his standards as high as Everest. You will stand at the summit with a refined critical mind and that is guaranteed.

Not the Best Dawkins Book.......2006-05-23

Although I called this "Not the best Dawkins Book," notice I still gave it four stars. If you're looking for a dispute against creationism as I know a lot of Dawkins' readers are, then I'd recommend The Blind Watchmaker instead. However, if you're looking for a few interesting examples of the beauty of natural selection at work, Dawkins articulates them well in this book touching on: elephant trunks, spider webs, wasps & figs, the eye, flying things, and some molluscs.

There is current empirical evidence for evolution and speciation.......2006-04-17

I know this forum is supposed to be about the book, but I am so tired of people in the evolution vs. no-evolution debate claiming there is NO EVIDENCE (it's always in caps) for evolution. Can any of these people honestly claim they've done the research to support their claims? How many hours have they logged in research libraries? How many footnotes and bibliographies have they gone through and followed up on? I'm not saying there aren't issues with evolutionary theory and possible lines of argument. But the age-old "there isn't any direct evidence" simply is not true and it does a disservice to the debate to keep saying that. Here are just a FEW examples I've come across with minimal research:

First, the Grant's have done a 20 year, exhaustive, fasicinating study of the CURRENT evolution of the Galapogos finches. They have recorded measurable changes in morphology and behavior due to natural selection. It is not philosophy, it is not conjecture, it is in the data. Gigabytes of it.

Two, ACTUAL SPECIATION has been observed and studied in at least one species of fruit fly.

Microbiologists and pathologists (and anyone fighting disease today) can show you numerous example of evolution in action. MEASURABLE, QUANTIFIABLE evolution. Even if they didn't (and they did) does anyone out there think that antibiotics are becoming less effective because of intelligent design?

Several species of guppy's have been used to perform REPEATABLE, MEASURABLE expirements that demonstrate natural selection in action. This is a "real" experiment in a real lab, as if that's the only kind of science that means something; but still, if that's what people are complaining doesn't exist, they are wrong.

There is a journal devoted to covering evolution in action and the scientists that are observing it in nature and running experiments in the lab. You can read countless more stories (one of my favorite is the frog taking over Australia after 80 years of harmless-ness due to a favorable mutation).

The papers are all out there. The data is there. You just have to look (and be willing to look). And this is stuff I've come across as just a casual reader with an interest in evolution. I actually started out believing the DARWIN WAS IN CRISIS! Oh heavens! I read that there is was no evidence of evolution so maybe it evolution is just an unprovable theory (= philosophy). I actually believed that. But then I took the step that so many don't: I actually did some research - and it didn't take much. What a crazy idea.

So please, please stop saying there is no evidence until you have done the hard work of the research yourself and stop repeating cliche's from people with an agenda.

Dawkins gets better with age........2006-03-27

Ricard Dawkins did a fine job with "The Blind Watchmaker", but "Climbing Mt. Improbable" is at least two notches better. With and additioal decade of scientific discovery since his earlier books, Dawkins has really put Intelligent Design in his cross hairs and laid out the facts. What one chooses to do with the new insights into evolution is a personal choice.

A reducionist's view of evolution.......2005-08-29

This book is interesting and does a really good job defending Darwinism, even though it is way too long on some topics, becoming boring, like the excessively long chapter about spider webs.

The author, however, is what others call a reducionist, treating only isolated aspects of living beings and completely avoiding much more complex and philosophic topics, like how some species aquired conscience and self-awareness (which of course is totally different from simply being able to process information in the brain). Dawkins loves to use computer simulation for proving some of his arguments. He probably would concur that computers will never be conscious or self-aware, but he does not even try to explain how random mutations could give matter such capabilities.

Dawkins is also proud of his Darwinist beliefs and makes fun of people who think otherwise. However, if he takes his own arguments literally, he would have to admit that any thoughts that happen in his or anybody else's brains are nothing more than ripples of the big-bang anyway.

Lindenmayer Systems: Impacts on Theoretical Computer Science, Computer Graphics, and Developmental Biology

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Lindenmayer Systems: Impacts on Theoretical Computer Science, Computer Graphics, and Developmental Biology

Manufacturer: Springer
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Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 3540553207

Book Description

L systems are language-theoretic models for developmental biology. They wereintroduced in 1968 by Aristid Lindenmayer (1925-1989) and have proved to be among the most beautiful examples of interdisciplinary science, where work in one area induces fruitful ideas and results in other areas. L systemsare based on relational and set-theoretic concepts, which are more suitable for the discrete and combinatorial structures of biology than mathematical models based on calculus or statistics. L systems have stimulated new work not only in the realistic simulation of developing organisms but also in the theory of automata and formal languages, formal power series, computer graphics, and combinatorics of words. This book contains research papers by almost all leading authorities and by many of the most promising young researchers in the field. The 28 contributions are organized in sections on basic L systems, computer graphics, graph grammars and map L systems, biological aspects and models, and variations and generalizations of L systems. The introductory paper by Lindenmayer and J}rgensen was written for a wide audience and is accessible to the non-specialist reader. The volume documents the state of the art in the theory of L systems and their applications. It will interest researchers and advanced students in theoretical computer science and developmental biology as well as professionals in computer graphics.

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