Book Description
Genetics: From Genes to Genomes is a cutting-edge, introductory genetics text authored by an unparalleled author team, including Nobel Prize winner, Leland Hartwell. The Third Edition continues to build upon the integration of Mendelian and molecular principles, providing students with the links between early genetics understanding and the new molecular discoveries that have changed the way the field of genetics is viewed.
Customer Reviews:
Not for the uninitiated.......2007-07-07
This is a good book if you already have a foundation in genetics. Oddly, the book is marketed as your basic undergrad genetics text. Yet instead of just explaining the concepts, it leads you on the path of discovery of how researchers figured all this stuff out. If you are still learning the subject, you may do better with Klug/Cummings/Spencer. If you are going into higher levels of biology and want to learn some research methods, this is a good book.
Genetics: From Genes to Genomes.......2007-03-09
The book came in very quickly and I am very happy with the purchase.
Book Description
iGenetics: A Mendelian Approach reflects the dynamic nature of modern genetics by emphasizing an experimental, inquiry-based approach with a solid treatment of many research experiments.
1. Genetics: An Introduction, Mendelian Genetics, Chromosomal Basis of Inheritance, Extensions of Mendelian Genetic Principles, Quantitative Genetics, Gene Mapping in Eukaryotes, Advanced Gene Mapping in Eukaryotes, Variations in Chromosome Structure and Number, Genetics of Bacteria and Bacteriophages, DNA: The Genetic Material, DNA Replication, Gene Control of Proteins, Gene Expression: Transcription, Gene Expression: Translation, DNA Mutation, DNA Repair, and Transposable Elements, Recombinant DNA Technology, Applications of Recombinant DNA Technology, Genomics, Regulation of Gene Expression in Bacteria and Bacteriophages, Regulation of Gene Expression in Eukaryotes, Genetic Analysis of Development, Genetics of Cancer, Non-Mendelian Inheritance, Population Genetics, Molecular Evolution
For all readers interested in learning the central concepts of genetics.
Customer Reviews:
Genetics is interesting, but this book makes me dread the subject........2007-03-16
The most useful features in this book are "analytical approaches to solving genetics problems" and "questions and problems" at the end of each chapter. Many of the pictures and diagrams are also nice.
However, the writing style tends to be rather dreary and over wordy, which is great for insomniacs, but horrible for those who actually want to learn something. Most of the material is presented in a manner best "learned" by memorization, rather than understanding. As seems to be typical of many biology texts, the "what" is emphasized over the "how" and "why". The sections that approach genetics from a molecular level tend to be better than the others, but the writing style is still too verbose.
Probabilities are treated in a fast and loose manner, but I am willing to concede that such use may be common among geneticists.
I also found several errors and typos in many of the chapters.
I tend to find genetics intrinsically interesting and this book could be worse, but if my only exposure to genetics were through this book, I would probably like the field about as much as I would like to work with potassium cyanide.
Good Text Book.......2005-09-28
I think this is one of my favorite text books that I've encountered to this point. It's wonderfully straight forward and has beautiful diagrams that clearly illustrate the subjects being taught. It's also very nice reading, which is more than I can say about most text books!
Amazon.com
Michael J. Behe, a biochemist at Lehigh University, presents here a scientific argument for the existence of God. Examining the evolutionary theory of the origins of life, he can go part of the way with Darwin--he accepts the idea that species have been differentiated by the mechanism of natural selection from a common ancestor. But he thinks that the essential randomness of this process can explain evolutionary development only at the macro level, not at the micro level of his expertise. Within the biochemistry of living cells, he argues, life is "irreducibly complex." This is the last black box to be opened, the end of the road for science. Faced with complexity at this level, Behe suggests that it can only be the product of "intelligent design."
Book Description
The groundbreaking, "seminal work" (Time) on intelligent design that dares to ask, was Darwin wrong?
In 1996, Darwin's Black Box helped to launch the intelligent design movement: the argument that nature exhibits evidence of design, beyond Darwinian randomness. It sparked a national debate on evolution, which continues to intensify across the country. From one end of the spectrum to the other, Darwin's Black Box has established itself as the key intelligent design text -- the one argument that must be addressed in order to determine whether Darwinian evolution is sufficient to explain life as we know it.
In a major new Afterword for this edition, Behe explains that the complexity discovered by microbiologists has dramatically increased since the book was first published. That complexity is a continuing challenge to Darwinism, and evolutionists have had no success at explaining it. Darwin's Black Box is more important today than ever.
Download Description
From within the highest ranks of the scientific community comes a startling new theory of creation that not only contradicts Darwinian orthodoxy but opens the door to theological arguments biologists have dismissed and ridiculed for more than a century.
Customer Reviews:
A Design Parade.......2007-10-08
After I purchased biochemist Michael Behe's new book "The Edge of Evolution," I decided it would be wise for me to boney up on his seminal 1996 work "Darwin's Black Box." I already played muck-a-muck with this debate for quite a few months, in a whirling attempt of absorbed concentration in the infamous struggle of "Design v. Darwin" to find out the truth. The debate may be superfluous, and especially downright nasty, and it will continue to intensify in the coming months with a new documentary by lawyer and social commentator Ben Stein in February 2008. Reading Behe is like taking a time out from the unfair play on both sides of the field. He is a better penman than Richard Dawkins, devoid of the man's vile poison, and he treats the reader as a student to be respected, not as a clay figure to be molded into a Darwiniac inquisitor. In fact, Behe is a committed believer in common descent, a position that isn't too friendly a bedfellow of creationists. The book is unique in both its author and its content, as demonstrated by the numerous "critiques" and "debunking" of the arguments proposed on the Amazon boards. Reading the hundreds or so reviews and responses only do so much to strengthen Behe's ideas.
This book is more like a parade. Behe, the ringleader with the marching rod, introduces us to the central argument of the "Black Box." It turns out to be irreducible complexity, which embodies the fabric of many biological systems once believed to be inconsequential, simplistic globules developed by chance mutation and selection. We then witness the march of the band and its many sections: the cell, the bacterial flagellum, blood-clotting, the cilium, etc. Each system, composed of many interdependent parts, will cease functioning if only one of its microscopic parts is missing. The individual parts, of course, can still possibly perform some other function (so goes the most powerful critique against ID! Things have different functions! Eureka!). However, the system itself will be quite useless. Thus appears the grand finale, a prolonged beat of the bass drum, which is that the neo-Darwinian paradigm is an implausible explanation for how these molecular systems appeared, no matter how many billions of years you attempt to postulate for its progress.
Attacking the hypothesis of intelligent design as a "God-of-the-Gaps" argument is one of the most frequently peddled mischaracterizations in all of the debate, promoted by no less than the most rabid of atheistic biologists like Dawkins and Eugenie Scott. The argument goes: We cannot envision a way naturalistic science could develop this system; hence it was made by God. The falsehood in this attack is typical, not to mention simplistic. Behe himself describes ID as the purposeful arrangement of parts in a system. We see this in every biological system: the cell, the flagellum, the cilium, and the blood clotting system. These systems are arranged in a purposeful pattern, structured precisely to, in the case of the cell, to replicate and store information, and in the case of other biological organisms, to sustain itself (unlike non-living materials like, say, rocks). It says nothing about whom or what this designer is. And, of course, it still remains the burden of proof to demonstrate how it evolved. We're talking about the Supreme Law of the Universe (Darwinism), and all that people can come up with are fairy tales about how it MIGHT have happened?
Neo-Darwinism cannot be supported much longer. It doesn't mean that evolution did not occur, or that common descent is a bogus idea. But the chance mutation-selection paradigm is becoming increasingly to difficult to sustain. The hyperactive Stalinist response to events like the Dover case and the actions committed by groups like the NSTA and ASE in America suggests a religious cult going through panic mode. Certainly there is something to what Behe and the rest of the ID movement is saying that just strikes a nerve. Maybe it's just the truth.
A great critique of evolution........2007-09-25
Supporters of the classic evolution that is taught in schools went nuts when this book was published. It could be argued that Michael Behe started the inteligent design theory and brought the debate of evolution back public stage.
Behe has been heavily criticized for daring to confront the evolution juggernaught and has made his book a must read for anyone interested in the evolution debate. This book is important and will shape the thinking of evolutionary scientists in the future, whether they like it or not.
Behe's empty box.......2007-09-05
First let's start with a quote from The National Academy of Science. " Creationism, I.D. and other claims of supernatural intervention in the origin of life of species are not science because they are not testable by the methods of science."
Mr. Behe uses the terms darwinism, darwinian evolution, darwinian gradualism through-out his book instead of modern evolution because he knows this name carries alot of heated imagery in the minds of the fundamentalist. If confronted with the findings of modern day evolution I think Mr. Behe would realize just how shakey the ground for his ideas would become.
He condems Prof. Doolittle for using a "yin yang" analogy but goes on to give boring and irrealivant analogy after analogy of his own.
He states that 90 persent of Americans believe in God as if the truth were dictated by a show of hands. If that were true then he might want to convert to Islam since the Muslim faith is the largest religious group in the world.
This leads me to my next problem with Mr. Behe's book. He is constantly refering to an intelligent designer or intelligent agent, and then speaking of the supernatural and divine. Here I have two questions.
1. Why use the singular noun? Why not appeal to many intelligent designers or agents?
2. Why could'nt these creators be "natural" as opposed to supernatural?
Which leads me to my final gripe.
Mr. Behe is constantly telling us how the scientific evidence points to an intelligent designer but never offers his own testable proof. Complexity is not proof in and of itself. What is the indentity of this creator? He does'nt say. The whole book seemed to be a rant against scientist who do not agree with his view. Mr. Behe seems to think there's this big conspiracy against the truth. Who's truth? His.
Amazing stuff.......2007-08-31
Functionally interdependent irreducible complexities....fascinating. How can these be adequately explained? I find it truly amazing.
Wonderful.......2007-08-22
Down to earth with complexity explained in a simple readable way. This is a very good source to dispute one of the most absurd notions in the history of the world....evolution. Fantastic, logical, and full of expert knowledge. Dispute it if you wish, but truth is evident. God is real!
Book Description
DNA evidence not only solves crimes—in Sean Carroll's hands it will now end the Evolution Wars.
DNA is the genetic material that defines us as individuals. Over the last two decades, it has emerged as a powerful tool for solving crimes and determining guilt & innocence. But, very recently, an important new aspect of DNA has been revealed—it contains a detailed record of evolution. That is, DNA is a living chronicle of how the marvelous creatures that inhabit our planet have adapted to its many environments, from the freezing waters of the Antarctic to the lush canopy of the rain forest.
In the pages of this highly readable narrative, Sean Carroll guides the general reader on a tour of the massive DNA record of three billion years of evolution to see how the fittest are made. And what a eye-opening tour it is - one featuring immortal genes, fossil genes, and genes that bear the scars of past battles with horrible diseases. This book clinches the case for evolution, beyond any reasonable doubt. 50 illustrations; 8 pages of color.
Customer Reviews:
A good refutation of intelligent design.......2007-10-03
Mr. Carroll does a great job of covering a wide-range genetic evidence for DNA's evolutionary history. There was however a few places that were deep and required a double-read. If you want some hard science to counter the I.D.ers this should do nicely.
A genetic view of evolution.......2007-08-05
I found this book very gripping and approachable. For the most part Carroll focuses on just a few sets of genes involved in the development and function of the eye, hemoglobin, and color. He then weaves these throughout the text bringing each up in different contexts as he discusses fossil genes (a favorite section of mine), immortal genes, convergent evolution, and production of new genes. This focuses the book and allows a deeper appreciation for the subject matter.
Make no mistake, Carroll is ardently arguing the case for evolution as well. It is hard to understand how any educated person can continue to ignore the mountains of evidence of evolution and natural selection (these are separate facts!) and fall back on arguments that are in essence 200 years old. This is what ID is. Carroll is clearly agitated by this and remarks on how much of the methodology and science that verify natural selection and evolution are accepted in medicine and forensics, but somehow creationists pass on the core concepts themselves. The last two chapters are more philosophical in discussing first the denial of scientific findings (using refreshing examples I had not seen in this context before: Lysenko and chiropractics), then our responsibilities to our environment. I enjoyed this denouement as well.
Truly an exceptional book. I would highly recommend it to readers who have previously devoured the likes of Gould and Dawkins because this will give you a very different take on the field today. I would also suggest it to any evolution doubters who may have been bold enough to examine this page and this review. As a practicing biochemist and professor myself, I can assure you that Behe appears to have completely failed to understand basic findings in the fields of genetics and molecular biology on top of his confused understanding of evolution. Why, I do not know. Carroll is the real thing.
Beyond Even an Unreasonable Doubt!.......2007-07-18
As Sean Carroll patiently explains, Charles Darwin did not theorize that evolution takes place; he didn't need to. Anyone who has ever bred puppies or guppies, hybridized orchids or corn, raised prize pigs or figs, has proven beyond argument that evolution happens.If all the evidence of evolution were imprinted on microchips and tossed in a pile, the pile would fill St. Peter's Cathedral to the dome. What Darwin theorized is how (and by implication why) evolution occurs--by random mutation, which he called "descent with modification", and natural selection by the criterion of reproductive success.
The Making of the Fittest clearly and coherently presents the evidence of modern genetic science that Darwin was basically correct. It's an easier book to read and comprehend that Carroll's previous masterpiece, Endless Forms Most Beautiful, and should be accessible to anyone with a good high school or middling college education. What a wise choice it would be for mandatory inclusion in all high school curricula, so that no child would really be left behind! In the long run, it's a more meaningful and effective book, and more humane, than Dawkins's God Delusion, since the religious fundamentalists are quite correct that evolution is incompatible with their kind of religion. Verily I say unto them, it's impossible to read this book and understand it, and still deny the role of evolution in the history of life.
Superb.......2007-06-01
Wow, this was really a good read. I have a strong interest in evolutionary studies--I have a near BS in geology with a focus on paleontology and earth history--so this book was right up my alley.
I was very impressed by the author's clear and concise presentation of some very interesting data. While he introduces something of paleontology into his discussion of evolution, he is primarily a geneticist. He therefore introduces the reader to the information that his discipline has provided the study of earth history over the last decade. Although I have to admit that genetics was not my strong suit when I was studying anthropology or paleontology (it consisted of a lot of equations and statistics at the time), I found this author's discussion of the recent explosion of information from DNA research a wonderful introduction to the subject.
While Professor Carroll introduces subjects like evolutionary development (Evo-Devo), "immortal" genes, loss of genes, recurrent morphologies, etc., one of my favorites was the discussion of "left overs" and mutations.
The author points out that genes not relevant to survival can remain in the genome of a species for a long period of time, because they are essentially invisible to mother nature. There is no reason for these elements of heredity to drop out, so they don't. This can give rise to morphological elements that persist without "reason," something that has always confused me. Although one reads many of the entertaining "just so stories" about why certain traits persist, this author makes it plain to the reader that sometimes there is simply no reason for their not doing so. This approaches the whole subject from a different perspective, at least for me.
Interesting too is that not all mutations are "bad." That many are simply neutral. Furthermore, if they are neutral they can not only persist, they can be a basis upon which nature can build later should they provide a means for improving survivability for those species that have them.
Truly a good introduction to DNA research and its implications.
Laid out in DNA.......2007-04-22
One of the most confusing evidences and rationals for evolution lies in the study of DNA sequences, yet it is also one of the most convincing and important.
In this book, Carroll lays out the DNA evidence for evolution, its mechanism, and its methods very well. In terms everyone can understand, he demonstrates the action of pressure working on chance mutations resulting in a fitness that may not be the best, but it's what is available.
Along the way, he tackles the arguments of the anti-evolution crowd quite handily, showing how accumulations in the DNA record show the changes over a species history. One of the things I really liked was his demonstration of the math of mutations, and how the idea of changes accumulating over large numbers in long times makes mathimatical sense.
My one small issue with this book is that it can be quite dry in places. The sheer repitition of evidence can be a bit numbing at times; but that is what made Darwin's Origin of the Species so convincing, and it works here, too.
Book Description
The advances made possible by the development of molecular techniques have in recent years revolutionized quantitative genetics and its relevance for population genetics.
Population Genetics and Microevolutionary Theory takes a modern approach to population genetics, incorporating modern molecular biology, species-level evolutionary biology, and a thorough acknowledgment of quantitative genetics as the theoretical basis for population genetics.
- Logically organized into three main sections on population structure and history, genotype-phenotype interactions, and selection/adaptation
- Extensive use of real examples to illustrate concepts
- Written in a clear and accessible manner and devoid of complex mathematical equations
- Includes the author's introduction to background material as well as a conclusion for a handy overview of the field and its modern applications
- Each chapter ends with a set of review questions and answers
- Offers helpful general references and Internet links
Customer Reviews:
New textbook in population genetics offers unique perspectives .......2007-02-19
This latest textbook in population genetics flies above and beyond any other textbook I've read in the field because of its clarity and depth of coverage.
Templeton offers new and unique insights in several key topics in population genetics, and he gives plenty of caveats throughout where important population genetics concepts have been misunderstood. For example, his coverage of inbreeding cofficients is exceptional, and he rightly points out how different inbreeding coefficients are wrongly used in the literature. His approach throughout is multi-dimentional, encompassing the interaction between different evolutionary forces and always stressing the prime importance of population history. A very thorough discussion on the use of linkage disequilibrium in medical genetics is also included.
Does this book have any weak points? It's hard to point out any, such was my overall highly positive impression from reading the book.
Templeton's scholarship is vast and deep, as is his publication record. The unique perspectives offered by this book certainly puts it among the best science books I own.
A New Text Reflecting the Latest Developments.......2006-09-29
Population genetics is concerned with the origin, amount, and distribution of genetic variation present in populations of organisms and the fate of this variation through space and time. As such it is dealing with the mechanisms by which evolution occurs within populations and species, the ultimate basis for all evolutionary change.
It is not a new science, but like the rest of biology has seen significant change occurring as problems of species extinction and environmental degradation became important to students of conservation biology, and as the analytical methods developed for population genetics have been found to be useful in many areas of genomics.
This book provides a basic foundation in population genetics for advanced undergraduates and graduate students. While the book is not primarily mathematical in its approach, the student should have at least a beginning understanding of calculus.
Dr. Templeton is the Charles Rebstock Professor of Biology at Washington University in St. Louis with joint appointments in Genetics and Biomedical Engineering.
Average customer rating:
- good text
- good book
- Very interesting...
- In depth, informative
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Fundamentals of Molecular Evolution
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Molecular Markers, Natural History, and Evolution
ASIN: 0878932666 |
Book Description
This book describes the dynamics of evolutionary change at the molecular level, the driving forces behind the evolutionary process, the effects of the various molecular mechanisms on the structure of genes, proteins, and genomes, the methodology involved in dealing with molecular data from an evolutionary perspective, and the logic of molecular hypothesis testing. The Second Edition incorporates newly acquired evolutionary insight from genome projects involving bacteria, plants, and animals, as well as analytical tools that have been developed and perfected in the last decade, and has been brought up to date in line with the many advances in genomics, protein engineering, computational biology, and bioinformatics.
The authors explain evolutionary phenomena at the molecular level in a way that can be understood without much prerequisite knowledge of molecular biology, evolution, or mathematics. Both mathematical and intuitive explanations are provided, and examples that support and clarify the many theoretical arguments and methodological discussions are included.
Customer Reviews:
good text.......2007-02-07
I't a required text book. I've been using it for about 3 weeks. It gives good discription for bioinformatics problems.
good book.......2004-11-05
This is a pretty good book. If you are trying to work on molecular evolution, comparative genomics, and bioinformatics, you should read this book and use it as a reference later on. Since this research topic is quite active now, some data or hypothesis in the book are not absolutely correct. You can read journals to keep yourself updated.
Very interesting..........2002-05-31
I read this book for pleasure, and I found it very informative since I was interested in the subject matter prior to buying it. It is mathematically intense at parts, and I skipped those parts. Well worth the money if you have a passion or budding interest in this field.
In depth, informative.......2001-03-19
This is a very complex, indepth, informative book on molecular and genetic evolution. Explainations of genetic drift, mutation rates, times to fixation, patterns in evolutionary changes. Lots of statistical information on how allele frequencies change. Written for a knowledgable audiance with a good understanding of evolution and genetics. Gives informative understanding of trends in evolution beyond natural selection. Supports neutral theory of evolution quite strongly.
Book Description
Molecular markers have opened exciting new windows through which to view the natural biological world. This treatment addresses the many applications for genetic markers (from polymorphic proteins and DNA) from the perspectives of population biology, behavioral ecology, organismal evolution, and phylogeny. Opening chapters review the history and purview of molecular approaches, and compare and contrast various laboratory techniques for revealing molecular markers. Subsequent chapters review the extensive scientific literature of molecular ecology and evolution, and describe a cornucopia of captivating discoveries about nature's workings, past and present.
The book is taxonomically balanced with numerous examples from plants, animals, and microbes. It is also temporally balanced with examples ranging from assessments of genetic parentage and kinship in the most recent generations to phylogenetic assessments deep in the Tree of Life (and nearly everything in-between). This Second Edition of a seminal work (first published in 1994) brings the reader up-to-date on the many dramatic advances and insights made over the last decade. Furthermore, by retaining descriptions of many pioneering works, this book also traces the empirical and conceptual roots of each subject, and thereby provides a rich sense of the field's history.
Appropriate for advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and scientists in such disciplines as ecology, genetics, population biology, ethology, molecular biology, systematics, and conservation biology, this new edition is for anyone interested in the application of molecular markers to organisms in the wild.
Customer Reviews:
Obligatory reading!.......2005-04-05
This book is a comprehensive introduction to the use of molecular markers in evolution, ecology and phylogeny. Very well written, this second edition brings important updates to a field in fast progress.
Great........1998-09-27
Excelent book, full of diverse examples. Excelent to read too. Full of very interesting informations. Everyone who is interested at the subject should read it.
Book Description
Stuart Kauffman here presents a brilliant new paradigm for evolutionary biology, one that extends the basic concepts of Darwinian evolution to accommodate recent findings and perspectives from the fields of biology, physics, chemistry and mathematics. The book drives to the heart of the exciting debate on the origins of life and maintenance of order in complex biological systems. It focuses on the concept of self-organization: the spontaneous emergence of order that is widely observed throughout nature Kauffman argues that self-organization plays an important role in the Darwinian process of natural selection. Yet until now no systematic effort has been made to incorporate the concept of self-organization into evolutionary theory. The construction requirements which permit complex systems to adapt are poorly understood, as is the extent to which selection itself can yield systems able to adapt more successfully. This book explores these themes. It shows how complex systems, contrary to expectations, can spontaneously exhibit stunning degrees of order, and how this order, in turn, is essential for understanding the emergence and development of life on Earth. Topics include the new biotechnology of applied molecular evolution, with its important implications for developing new drugs and vaccines; the balance between order and chaos observed in many naturally occurring systems; new insights concerning the predictive power of statistical mechanics in biology; and other major issues. Indeed, the approaches investigated here may prove to be the new center around which biological science itself will evolve. The work is written for all those interested in the cutting edge of research in the life sciences.
Customer Reviews:
The science book to read. Six stars at least........2002-06-16
Stuart Kauffman has an MD and is a generalist. The book deals primarily with theory and understanding of computer simulations of state driven systems of large numbers of connected nodes. It examines how such systems evolve through mutation and gives a clear understanding of the limited role of natural selection in comparison to the self-organizing forces at work within such systems. It examines the meta-interaction of sub-systems of interacting states (attractor basins) that occur within a system. In English: it gives the first theoretical framework for understanding just how it is that cells which all contain identical DNA express themselves as some number of stable cell types. Normally a cell will react to a perturbation in whatever way will return it to its base stable cycle (attractor loop). One type of cell turns into another type when just the right perturbation kicks the system from one attractor basin into a different attractor basin.
This is heavier reading than his popular science book, At Home in the Universe, but preferable for anyone with the necessary tiny amount of knowledge of genetics and logic operations. There are few equations of any kind. The results apply to more than just biological systems.
The book is long because instead of just presenting a few principles that you can try to remember abstractly, he leads you through all the important steps of his research and gives you a real feel for how complex systems actually evolve and operate. The book raises more questions than it answers, as it should be for a book of such originality and importance.
When you fully grok the contents of this book you'll be so excited you'll want to rush and explain it to someone else, which will be utterly impossible, so you'll probably have to lend them your book, buy them the popular version, or face the fact that you are now relatively alone on a higher plane.
New paradigm shift in biology.......2002-04-14
The Origins of Order will be viewed in the future as a milestone in shifting the existing Darwinian paradigm in biology from a "survival of the fittest" (natural selection) to a new paradigm focused on explaining the "arrival of the fittest" through self-organisation.
Using a boolean (NK) network model and a extensive amount of biological facts, Stuart Kauffman demonstrates in a powerful
way the central role of self-organisation in the creative process of life. His vision that biology seems to operate
as self-organised non-linear dynamical systems at the edge of chaos will have as much influence in biology that a similar vision offered by Nobel prize winner Prigogyne in the field of thermodynamcis. The book connects a web of fundamental ideas from the fields of biology, physics, mathematics and computer sciences and requires a strong background in biology that I unfortunately did not possess. The laborious style, the lack of clarity in the writing and the (unnecessary) length of the book should not stop anyone from reading this amazing book.
Stuart Kauffman combines an intellect and a vision that only very few scientists possess. This book is a must.
Hopeful spontaneity.......2000-11-27
Kauffman believes that spontaneous self-ordering, which both simple and complex systems can exhibit, must be incorporated into evolutionary biology, along with traditional random variation and natural selection. Certain complex systems will be spontaneously self-ordering. Natural selection then tends to push such systems to the edge of chaos. In addition to advancing Kauffman's theories, this reference provides a good overview the Neo-Darwinian synthesis, a review of origin of life theories, a review of genetic regulatory theory, and a review of cell differentiation.
Best book I ever read.......2000-06-18
It took me a whole summer to read this book in 1993 and it is still the most amazing book I have ever read. If you are computer/mathematically inclined, have an interest in biology, and have enough time to digest it, this book will blow you away. It contains the most amazing hypotheses to come out since 1859. Unfortunately, it takes a huge investment in time to really read this book, but an epiphany awaits those who get through it.
Universe a point in 6n space.......2000-02-21
The deep future will see this as a very important book. The first to consider the deepest layer of reality. Anyone interested in GA's or ANN needs to start here. This book is pure foundation. Stand on it and you stand on solid ground.
Customer Reviews:
The road to a new understanding of multicellular life.......2002-11-10
John Gerhart and Marc Kirschner have boldly displayed a panorama of recent findings in biology which they methodically piece together into an entirely new understanding of the phylogenic and embryologic mechanisms of evolution. While aimed at the more sophisticated scientific reader (not an introductory text), their facility with modern experiments and exotic findings provide a thrilling ride from intracellular transduction mechanisms, through the differing phylogenetic strategies for embryogenesis (all phyla having been explosively formed in a brief "instant" after the first metazoans) and the secrets of evolvabilily making thier appearance in the embrogenetic regulatory mechanisms, not the structural proteins. For anyone who has ever found random mutation and selection an unsatisfying answer to evolution when all other biological processes are so exquisitely regulated (e.g. "Behavior and Evolution," Jean Piaget), Gerhart and Kirschner demonstrate that evolution is more of an extention of the generally "exploratory" property which is so central to life. This book is sure to spur a generation of new, productive thinking on the entire evolutionary paradigm. Perhaps when linked with work on structural stability in neural networks, a new macroscopic quantum formulation of biology may succeed a less informative and outdated stochastic formulation. [...]
Evolution of evolvability.......2002-03-10
Although somewhat technical this book is highly recommended as an introduction to the issues of both developmental genetics and evolution both, and these in relation to the mystery of the Cambrian explosion in the controversies that surround that question. Molecular phylogenies give us few clues to the molecular changes that underlie species divergence. Students of evolution tend to rely on on theories of selection and population genetics as explanations for evolutionary change. But there are pitfalls here. For selection only provides a filter on the possible forms, screening the forms presented by development. Thus the study of embryological development becomes essential to seeing what is really happening. From this key idea the book proceeds to explore conservation and the evolution of evolvability, to use a phrase of Dawkins. The result is really quite a new subject altogether. The book ends with a question, has evolvability evolved and is it the result of clade selection? At this point I think we are leaving the realm of standard Darwinism into some new unknown terrain. Excellent book,and despite technical issues really quite clear, well presented.
Evolution via development.......2000-11-27
The general reader who has already read some other references on development, will find this reference to be an easy to read yet detailed reference on evolutionary development which takes interesting conceptual viewpoints. The reference starts by pointing out the significant amount of cellular mechanisms conserved in all forms of life. The concept of 'contingency' is then developed, where it is considered to be the dependence of cellular activities on particular conditions, and its importance in metazoans. This leads to the concept of 'exploratory behavior', where it is considered to be responses of the organism to be more than can be explained by contingent mechanisms. For example, a version of the protozoan Stentor that is only .1% of the usual volume, yet its overall shape, the patterns of its cilia and gullet, are not changed. Plasticity observed in the nervous system is another such example. The concept of 'novelty' is then discussed, largely how new proteins have emerged. Multicellularity and differentiation are then considered, followed by the emergence of various body plans. The concept of developmental flexibility and robustness is considered as the development of the embryo is discussed. Limb buds and neural crest cells are then discussed as sources of evolutionary diversification of the vertebrate body plan. The final chapter of the reference considers the concept of 'evolvability', where it is considered to be the capability of organisms to produce nonlethal, phenotypic variations which natural selection can act upon, and thus allow evolution.
Destined to be a classic.......1999-08-08
This book does a great job of unifying the many disparate threads of modern biology. This is one of the few books on biology written in this decade that may actually cause readers to see life from a new point of view. Destined to be a classic, right up there with D'Arcy Thompson's "Growth and Form" or Ptashne's book on phage lambda. Also this book is fun to read because there are tons of illustrations and also lots of interesting factoids about all sorts of weird organisms. If you are going to buy a book about biology, buy this one!
Excellent - but is afraid to take the next step........1998-09-18
The authors of this book have taken a bold step toward a cellular view of evolution. But they shy from taking that final and necessary step of discarding the DNA based information model for a cellular one. Of course, doing this opens a pandora's box of Lamarkian thought. Still, considering the risks, the effort is more than commendable. Thank you for this book.
Average customer rating:
- An Absolute Classic from a Great Thinker
- Stimulating Reading
- A physicist's essay on a topic he cannot know as a scientist, only as a human being
- Pons Asinorum? It Wasn't Then !
- A Classic
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What Is Life?: with "Mind and Matter" and "Autobiographical Sketches"
Erwin Schrodinger
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0521427088 |
Book Description
Nobel laureate Erwin Schrödinger’s What is Life? is one of the great science classics of the twentieth century. A distinguished physicist’s exploration of the question which lies at the heart of biology, it was written for the layman, but proved one of the spurs to the birth of molecular biology and the subsequent discovery of the structure of DNA. The philosopher Karl Popper hailed it as a ‘beautiful and important book’ by ‘a great man to whom I owe a personal debt for many exciting discussions’. It appears here together with Mind and Matter, his essay investigating a relationship which has eluded and puzzled philosophers since the earliest times. Schrodinger asks what place consciousness occupies in the evolution of life, and what part the state of development of the human mind plays in moral questions. Brought together with these two classics are Schrödinger’s autobiographical sketches, published and translated here for the first time. They offer a fascinating fragmentary account of his life as a background to his scientific writings, making this volume a valuable additon to the shelves of scientist and layman alike.
Customer Reviews:
An Absolute Classic from a Great Thinker .......2007-08-03
In "What is Life?" monograph, Schrodinger brilliantly enlightens us with the true concept of life science. He proposes what himself calls "a naive physicist's ideas about organisms." Years before the discovery of double helix structure of DNA, Schrodinger beautifully details how the huge volume of information is related to the structure of what he calls "aperiodic crystal" (what we currently call it "protein structure."
The ideas are still fresh and everybody who really wants to start the REAL and TRUE molecular biology must read this classic. It is astonishing to see how this great thinker and physicist had elaborated, very correctly and properly, to use the statistical tools in physics (statistical physics) to explain the fundamentals of life.
It is an absolute classic from a great legend. Please read and enjoy it.
Stimulating Reading.......2006-10-15
Schroedinger, one of the great physicists of the 20th Century, applied the knowledge he gained in his own discipline to analyze human life. Based upon lectures that he gave in the 1940s, this brief book contains Schroedinger's fascinating speculations on the nature of life, several of which have proven prophetic (including the discovery of DNA). The reader comes away with the joy of having shared in the workings of a great mind.
Perhaps the most impressive achievement of the book is that it can be readily understood by persons relatively untrained in science or mathematics.
A physicist's essay on a topic he cannot know as a scientist, only as a human being.......2004-12-19
I'm wondering why scientists are allowed to give their opinion as scientists about topics they know nothing about as scientists. The beginning of the title ("What is Life") sounds like if Schrodinger can claim anything about the difference between mind and matter as a pure consequence of physics. Too bad, as the rest of the title might make you think that there will be some discussion about why and whether there might be a difference between mind and matter. What remains of mind when you stick to the physics? That would be a very nice question to think about, if only this was the topic of the book...but it's not what is done here.
Pons Asinorum? It Wasn't Then !.......2004-08-30
While I was reading the book I thought "this is pretty obvious stuff!" Then I began reminding myself that "If I see further, it's because I stand on the shoulders of giants."
I read the book because J.D.Watson said it was good in his book "DNA The Key To Life." He was right. The first chapter was fascinating.
A Classic.......2004-03-08
What is Life? is an absolute classic. Schrodinger felt that life must be explainable by physics and chemistry, yet seemed to violate the normal behavior of entropy-- and he understood further that this was a remarkable wedge point to explore. He figured out the explanation: life is the result of evolution of genetic information, which selects for complex processes that by ordinary considerations would be very unlikely. He predicted that there must be a molecule capable of carrying the genetic information (incorrectly thinking it would be a protein.) His beautifully-written book was influential and timely. Within 4 years, Von Neumann elucidated the mechanisms involved in self-reproducing automata (illustrating his abstract discussion with a picture looking remarkably like DNA to the eyes of readers today); and within a decade, Watson and Crick grasped the structure of DNA. You should not read Schrodinger's book today as one of your first sources to understand life-- there has been remarkable progress in the 50 years since Watson and Crick-- but you should read it to gain appreciation for how science can be advanced when the time is ready and a wedge point, an apparent conflict between fundamental ideas, is analyzed.
The volume also includes another lecture by Schrodinger, Mind and Matter, which is historically interesting in another way. In Schrodinger's day, the state of understanding had not advanced to the point where it was possible to make as useful conjectures about the structure of mind as of life, and he accordingly felt "[mind] may well be beyond human understanding."
Readers interested in Schrodinger's book will also enjoy What is Thought?, published 2004. What is Thought? argues that mind must be explainable by computer science, that the fundamental issues are computational, and that there is again a wedge point: the question of how the workings of a computer, which are always purely syntactical, can correspond to meaning and understanding. The situation is parallel to the one that faced Schrodinger with respect to life in two respects: first, mind is the outcome of evolution, which has built thought processes that seem inconsistent with our standard science, and second, scientific research has advanced to the point where, if we focus on the wedge point, significant understanding is obtainable. What is Thought? brings to bear on the problem of mind core ideas from computational learning theory, complexity theory, and evolutionary computing, as well as molecular and evolutionary biology, cognitive science, and other areas. The result is a principled and concrete explanation, consistent with the vast array of available data, of how meaning, understanding, language, consciousness, and all the various aspects of mind arise from execution of an evolved computer program.
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- Historical Geology: Evolution of Earth and Life Through Time (with CD-ROM and InfoTrac)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
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- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
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