ENGLISH

How the Leopard Changed Its Spots : The Evolution of Complexity

By Brian Goodwin

Book information

Publisher
Princeton University Press
Year
2001
ISBN
0-691-08809-8, 9780691088099
Language
english
Format
PDF
Filesize
26 MB (27337559 bytes)
Pages
275\274
Time added
2014-02-12 18:00:00

Description

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.

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