Life
The Leading Edge of Evolutionary Biology, Genetics, Anthropology, and Environmental Science
New York : Harper Perennial, [2016]
Format: Book
Edition: First edition.
Description: xii, 367 pages ; 21 cm
"The newest addition to John Brockman's Edge.org series explores life itself, bringing together the world's leading biologists, geneticists, and evolutionary theorists -- including Richard Dawkins, Edward O. Wilson, J. Craig Venter, and Freeman Dyson. Scientists' understanding of life is progressing more rapidly than at any point in human history, from the extraordinary decoding of DNA to the controversial emergence of biotechnology. Featuring pioneering biologists, geneticists, physicists, and science writers, Life explains just how far we've come -- and takes a brilliantly educated guess at where we're heading. Richard Dawkins and J. Craig Venter compare genes to digital information, and sketch the frontiers of genomic research. Edward O. Wilson reveals what ants can teach us about building a superorganism -- and, in turn, about how cells build an organism. Elsewhere, David Haig reports new findings on how mothers and fathers individually influence the human genome, while Kary Mullis covers cutting edge treatments for dangerous viruses. And there's much more in this fascinating volume. We may never have all the answers. But the thinkers collected in Life are asking questions that will keep us dreaming for generations."--provided by Amazon.com.
Contents:
Introduction by John Brockman -- Evolvability / Richard Dawkins -- Genomic imprinting / David Haig -- A full-force storm with gale winds blowing / Robert Trivers -- What evolution is / Ernst Mayr (with an introduction by Jared Diamond) -- Genetics plus time / Steve Jones (in conversation with Edge) -- A united biology / E. O. Wilson (with an introduction by Steven Pinker) -- Is life analog or digital? / Freeman Dyson -- Life: what a concept! / Freeman Dyson, J. Craig Venter, George Church, Dimitar Sasselov, Seth Lloyd, Robert Shapiro (in conversation with Edge) -- The gene-centric view: a conversation / Richard Dawkins, J. Craig Venter (with an introduction by John Brockman) -- The nature of normal human variety / Armand Marie Leroi -- Brains plus brawn / Daniel Lieberman -- Mapping the Neanderthal genome / Svante Pääbo -- On biocomputation / J. Craig Venter, Ray Kurzweil, Rodney Brooks -- Engineering biology / Drew Endy -- Eat me before I eat you: a new foe for bad bugs / Kary Mullis -- Duck sex and aesthetic evolution / Richard Prum -- Toxo / Robert Sapolsky -- The adjacent possible / Stuart Kauffman.
ISBN:
9780062296054
Availability | |||
---|---|---|---|
Call Number | Location | Shelf Location | Status |
SCIENCE Life Lif | Main (Downtown) | Third Level, Nonfiction | Out (Due: 6/12/2024) |
SCIENCE Life Lif | Ballentine Indoors | Nonfiction | In |
SCIENCE Life Lif | Cooper (Forest Acres) | Nonfiction | In |
"Edge.Org presents Edward O. Wilson, Richard Dawkins, Freeman Dyson, Matt Ridley, Ray Kurzweil, J. Craig Venter, Daniel Lieberman, and more"--Cover.