Intuitive Way of Knowing: A Tribute to Brian Goodwin

Professor Brian Goodwin (1931-2009) was a visionary biologist, mathematician and philosopher. Understanding organisms as dynamics wholes, he worked to develop an alternate view to extreme Darwinism based solely on genetic factors. He was a pioneer in the field of theoretical biology; in later years was made a founding fellow at Schumacher College near Totnes, England, where he taught holistic science and wrote his final book, Nature's Due: Healing our Fragmented Culture (Floris Books 2007).

This new book is a tribute to the life and work of Brian Goodwin. It includes contributions from eminent scholars and academics around the world, addressing his work on pattern and form in biology, and the metaphysical principles that guided him. It also includes an interview with Goodwin which offers new insights into his thinking.

The book honours both his work and personal memories of a much loved and respected colleague.

Contributors include: Stuart Kauffman, Lewis Wolpert, Fritjof Capra, Margaret Boden, Michael Ruse, Fred Cummings, Mae-wan Ho, Philip Franses, Stephan Harding, Nick Monk, Claudio Stern and Johannes Jaeger

CONTENTS:

Introduction
Section 1: Personal Memories
"Brian Goodwin, The Magical Black Knight" by Stuart Kauffman
"Brian Goodwin" by Lewis Wolpert
"Brian Goodwin at Sussex in the 1970s: Personal Reminiscences" by Claudio D. Stern
"Interview with Brian Goodwin" (#1) with Stephan Harding

Section 2: Evolutionary Biology and Philosophy
"Biology without Darwinian Spectacles" by Brian Goodwin
"Form and Function in Biology: Placing Brian Goodwin" by Michael Ruse
"Epigenetics and Generative Dynamics: How Development Directs Evolution" by Mae-Wan Ho
"Darwinian Spectacles and other 'Ways of Seeing' Evolution" by Craig Millar and David Lambert
"From Goethe to Goodwin, via von Foerster" by Maggie Boden
"Interview with Brian Goodwin" (#2) with Stephan Harding

Section 3: Theoretical Biology
"Complexity and Life" by Fritjof Capra
"Answering to the Future: Ambiguity in Living Processes and the Language of Its Resolution" by Philip Franses
"Keeping the Gene in its Place" by Johannes Jaeger and Nick Monk
"On Coupling of Pattern and Geometry in Embryos" by F.W. Cummings
"Interview with Brian Goodwin" (#3) with Stephan Harding

Chris Chetland is a PhD student at Griffith University. His interests are theory of form and how structure of consciousness limits knowledge, particularly from a Kantian framework. Outside of academia he is an award-winning music producer.

David Lambert is Professor of Evolutionary Biology at Griffith University, Australia. He was previously on the staff at the University of Auckland and Massey University in New Zealand and was a Principal Investigator in the Allan Wilson Centre for Molecular Ecology and Evolution. His interests are in theories of evolutionary biology and currently works in the area of ancient genomics.