How the Leopard Changed Its Spots : The Evolution of Complexity

Goodwin, Brian

ISBN 10: 0691088098 / ISBN 13: 9780691088099

Published by Princeton University Press, 2001

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Bibliographic Details

• Title: How the Leopard Changed Its Spots : The Evolution of Complexity
• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Publication Date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0691088098
• ISBN 13: 9780691088099
• Binding: paperback
• Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis

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.

About the Author

Brian Goodwin is Professor of Biology and Coordinator of Holistic Science at Schumacher College, Devon, UK. He is the editor of Theoretical Biology: Epigenetic and Evolutionary Order from Complex Systems and the coauthor of Form and Transformation and Signs of Life.