Record ID | marc_columbia/Columbia-extract-20221130-004.mrc:41822592:3080 |
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LEADER: 03080fam a2200385 a 4500
001 1529941
005 20220608182405.0
008 940411t19941994nyua b 001 0 eng
010 $a 94016891
020 $a0025447106
035 $a(OCoLC)30360899
035 $a(OCoLC)ocm30360899
035 $9AJZ4646CU
035 $a(NNC)1529941
035 $a1529941
040 $aDLC$cDLC$dNNC
050 00 $aQH366.2$b.G655 1994
082 00 $a575$220
100 1 $aGoodwin, Brian C.$0http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n82119729
245 10 $aHow the leopard changed its spots :$bthe evolution of complexity /$cBrian Goodwin.
260 $aNew York :$bC. Scribner's Sons,$c[1994], ©1994.
263 $a9410
300 $axvi, 252 pages :$billustrations ;$c25 cm
336 $atext$btxt$2rdacontent
337 $aunmediated$bn$2rdamedia
504 $aIncludes bibliographical references (p. 238-243) and index.
505 0 $aCh. 1. Whatever Happened to Organisms? -- Ch. 2. How the Leopard Got Its Spots -- Ch. 3. Life, the Excitable Medium -- Ch. 4. Living Form in the Making -- Ch. 5. The Evolution of Generic Forms -- Ch. 6. New Directions, New Metaphors -- Ch. 7. A Science of Qualities.
520 $aThe "leopard" in the title of How the Leopard Changed Its Spots is the science of biology, today poised for a massive change in its theoretical perspective. Here Brian Goodwin, described by colleagues as "the poet of theoretical biology," proposes an alternative to the modern synthesis of Darwinism and twentieth-century genetics.
520 8 $aGoodwin rigorously and clearly demonstrates the flaws in the quasi-religious fervor with which Darwin's theory of natural selection is defended, and presents another, equally powerful engine for the origin and diversity of species.
520 8 $aThe consequences of this altered perspective are both scientific and metaphorical. The images of Darwinism that color so much of modern life - survival of the fittest, selfish genes, survival strategies, "a war of all against all" - are incomplete, says Goodwin. If we regard organisms as more than survival machines, they take on an intrinsic value, with worth in and of themselves. Darwinism has shortchanged us, scientifically and ethically, for more than a century.
520 8 $aThis book demonstrates that organisms are every bit as cooperative as they are competitive, as altruistic as they are selfish, as creative and playful as they are destructive and repetitive. Erudite, dazzling, and elegantly written, at once a brilliant application of the laws of physics to the study of life, an exposition of the powerful force - not Darwinian selection - that shapes life on earth, and a meditation on the evolution of complex forms, it is certain to be the science book of the year.
650 0 $aEvolution (Biology)$0http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh90004042
650 0 $aMorphology.$0http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85087347
650 0 $aSelf-organizing systems.$0http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85119773
852 00 $bsci$hQH366.2$i.G655 1994