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Bezig met laden... How the Leopard Changed Its Spots : The Evolution of Complexitydoor Brian Goodwin
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 Meld je aan bij LibraryThing om erachter te komen of je dit boek goed zult vinden. Op dit moment geen Discussie gesprekken over dit boek.  gregfromgilbert | Apr 25, 2008 |  geen besprekingen | voeg een bespreking toe
Onderdeel van de uitgeversreeks(en)
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. Geen bibliotheekbeschrijvingen gevonden. |
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 Google Books — Bezig met laden...GenresDewey Decimale Classificatie (DDC)575Natural sciences and mathematics Life Sciences, Biology Physiological systems in plantsLC-classificatieWaarderingGemiddelde: (3.97)
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His basic argument is that Darwinian natural selection does not adequately explain the origin of species. Organisms are more than just their genes, and he gives several examples of the growth and life cycles of organisms (morphogenesis) that apparently have little to do with the organism’s DNA. Rather the organism is seen as a complex system of parts that work together to create a higher order of organization. In fact there are many systems that display self-organization, and
“.. similar patterns of activity can arise in systems that differ greatly from one another in their composition and in the nature of their parts. It does not seem to matter much whether we are dealing with chemical reactions, aggregating slime mold amoebas, heart cells, neurons, or ants in a colony. They all show similar types of dynamic activity - rhythms, waves that propagate in concentric circles or spirals that annihilate when they collide, and chaotic behavior. The important properties of these complex systems are found less in what they are made of than in the way the parts are related to one another and the dynamic organization of the whole—their relational order.” Pg. 77.
Furthermore
“... there is a radical unpredictability in the dynamics of these nonlinear systems, which are always open to unexpected novelty. This is the creative process, which expresses itself at the level of structure in the extraordinarily diverse and varied morphologies of species.”. pg. 114
Goodwin is not trying to replace Darwinian evolution as much as adding additional mechanisms that adaptation can work on. Self-organization works hand-in hand with evolution.
Goodwin mentions in the acknowledgments that his long time friend Stuart Kauffman has reached many of the same conclusions. I’ve read several of Kauffman’s books and would recommend “At Home in the Universe” over Goodwin’s book. Both books address a common theme, but I think Kauffman's is more enjoyable and I found Goodwin's writing style needlessly technical at times. (