Search Results

ENGLISH

Convergent Evolution Of Agriculture In Humans And Insects

3,96€ + 10% CARD

 Contributors explore common elements in the evolutionary histories of both human and insect agriculture resulting from convergent evolution.During the past 12,000 years, agriculture originated in humans as many as twenty-three times, and during the past 65 million years, agriculture also originated in nonhuman animals at least twenty times and in insects at least fifteen times. It is much more likely that these independent origins represent similar solutions to the challenge of growing food than that they are due purely to chance. This volume seeks to identify common elements in the evolutionary histories of both human and insect agriculture that are the results of convergent evolution. The goal is to create a new, synthetic field that characterizes, quantifies, and empirically documents the evolutionary and ecological mechanisms that drive both human and nonhuman agriculture. The contributors report on the results of quantitative analyses comparing human and nonhuman agriculture; discuss evolutionary conflicts of interest between and among farmers and cultivars and how they interfere with efficiencies of agricultural symbiosis; describe in detail agriculture in termites, ambrosia beetles, and ants; and consider patterns of evolutionary convergence in different aspects of agriculture, comparing fungal parasites of ant agriculture with fungal parasites of human agriculture, analyzing the effects of agriculture on human anatomy, and tracing the similarities and differences between the evolution of agriculture in humans and in a single, relatively well-studied insect group, fungus-farming ants.ContributorsDuur K. Aanen, Niels P. R. Anten, Peter H. W. Biedermann, Jacobus J. Boomsma, Laura T. Buck, Guillaume Chomicki, Tim Denham, R. Ford Denison, Dorian Q. Fuller, Richard Gawne, Nicole M. Gerardo, Thomas C. Harrington, Ana Ješovnik, Judith Korb, Chase G. Mayers, George R. McGhee, Kenneth Z. McKenna, Lumila P. Menéndez, Peter N. Peregrine, Ted R. Schultz
ENGLISH

Levels Of Organization In The Biological Sciences

159,00€ + 10% CARD

 Scientific philosophers examine the nature and significance of levels of organization, a core structural principle in the biological sciences.This volume examines the idea of levels of organization as a distinct object of investigation, considering its merits as a core organizational principle for the scientific image of the natural world. It approaches levels of organization—roughly, the idea that the natural world is segregated into part-whole relationships of increasing spatiotemporal scale and complexity—in terms of its roles in scientific reasoning as a dynamic, open-ended idea capable of performing multiple overlapping functions in distinct empirical settings.The contributors—scientific philosophers with longstanding ties to the biological sciences—discuss topics including the philosophical and scientific contexts for an inquiry into levels; whether the concept can actually deliver on its organizational promises; the role of levels in the development and evolution of complex systems; conditional independence and downward causation; and the extension of the concept into the sociocultural realm. Taken together, the contributions embrace the diverse usages of the term as aspects of the big picture of levels of organization.ContributorsJan Baedke, Robert W. Batterman, Daniel S. Brooks, James DiFrisco, Markus I. Eronen, Carl Gillett, Sara Green, James Griesemer, Alan C. Love, Angela Potochnik, Thomas Reydon, Ilya Tëmkin, Jon Umerez, William C. Wimsatt, James Woodward
ENGLISH

Rethinking Cancer - A New Paradigm For The Postgenomics Era

159,00€ + 10% CARD

 Leading scientists argue for a new paradigm for cancer research, proposing a complex systems view of cancer supported by empirical evidence.Current consensus in cancer research explains cancer as a disease caused by specific mutations in certain genes. Thanks to dramatic advances in genome sequencing, never before have we known so much about the individual cancer cell—and yet it is still unclear how to use this knowledge for treatment success. In this volume, leading researchers argue for a new theory framework for understanding and treating cancer. The contributors propose a complex systems view of cancer, presenting conceptual building blocks for a new research paradigm supported by empirical evidence. The contributors first discuss the new research framework in terms of theoretical foundations and then take up the relevance of a systems approach, reviewing such topics as nonlinearity, recurrence after treatment, the cellular attractor concept, network theory, and noncoding DNA—the "dark matter" of our genome. They address the temporality of cancer progression, drawing on evolutionary theory and clinical experience. Finally, they cover the dominant role of the tissue microenvironment in cancer, analyzing topics including altered metabolic pathways, the disease-defining influence on metastasis, and the interconnectedness of different environmental niches across levels of organization.
ENGLISH

How Molecular Forces And Rotating Planets Create Life - The Emergence And Evolution Of Prokaryotic Cells

by Jan Spitzer

159,00€ + 10% CARD

 "An original physicochemical contribution to the problem of understanding life and its emergence, incorporating concepts from planetary sciences, chemistry and biology"--
ENGLISH

Convergent Evolution On Earth - Lessons For The Search For Extraterrestrial Life

by George R Mcghee Jr.

119,25€ + 10% CARD

 An analysis of patterns of convergent evolution on Earth that suggests where we might look for similar convergent forms on other planets.Why does a sea lily look like a palm tree? And why is a sea lily called a "lily" when it is a marine animal and not a plant? Many marine animals bear a noticeable similarity in form to land-dwelling plants. And yet these marine animal forms evolved in the oceans first; land plants independently and convergently evolved similar forms much later in geologic time. In this book, George McGhee analyzes patterns of convergent evolution on Earth and argues that these patterns offer lessons for the search for life elsewhere in the universe.Our Earth is a water world; 71 percent of the earth''s surface is covered by water. The fossil record shows that multicellular life on dry land is a new phenomenon; for the vast majority of the earth''s history—3,500 million years of its 4,560 million years of existence—complex life existed only in the oceans. Explaining that convergent biological evolution occurs because of limited evolutionary pathways, McGhee examines examples of convergent evolution in forms of feeding, immobility and mobility, defense, and organ systems. McGhee suggests that the patterns of convergent evolution that we see in our own water world indicate the potential for similar convergent forms in other water worlds. We should search for extraterrestrial life on water worlds, and for technological life on water worlds with continental landmasses.
ENGLISH

Evolutionary Causation - Biological And Philosophical Reflections

159,00€ + 10% CARD

 A comprehensive treatment of the concept of causation in evolutionary biology that makes clear its central role in both historical and contemporary debates.Most scientific explanations are causal. This is certainly the case in evolutionary biology, which seeks to explain the diversity of life and the adaptive fit between organisms and their surroundings. The nature of causation in evolutionary biology, however, is contentious. How causation is understood shapes the structure of evolutionary theory, and historical and contemporary debates in evolutionary biology have revolved around the nature of causation. Despite its centrality, and differing views on the subject, the major conceptual issues regarding the nature of causation in evolutionary biology are rarely addressed. This volume fills the gap, bringing together biologists and philosophers to offer a comprehensive, interdisciplinary treatment of evolutionary causation.Contributors first address biological motivations for rethinking evolutionary causation, considering the ways in which development, extra-genetic inheritance, and niche construction challenge notions of cause and process in evolution, and describing how alternative representations of evolutionary causation can shed light on a range of evolutionary problems. Contributors then analyze evolutionary causation from a philosophical perspective, considering such topics as causal entanglement, the commingling of organism and environment, and the relationship between causation and information.Contributors John A. Baker, Lynn Chiu, David I. Dayan, Renée A. Duckworth, Marcus W Feldman, Susan A. Foster, Melissa A. Graham, Heikki Helanterä, Kevin N. Laland, Armin P. Moczek, John Odling-Smee, Jun Otsuka, Massimo Pigliucci, Arnaud Pocheville, Arlin Stoltzfus, Karola Stotz, Sonia E. Sultan, Christoph Thies, Tobias Uller, Denis M. Walsh, Richard A. Watson
ENGLISH

Convergent Evolution In Stone-Tool Technology

132,50€ + 10% CARD

 Scholars from a variety of disciplines consider cases of convergence in lithic technology, when functional or developmental constraints result in similar forms in independent lineages.Hominins began using stone tools at least 2.6 million years ago, perhaps even 3.4 million years ago. Given the nearly ubiquitous use of stone tools by humans and their ancestors, the study of lithic technology offers an important line of inquiry into questions of evolution and behavior. This book examines convergence in stone tool-making, cases in which functional or developmental constraints result in similar forms in independent lineages. Identifying examples of convergence, and distinguishing convergence from divergence, refutes hypotheses that suggest physical or cultural connection between far-flung prehistoric toolmakers. Employing phylogenetic analysis and stone-tool replication, the contributors show that similarity of tools can be caused by such common constraints as the fracture properties of stone or adaptive challenges rather than such unlikely phenomena as migration of toolmakers over an Arctic ice shelf.Contributors R. Alexander Bentley, Briggs Buchanan, Marcelo Cardillo, Mathieu Charbonneau, Judith Charlin, Chris Clarkson, Loren G. Davis, Metin I. Eren, Peter Hiscock, Thomas A. Jennings, Steven L. Kuhn, Daniel E. Lieberman, George R. McGhee, Alex Mackay, Michael J. O''Brien, Charlotte D. Pevny, Ceri Shipton, Ashley M. Smallwood, Heather Smith, Jayne Wilkins, Samuel C. Willis, Nicolas Zayns
ENGLISH

Landscapes Of Collectivity In The Life Sciences

159,00€ + 10% CARD

 Broad perspective on collectivity in the life sciences, from microorganisms to human consensus, and the theoretical and empirical opportunities and challenges.Many researchers and scholars in the life sciences have become increasingly critical of the traditional methodological focus on the individual. This volume counters such methodological individualism by exploring recent and influential work in the life sciences that utilizes notions of collectivity, sociality, rich interactions, and emergent phenomena as essential explanatory tools to handle numerous persistent scientific questions in the life sciences. The contributors consider case studies of collectivity that range from microorganisms to human consensus, discussing theoretical and empirical challenges and the innovative methods and solutions scientists have devised.The contributors offer historical, philosophical, and biological perspectives on collectivity, and describe collective phenomena seen in insects, the immune system, communication, and human collectivity, with examples ranging from cooperative transport in the longhorn crazy ant to the evolution of autobiographical memory. They examine ways of explaining collectivity, including case studies and modeling approaches, and explore collectivity''s explanatory power. They present a comprehensive look at a specific case of collectivity: the Holobiont notion (the idea of a multi-species collective, a host and diverse microorganisms) and the hologenome theory (which posits that the holobiont and its hologenome are a unit of adaption). The volume concludes with reflections on the work of the late physicist Eshel Ben-Jacob, pioneer in the study of collective phenomena in living systems.Contributors Oren Bader, John Beatty, Dinah R. Davison, Daniel Dor, Ofer Feinerman, Raghavendra Gadagkar, Scott F. Gilbert, Snait B. Gissis, Deborah M. Gordon, James Griesemer, Zachariah I. Grochau-Wright, Erik R. Hanschen, Eva Jablonka, Mohit Kumar Jolly, Anat Kolumbus, Ehud Lamm, Herbert Levine, Arnon Levy, Xue-Fei Li, Elisabeth A. Lloyd, Yael Lubin, Eva Maria Luef, Ehud Meron, Richard E. Michod, Samir Okasha, Simone Pika, Joan Roughgarden, Eugene Rosenberg, Ayelet Shavit, Yael Silver, Alfred I. Tauber, Ilana Zilber-Rosenberg
ENGLISH

Vivarium - Experimental, Quantitative, And Theoretical Biology At Vienna''S Biologische Versuchsanstalt

119,25€ + 10% CARD

 The scientific achievements and forgotten legacy of a major Austrian research institute, from its founding in 1902 to its wartime destruction in 1945.The Biologische Versuchsanstalt was founded in Vienna in 1902 with the explicit goal to foster the quantification, mathematization, and theory formation of the biological sciences. Three biologists from affluent Viennese Jewish families—Hans Przibram, Wilhelm Figdor, and Leopold von Portheim-founded, financed, and nurtured the institute, overseeing its development into one of the most advanced biological research institutes of the time. And yet today its accomplishments are nearly forgotten. In 1938, the founders and other members were denied access to the institute by the Nazis and were forced into exile or deported to concentration camps. The building itself was destroyed by fire in April 1945. This book rescues the legacy of the "Vivarium" (as the Institute was often called), describing both its scientific achievements and its place in history.The book covers the Viennese sociocultural context at the time of the Vivarium''s founding, and the scientific zeitgeist that shaped its investigations. It discusses the institute''s departments and their research topics, and describes two examples that had scientific and international ramifications: the early work of Karl von Frisch, who in 1973 won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine; and the connection to Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York.Contributors Heiner Fangerau, Johannes Feichtinger, Georg Gaugusch, Manfred D. Laubichler, Cheryl A. Logan, Gerd B. Müller, Tania Munz, Kärin Nickelsen, Christian Reiß, Kate E. Sohasky, Heiko Stoff, Klaus Taschwer
ENGLISH

Modeling Biology - Structures, Behaviors, Evolution

106,00€ + 10% CARD

 Examines modeling strategies for the interpretation of biological data and their integration into the conceptual framework of theoretical biology, detailing approaches that focuses on morphology, development, behavior, or evolution. This book discusses modeling strategies from the perspectives of philosophy, history, and applied mathematics.
ENGLISH

Major Transitions In Evolution Revisited

159,00€ + 10% CARD

 Drawing on recent advances in evolutionary biology, prominent scholars return to the question posed in a pathbreaking book: how evolution itself evolved.
ENGLISH

Transformations Of Lamarckism - From Subtle Fluids To Molecular Biology

185,50€ + 10% CARD

 A reappraisal of Lamarckism--its historical impact and contemporary significance.
ENGLISH

Biological Emergences - Evolution By Natural Experiment

by Robert G. B. Reid

53,00€ + 10% CARD

 Natural selection is commonly interpreted as the fundamental mechanism of evolution. This title argues that natural selection is not the cause of evolution. It proposes an alternative theory to explain how emergent novelties are generated and under what conditions they can overcome the resistance of natural selection.
ENGLISH

Origination Of Organismal Form - Beyond The Gene In Developmental And Evolutionary Biology

109,98€ + 10% CARD

 A more comprehensive version of evolutionary theory that focuses as much on the origin of biological form as on its diversification.
ENGLISH

Environment, Development, And Evolution - Toward A Synthesis

94,08€ + 10% CARD

 Leading researchers in evolutionary developmental biology seek linkages between, and a synthesis of, development, physiology, endocrinology, ecology, and evolution.
ENGLISH

Modularity - Understanding The Development And Evolution Of Natural Complex Systems

185,50€ + 10% CARD

 Experts from diverse fields, including artificial life, cognitive science, economics, developmental and evolutionary biology, and the arts, discuss modularity.Modularity—the attempt to understand systems as integrations of partially independent and interacting units—is today a dominant theme in the life sciences, cognitive science, and computer science. The concept goes back at least implicitly to the Scientific (or Copernican) Revolution, and can be found behind later theories of phrenology, physiology, and genetics; moreover, art, engineering, and mathematics rely on modular design principles. This collection broadens the scientific discussion of modularity by bringing together experts from a variety of disciplines, including artificial life, cognitive science, economics, evolutionary computation, developmental and evolutionary biology, linguistics, mathematics, morphology, paleontology, physics, theoretical chemistry, philosophy, and the arts.The contributors debate and compare the uses of modularity, discussing the different disciplinary contexts of "modular thinking" in general (including hierarchical organization, near-decomposability, quasi-independence, and recursion) or of more specialized concepts (including character complex, gene family, encapsulation, and mosaic evolution); what modules are, why and how they develop and evolve, and the implication for the research agenda in the disciplines involved; and how to bring about useful cross-disciplinary knowledge transfer on the topic. The book includes a foreword by the late Herbert A. Simon addressing the role of near-decomposability in understanding complex systems.
ENGLISH

Innovation In Cultural Systems - Contributions From Evolutionary Anthropology

119,25€ + 10% CARD

 Leading scholars offer a range of perspectives on the roles played by innovation in the evolution of human culture.
ENGLISH

Functions In Biological And Artificial Worlds - Comparative Philosophical Perspectives

132,50€ + 10% CARD

 Examines the relationship between biological organisms and artifacts from the perspective of functionality. This book shows how ontological, epistemological, and phenomenological comparisons will clarify problems that are central to the philosophies of both biology and technology.
ENGLISH

Developing Scaffolds In Evolution, Culture, And Cognition

177,55€ + 10% CARD

 Empirical and philosophical perspectives on scaffolding that highlight the role of temporal and temporary resources in development across concepts of culture, cognition, and evolution.
ENGLISH

From Groups To Individuals - Evolution And Emerging Individuality

172,25€ + 10% CARD

 The biological and philosophical implications of the emergence of new collective individuals from associations of living beings.
ENGLISH

Convergent Evolution - Limited Forms Most Beautiful

by George R Mcghee Jr.

132,50€ + 10% CARD

 An analysis of convergent evolution from molecules to ecosystems, demonstrating the limited number of evolutionary pathways available to life.
ENGLISH

Cognitive Biology - Evolutionary And Developmental Perspectives On Mind, Brain, And Behavior

132,50€ + 10% CARD

 Presents an overview of cross-disciplinary integration of evolutionary and developmental approaches to cognition. This book deals with a key domain of cognition: spatial cognition; the relationships among attention, perception, and learning, representations of numbers and economic values; and social cognition.
ENGLISH

Contingency And Convergence - Toward A Cosmic Biology Of Body And Mind

by Russell Powell

159,00€ + 10% CARD

 Can we can use the patterns and processes of convergent evolution to make inferences about universal laws of life, on Earth and elsewhere?In this book, Russell Powell investigates whether we can use the patterns and processes of convergent evolution to make inferences about universal laws of life, on Earth and elsewhere. Weaving together disparate philosophical and empirical threads, Powell offers the first detailed analysis of the interplay between contingency and convergence in macroevolution, as it relates to both complex life in general and cognitively complex life in particular. If the evolution of mind is not a historical accident, the product of convergence rather than contingency, then, Powell asks, is mind likely to be an evolutionarily important feature of any living world? Stephen Jay Gould argued for the primacy of contingency in evolution. Gould''s "radical contingency thesis" (RCT) has been challenged, but critics have largely failed to engage with its core claims and theoretical commitments. Powell fills this gap. He first examines convergent regularities at both temporal and phylogenetic depths, finding evidence that both vindicates and rebuffs Gould''s argument for contingency. Powell follows this partial defense of the RCT with a substantive critique. Among the evolutionary outcomes that might defy the RCT, he argues, cognition is particularly important—not only for human-specific issues of the evolution of intelligence and consciousness but also for the large-scale ecological organization of macroscopic living worlds. Turning his attention to complex cognitive life, Powell considers what patterns of cognitive convergence tell us about the nature of mind, its evolution, and its place in the universe. If complex bodies are common in the universe, might complex minds be common as well?
ENGLISH

Multicellularity - Origins And Evolution

132,50€ + 10% CARD

 Scholars consider the origins and consequences of the evolution of multicellularity, addressing a range of organisms, experimental protocols, theoretical concepts, and philosophical issues.
Loading results...

View more results