Exploring the broad implications of evolutionary theorist Lynn Margulis's work, this collection brings together specialists across a range of disciplines, from paleontology, molecular biology, evolutionary theory, and geobiology to developmental systems theory, archaeology, history of science, cultural science studies, and literature and science. Addressing the multiple themes that animated Margulis's science, the essays within take up, variously, astrobiology and the origin of life, ecology and symbiosis from the microbial to the planetary scale, the coupled interactions of earthly environments and evolving life in Gaia theory and earth system science, and the connections of these newer scientific ideas to cultural and creative productions.
Dorion Sagan acquaints the reader with salient issues in Lynn Margulis's scientific work, the controversies they raised, and the vocabulary necessary to follow the arguments. Sankar Chatterjee synthesizes several strands of current theory for the origin of life on earth. James Strick tells the intertwined origin stories of James Lovelock's Gaia hypothesis and Margulis's serial endosymbiosis theory. Jan Sapp explores the distinct phylogenetic visions of Margulis and Carl Woese. Susan Squier examines the epigenetics of embryologist and developmental biologist C. H. Waddington. Bruce Clarke studies the convergence of ecosystem ecology, systems theory, and science fiction between the 1960s and the 1980s. James Shapiro discusses the genome evolution that results not from random changes but rather from active cell processes. Susan Oyama shows how the concept of development balances an over-emphasis on genetic coding and other deterministic schemas. Christopher Witmore studies the ways in which a concentrated animal feeding operation, or CAFO, mixes up natural resources, animal lives, and human appetites. And Peter Westbroek brings the insights of earth system science toward a new worldview essential for a proper response to global change.
Edited by:
Bruce Clarke
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions:
Height: 229mm,
Width: 152mm,
Spine: 23mm
Weight: 499g
ISBN: 9780823265251
ISBN 10: 0823265250
Series: Meaning Systems
Publication Date: 01 July 2015
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Contents List of Plates and Figures Acknowledgments Introduction: Earth, Life & System Bruce Clarke 1. Life on a Margulisian Planet: A Son's Philosophical Reflections Dorion Sagan 2. The RNA/Protein World and the Endoprebiotic Origin of Life Sankar Chatterjee 3. Exobiology at NASA: Incubator for the Gaia and Serial Endosymbiosis Theories James Strick 4. Symbiosis, Microbes, Kingdoms, and Domains Jan Sapp 5. The World Egg and the Ouroboros: Two Models for Theoretical Biology Susan Squier 6. The Planetary Imaginary: Gaian Ecologies from Dune to Neuromancer Bruce Clarke 7. James Shapiro, Bringing Cell Action into Evolution James Shapiro 8. Sustainable Development: Living with Systems Susan Oyama 9. Bovine Urbanism: The Ecological Corpulence of Bos Urbanus Christopher Witmore 10. Symbiotism: Earth and the Greening of Civilization Peter Westbroek Notes References List of Contributors Index
Reviews for Earth, Life, and System: Evolution and Ecology on a Gaian Planet
Earth, Life, and System is a strikingly original and challenging collection of essays, which places the work and broad intellectual interests of Lynne Margulis in a variety of contexts and develops original arguments and interpretations that expand on and complement her interests. -Stacy Alaimo, University of Texas at Arlington Earth, Life, and System is a vital contribution to interdisciplinary knowledge about life, evolution, and the planetary imaginary. Clarke has assembled some of the best thought-provoking thinkers on this topic. --Tyler Volk, New York University Earth, Life, and System is a strikingly original and challenging collection of essays, which places the work and broad intellectual interests of Lynne Margulis in a variety of contexts and develops original arguments and interpretations that expand on and complement her interests. --Stacy Alaimo, University of Texas at Arlington
