Contents
Preface
1. PIONEERS OF EVOLUTIONARY THOUGHT
Aristotle
Averr¨oes
The mystery of fossils
Condorcet
Linnaeus
Erasmus Darwin
Lamarck
The debates between Cuvier and Geoffroy St. Hilaire
Suggestions for further reading
2. CHARLES DARWINβS LIFE AND WORK
Family background and early life
Aboard the Beagle
Work in London and Down
The Origin of Species
The Descent of Man
The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals; ethology
Suggestions for further reading
3. MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
Classical genetics
The structure of DNA
Protein structure
RNA and ribosomes
The genetic code
Genetic engineering
The Polymerase Chain Reaction
Theories of chemical evolution towards the origin of life
Molecular evidence establishing family trees in evolution
Symbiosis
Suggestions for further reading
4. STATISTICAL MECHANICS AND INFORMATION
The second law of thermodynamics
Maxwellβs demon
Statistical mechanics
Information theory; Shannonβs formula
Entropy expressed as missing information
Cybernetic information compared with thermodynamic information
The information content of Gibbs free energy
What is life?
Suggestions for further reading
5. INFORMATION FLOW IN BIOLOGY
Cybernetic (or semiotic) information; codes and languages
The language of molecular complementarity
The flow of information between and within cells
Nervous systems
Animal languages
Suggestions for further reading
6. CULTURAL EVOLUTION AND INFORMATION
The coevolution of human language, culture, and intelligence
Y-chromosomal DNA and mitochondrial DNA
Mitochondrial Eve and Y-Chromosomal Adam
Exodus: Out of Africa
Acceleration of human cultural evolution
The invention of paper, ink, and printing
The information explosion
Information-driven human cultural evolution as part of biological evolution
Suggestions for further reading
7. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
The first computers
Electronic digital computers
Cybernetics
The invention of transistors
Mooreβs law
Self-reinforcing information accumulation
The Traitorous Eight
Integrated circuits
The history of Wikipedia
The history of Google
Automation
Suggestions for further reading
8. PATHFINDING
The 2014 Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology
Some excerpts from Edvard I. Moserβs Nobel lecture
Paths in cell differentiation
The Internet and World Wide Web
Postal addresses
Paths in the organization of computer memories
Abstraction of concepts and natural laws
Suggestions for further reading
9. THE EVOLUTION OF HUMAN LANGUAGES
Chomskyβs assertion of rapid change
Parse trees
Garrodβs hypothesis
The FOXP2 gene and protein
Slow evolutionary change; serial homologies
The Neanderthal and Denisovan genomes
Suggestions for further reading
10. THE MECHANISM OF CELL DIFFERENTIATION
Embryonic stem cells
Diseases and conditions where stem cell treatment is being investigated
Insect juvenile hormones and chromosomal puffs
Jacob and Monod
Developmental biology
Transcription factors
Suggestions for further reading
11. BIO-INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
The merging of information technology and biotechnology
Self-assembly of supramolecular structures; Nanoscience
Molecular switches; bacteriorhodopsin
Neural networks, biological and artificial
Genetic algorithms
Artificial life
Suggestions for further reading
12. LOOKING TOWARDS THE FUTURE
Tensions created by the rapidity of technological change
Can information-driven society achieve stability?
We must leave fossil fuels in the ground
We must stabilize and ultimately reduce the global population
We must eliminate the institution of war
New ethics to match new technology
Respect for natural evolution
Construction versus destruction
Suggestions for further reading
Appendix A ENTROPY AND INFORMATION
Appendix B BIOSEMIOTICS
Suggestions for further reading
Appendix C ENTROPY AND ECONOMICS
Human society as a superorganism, with the global economy as its digestive system
Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen
Limits to Growth; A steady-state economy
Biological Carrying Capacity and Economics
Population and food supply
Social Values and Levels of Consumption
The Responsibility of Governments
References
Index