The Serengeti Rules: The Quest to Discover How Life Works and Why It Matters – With a new Q&A with the author Online now

Description

The Serengeti Rules: The Quest to Discover How Life Works and Why It Matters – With a new Q&A with the author

Author: Carroll, Sean B.

Brand: Princeton University Press

Edition: Revised

Features:

• PRINCETON

Binding: Paperback

Number Of Pages: 288

Release Date: 07-03-2017

Details: Product Description

Now the subject of an Emmy Award–winning film the New York Times calls “spellbinding”How does life work? How does nature produce the right numbers of zebras and lions on the African savanna, or fish in the ocean? How do our bodies produce the right numbers of cells in our organs and bloodstream? In The Serengeti Rules, award-winning biologist and author Sean Carroll tells the stories of the pioneering scientists who sought the answers to such simple yet profoundly important questions, and shows how their discoveries matter for our health and the health of the planet we depend upon.One of the most important revelations about the natural world is that everything is regulated―there are rules that regulate the amount of every molecule in our bodies and rules that govern the numbers of every animal and plant in the wild. And the most surprising revelation about the rules that regulate life at such different scales is that they are remarkably similar―there is a common underlying logic of life. Carroll recounts how our deep knowledge of the rules and logic of the human body has spurred the advent of revolutionary life-saving medicines, and makes the compelling case that it is now time to use the Serengeti Rules to heal our ailing planet.A bold and inspiring synthesis by one of our most accomplished biologists and gifted storytellers, The Serengeti Rules is the first book to illuminate how life works at vastly different scales. Read it and you will never look at the world the same way again.

Review

“One of Financial Times (FT.com) Best Science Books of 2016”

“[A]s a subject for popular science, regulation seems to fail the thrill test; genetics and neuroscience appear more alluring. Now Sean B. Carroll. . . . Has risen to the challenge with this wonderful book about the natural control of numbers in living systems. Carroll is one of the top storytellers in contemporary science, as his previous writings about evolutionary biology have shown. Here he uses his narrative skills to take us on a scientific journey through time and space–making his case through the work of researchers around the world who have built up rules of life over the past century. . . . [
The Serengeti Rules] is wholeheartedly recommended for its entertaining view of biology from an original perspective.”
—Clive Cookson, Financial Times

“One of Nature.com’s Top 20 Books for 2016”

“Sean Carroll, a distinguished, erudite, and literate developmental biologist, has written a book about biological principles. Namely, the principles that control the behavior of every cell in our bodies, that determine how we, as individual organisms, respond to the outside world, and the principles that determine how ecosystems, large and small, respond to being perturbed. . . . If you read
The Serengeti Rules, you will be better equipped to understand both the frailty and the resilience of the planet we share.”
—Bernard Wood, Evolutionary Studies in Imaginative Culture

“Sean Carroll’s new book, with his thesis that everything is regulated backed by stories of discovery and inquiry, will enhance the way I teach biology. I am convinced that
The Serengeti Rules should be required reading for students in all fields of science, but especially those pursuing careers in biology education.”
—Paul K. Strode, American Biology Teacher

“A compelling read filled with big, bold ideas.”,
Nature

“In this remarkably engaging book, Carroll . . . persuasively argues that life at all levels of complexity is self-regulated, from the inner workings of cells to the larger relationships governing the Serengeti ecosystem. . . . Carroll superbly animates biological principles while providing important insights.”,
Publishers Weekly

“A thought-provoking challenge to complacency.”,
Kirkus

“Scientific processes are explained clearly, and overall, it is delightful reading, helped along by many interesting anecdotes. . . . Nonscientists often are more aware of how things work in

Package Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 1.1 inches

Languages: English