Deze wetenschapper duikt in de evolutie van genetische regulatie binnen het kader van biologische ontwikkeling. Met behulp van de fruitvlieg als modelsysteem onderzoekt hij hoe cis-regulerende regio's in de loop van de evolutie veranderen. Zijn werk beoogt de fundamentele mechanismen te belichten die de diversiteit en complexiteit van het leven sturen.
A mixture of spirit and deed -- Introduction: Humboldt's gifts -- Part 1: The making of a theory. Reverend Darwin's detour ; Drawing a line between monkeys and kangaroos ; Life imitates life -- Part 2: The loveliest bones. Java man ; To the big bang, on horseback ; Where the dragon laid her eggs ; The day the mesozoic died ; Dinosaurs of a feather ; It's a fishapod! -- Part 3: The natural history of humans. Journey to the Stone Age ; Clocks, trees, and H-bombs ; CSI: Neander Valley -- Afterword: The shape of things to come
A geneticist discusses the role of DNA in the evolution of life on Earth, explaining how an analysis of DNA reveals a complete record of the events that have shaped each species and how it provides evidence of the validity of the theory of evolution.
The never-before-told account of the intersection of some of the most insightful minds of the 20th century, and a fascinating look at how war, resistance, and friendship can catalyze genius. In the spring of 1940, the aspiring but unknown writer Albert Camus and budding scientist Jacques Monod were quietly pursuing ordinary, separate lives in Paris. After the German invasion and occupation of France, each joined the Resistance to help liberate the country from the Nazis and ascended to prominent, dangerous roles. After the war and through twists of circumstance, they became friends, and through their passionate determination and rare talent they emerged as leading voices of modern literature and biology, each receiving the Nobel Prize in their respective fields. Drawing upon a wealth of previously unpublished and unknown material gathered over several years of research, Brave Genius tells the story of how each man endured the most terrible episode of the twentieth century and then blossomed into extraordinarily creative and engaged individuals. It is a story of the transformation of ordinary lives into exceptional lives by extraordinary events--of courage in the face of overwhelming adversity, the flowering of creative genius, deep friendship, and of profound concern for and insight into the human condition.
An award-winning biologist takes us on the dramatic expeditions that unearthed the history of life on our planet.Just 150 years ago, most of our world was an unexplored wilderness. Our sense of its age was vague and vastly off the mark, and much of the knowledge of our own species’ history was a set of fantastic myths and fairy tales. In the tradition of The Microbe Hunters and Gods, Graves, and Scholars, Sean Carroll leads a rousing voyage that recounts the most important discoveries in two centuries of natural history: from Darwin’s trip around the world to Charles Walcott’s discovery of pre-Cambrian life in the Grand Canyon; from Louis and Mary Leakey’s investigation of our deepest past in East Africa to the trailblazers in modern laboratories who have located a time clock in our DNA.
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
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER One of Publishers Weekly’s “Most Anticipated
Books of the Fall” As you read these words, copies of you are being created.
Sean Carroll, theoretical physicist and one of this world’s most celebrated
writers on science, rewrites the history of 20th century physics. Already
hailed as a masterpiece, Something Deeply Hidden shows for the first time that
facing up to the essential puzzle of quantum mechanics utterly transforms how
we think about space and time. His reconciling of quantum mechanics with
Einstein’s theory of relativity changes, well, everything. Most physicists
haven’t even recognized the uncomfortable truth: physics has been in crisis
since 1927. Quantum mechanics has always had obvious gaps—which have come to
be simply ignored. Science popularizers keep telling us how weird it is, how
impossible it is to understand. Academics discourage students from working on
the dead end of quantum foundations. Putting his professional reputation on
the line with this audacious yet entirely reasonable book, Carroll says that
the crisis can now come to an end. We just have to accept that there is more
than one of us in the universe. There are many, many Sean Carrolls. Many of
every one of us. Copies of you are generated thousands of times per second.
The Many Worlds Theory of quantum behavior says that every time there is a
quantum event, a world splits off with everything in it the same, except in
that other world the quantum event didn't happen. Step-by-step in Carroll's
uniquely lucid way, he tackles the major objections to this otherworldly
revelation until his case is inescapably established. Rarely does a book so
fully reorganize how we think about our place in the universe. We are on the
threshold of a new understanding—of where we are in the cosmos, and what we
are made of.
“A beautiful and very important book.”―Lewis Wolpert, American Scientist For over a century, opening the black box of embryonic development was the holy grail of biology. Evo Devo―Evolutionary Developmental Biology―is the new science that has finally cracked open the box. Within the pages of his rich and riveting book, Sean B. Carroll explains how we are discovering that complex life is ironically much simpler than anyone ever expected.
"From acclaimed writer and biologist Sean B. Carroll, a rollicking, awe-inspiring story of the surprising power of chance in our lives and the world. Why is the world the way it is? How did we get here? Does everything happen for a reason or are some things left to chance? Philosophers and theologians have pondered these questions for millennia, but startling scientific discoveries over the past half century are revealing that we live in a world driven by chance. A Series of Fortunate Events tells the story of the awesome power of chance and how it is the surprising source of all the beauty and diversity in the living world. Like every other species, we humans are here by accident. But it is shocking just how many things-any of which might never have occurred-had to happen in certain ways for any of us to exist. From an extremely improbable asteroid impact, to the wild gyrations of the Ice Age, to invisible accidents in our parents' gonads, we are all here through an astonishing series of fortunate events. And chance continues to reign every day over the razor-thin line between our life and death. This is a relatively small book about a really big idea. It is also a spirited tale. Drawing inspiration from Monty Python, Kurt Vonnegut, and other great thinkers, and crafted by one of today's most accomplished science storytellers, A Series of Fortunate Events is an irresistibly entertaining and thought-provoking account of one of the most important but least appreciated facts of life"-- Provided by publisher
Nachdem das Genom des Menschen und vieler anderer Tiere vollständig entschlüsselt ist, bekommt man durch einen Vergleich völlig neuartige Einblicke in den Prozess der Evolution. Sean B. Carroll, einer der renommiertesten Forscher auf dem Gebiet der vergleichenden DNA-Forschung, erzählt in seinem spannenden Buch von uralten, 'unsterblichen' Genen, die alle Lebewesen besitzen, von 'fossilen' Rest-Genen, die ihre Funktion nicht mehr ausüben, sowie von der verblüffenden Tatsache, dass der Genvergleich zeigt, wie die Evolution sich selbst wiederholt. Entstanden ist ein unterhaltsamer und faszinierender Einblick in die neueste Forschung zur Entstehung und Entwicklung des Lebens.
