Product Description

Challenging Darwin's theories, Brian Goodwin argues that it is possible to understand evolution as a process that is pushed by the intrinsic properties of living matter, rather than pulled by natural selection. He shows how seemingly complex strucures such as wings or eyes can be built up in a series of simple, self-organising steps. Goodwin's new biology is not only an exact science, it is also a science for a new age that transforms the competitive individualism into a post-modern science of qualities.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #696724 in Books
• Published on: 1997-12-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

From the Back Cover

"This is a brilliant book, wonderfully written. . . . Goodwin is a real scholar, of great breadth and insight. He writes beautifully, conveying difficult themes in an exciting manner."--Simon Levin, Princeton University

About the Author
Brian Goodwin is Professor of Biology and Coordinator of Holistic Science at Schumacher College, Devon, UK. He is the editor of Theoretical Biology: Epigenetic and Evolutionary Order from Complex Systems and the coauthor of Form and Transformation and Signs of Life.

Customer Reviews

Not actually an attack on Natural Selection
A splendid book, but to see it as an attack on Natural Selection is almost certainly a mistake - rather it sets out to show that NS is not the whole story when it comes to biological forms. The two are definately complementary

Thought provoking, valuable, and answers a number of questions that natural selection struggles with.

Excellent view of evolution from complexity
This book is certainly a very good contribution to the area of evolutionary biology. It introduces the reader into the view of morphogenesis and evolution from a fresh perspective and shows how important are the dynamical rules in shaping life. I really enjoyed it.

One of the worst books I have read in a long time.
The problem with this book is that from the word go it assumes that complexity can not arise from the gradual accumulation of tiny variations over a large amount of time. It argues that the current view of evolution - that we are driven by competition, survival and selfishness - is merely a "perspective", one that makes most sense to us because of our experience in terms of our current culture.

Because of the attempt to be "just another perspective" it attempts to appear to be on the side of evolution and creep in under the radar. It's almost as if the author decided that evolution by natural selection made his life worthless - that he is merely "an arbitrary collection of genes that has passed the survival test" - and thus required him to step in and give organisms back their "intrinsic value".

The problem however is that the author rather assumes that because the natural world is driven by competition, survival and selfishness, that this somehow gives us permission to be competitive and selfish. In no way does this give us permission to act uncivilized. I am repulsed at the suggestion that our current understanding is the root of moral corruption, and this serves as nothing more than a reassurance for those who wish the cat had never been let out of the bag.

The further reading is barely a page long and is practically all the authors own work, so it rather suggests that this is nothing more than crackpot literature. The back of the book claims he is a professor of biology and seems to forget to mention the fact that he retired in 1992.