Cells to Civilizations: The Principles of Change That Shape Life

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

The science of change from cells to culture

Cells to Civilizations is the first unified account of how life transforms itself--from the production of bacteria to the emergence of complex civilizations. What are the connections between evolving microbes, an egg that develops into an infant, and a child who learns to walk and talk? Award-winning scientist Enrico Coen synthesizes the growth of living systems and creative processes, and he reveals that the four great life transformations--evolution, development, learning, and human culture--while typically understood separately, actually all revolve around shared core principles and manifest the same fundamental recipe. Coen blends provocative discussion, the latest scientific research, and colorful examples to demonstrate the links between these critical stages in the history of life.

Coen tells a story rich with genes, embryos, neurons, and fascinating discoveries. He examines the development of the zebra, the adaptations of seaweed, the cave paintings of Lascaux, and the formulations of Alan Turing. He explores how dogs make predictions, how weeds tell the time of day, and how our brains distinguish a Modigliani from a Rembrandt. Locating commonalities in important findings, Coen gives readers a deeper understanding of key transformations and provides a bold portrait for how science both frames and is framed by human culture.

A compelling investigation into the relationships between our biological past and cultural progress, Cells to Civilizations presents a remarkable story of living change.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Introduction a Recipe for Change (p. 1)
• History and Form (p. 3)
• Life's Creative Recipe (p. 8)
• 1 Loops and Lotteries (p. 13)
• Principle of Population Variation (p. 16)
• Principle of Persistence (p. 20)
• Principle of Reinforcement (p. 23)
• Principle of Competition (p. 24)
• Combining Principles (p. 29)
• 2 From Genes to Ecosystems (p. 34)
• Principle of Cooperation (p. 36)
• Principle of Combinatorial Richness (p. 40)
• Wandering Clouds (p. 44)
• Principle of Recurrence (p. 48)
• The Origin of Species (p. 52)
• Species and Ecosystems (p. 57)
• A Recipe for Evolution (p. 58)
• 3 Conversations of an Embryo (p. 61)
• Turing's Principles (p. 63)
• Patterning a Cell (p. 68)
• Switching Genes On and Off (p. 70)
• A Molecular Fight (p. 73)
• Looking into Gradients (p. 76)
• A Common Form (p. 80)
• 4 Completing the Picture (p. 84)
• An Embryonic Cocktail Party (p. 85)
• A Cooperative Effort (p. 87)
• Regulatory Riches (p. 88)
• Building on the Past (p. 90)
• The Expanding Canvas (p. 93)
• Deformation (p. 97)
• The Three-Dimensional Canvas (p. 105)
• A Common Recipe (p. 108)
• 5 History in the Making (p. 111)
• Unicellular Beginnings (p. 114)
• Moving up a Scale (p. 115)
• Zooming and Growing (p. 118)
• A Recipe within a Recipe (p. 120)
• 6 Humble Responses (p. 122)
• Making Adjustments (p. 124)
• Flora's Story (p. 127)
• The Bite of Venus (p. 132)
• The Sensible Sea Slug (p. 135)
• Patterns in Time (p. 140)
• Human Responses (p. 143)
• Carving up the World (p. 147)
• 7 The Neural Sibyl (p. 150)
• The Prophetic Dog (p. 152)
• Predictive Neurons (p. 155)
• Learning from Discrepancies (p. 157)
• Pavlov and Punishments (p. 163)
• Core Principles (p. 164)
• A Neural Journey (p. 168)
• Staying on the Move (p. 169)
• A Recipe for Learning (p. 173)
• 8 Learning Through Action (p. 175)
• Calibration (p. 176)
• Jumping Eyes (p. 178)
• Visual Shifts (p. 181)
• Learning to Calibrate (p. 184)
• Action-Learning Loops (p. 187)
• Smooth Movements (p. 188)
• An Active Journey (p. 193)
• Learning with Others (p. 197)
• 9 Seeing As (p. 200)
• The Neural Eye (p. 204)
• Multiple Eyes (p. 208)
• Seeing through Models (p. 211)
• Learning at Many Levels (p. 213)
• Top-down and Bottom-up (p. 216)
• Competing Interpretations (p. 217)
• A Question of Style (p. 220)
• Creative Acts (p. 228)
• 10 Framing Recipes (p. 232)
• Development of Learning (p. 233)
• Basic Instincts (p. 237)
• Flexibility versus Directness (p. 242)
• 11 The Crucible of Culture (p. 244)
• The Apprentice (p. 245)
• Fruitful Populations (p. 248)
• Lasting Change (p. 250)
• Cultural Reinforcement (p. 252)
• The Force of Competition (p. 254)
• Cooperative Efforts (p. 255)
• A Cultural Mix (p. 257)
• Propelled by the Past (p. 260)
• A Cultural Recipe (p. 263)
• 12 The Grand Cycle (p. 266)
• Cultural Origins (p. 267)
• Possible Worlds (p. 270)
• Nature's Self-Portrait (p. 275)
• Acknowledgments (p. 281)
• Notes (p. 283)
• References (p. 299)
• Illustration Credits (p. 307)
• Index (p. 313)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Plant molecular geneticist Coen (John Innes Ctr., Norwich, UK; The Art of Genes: How Organisms Make Themselves) begins this book by describing the four ways that life, in the broadest sense of the word, is transformed: development through patterning, Darwinian selection, modifying neural interactions and connections, and cultural change as a result of human behavior and interaction. Coen goes on to argue persuasively that these four means of transformation are better understood not as separate processes but as one common set of mechanisms for life's transformations. His examples range from genes to ecosystems, learning to cultural change. Enticing diagrams, metaphors, and illustrations support his premise. VERDICT Clearly written, this intriguing, thought-provoking book by an eminent scientist will attract readers with a background in science. General readers should also find it accessible and of interest.-Gloria Maxwell, Metropolitan Community Coll.-Penn Valley, Kansas City, MO (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

CHOICE Review

Biology involves complicated, interconnected systems of entities interacting through pathways made up of hierarchies, flows, and feedback loops. Here, plant molecular geneticist Coen (John Innes Centre, UK; The Art of Genes, CH, Dec'99, 37-2148) examines four of the most interesting biological systems: evolution, development, learning, and culture. He extracts a group of common principles that he calls "life's creative recipe." This recipe includes population variation, persistence, reinforcement, competition, cooperation, combinatorial richness, and recurrence. Coen generally writes well, but his use of a fruit analogy in a description of genetic control of development is somewhat confusing. Conversely, his explanation of the mechanisms of learning is lucid, and his use of painters and their works to illustrate points and make connections throughout the book is charming. Several times, Coen warns against stretching too far to find commonalities among processes, but he seems to try awfully hard to shoehorn the four systems into his recipe. In the end, this reviewer was left unconvinced that Coen's recipe has much utility. However, the work was thought provoking, informative, and fun to read. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates, upper-division undergraduates, graduate students, and general readers. J. L. Hunt University of Arkansas--Monticello