Biologists - Biography, Biology - General & Miscellaneous
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Overview
Within a single captivating narrative, John Bonner combines an intensely personal memoir of scientific progress and an overview of what we now know about living things. Bonner, a major participant in the development of biology as an experimental science, looks at the field in an unconvennonal manner. More so than many other biologists, he has searched for a central theme to deepen his understanding of the science of life. In the life cycle, Bonner sees the foundation of all biology - a linkage of evolution, development, and the complex activities of adult organisms. Here he builds on this concept to explain to nonspecialists the principles behind the drama of the living world - and to tell a number of insightful stories about the achievements and eccentricities of eminent researchers. "I have devoted my life to slime molds," Bonner begins. While describing the miraculous four-day life cycle of these common microscopic organisms, which are neither plants nor animals, he also shows how their development revealed to him that living things are life cycles: the great lesson that comes from this way of thinking is that it is not just the adult but the life cycle that evolves. With the clarity and the sense of humor that have made Bonner a talented and immensely popular teacher, he goes on to outline contemporary knowledge about biology up to and including the continuing controversy over E. O. Wilson's Sociobiology. Throughout, Bonner makes his points by using a variety of fascinating illustrations: the pond-blooming Volvox, "stepfather" lions, fireflies, and French dissenters to Darwinism, among many others. In an age of increasing specialization and fragmentation among subfields of biology, this is a unique work of reflection and integration.Editorials
Library Journal
All living creatures, be they a minute bacteria, a giant sequoia, or a lion, have a life cycle. Bonner, professor emeritus of biology at Princeton University, reviews what the life cycle is, how genes are integral to its operation, what the role of multicellularity and size are in development, and how the mysterious process of evolution contributes to the cycle. Writing in clear, nontechnical language, Bonner draws examples from the animal and plant world, including his own lifelong work with slime molds. Bonner's book has two unique aspects: it sees beyond the organism to the whole world, and it is partly autobiographical by revealing Booner's own development as a biologist. For general science collections.-- Michael D. Cramer, VPI&SU Lib., Blacksburg, Va.Book Details
Published
May 5, 1995
Publisher
Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, c1995.
Pages
222
Format
Paperback
ISBN
9780691001517