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Books > Earth & environment > Geography > Biogeography
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From Stars to Brains: Milestones in the Planetary Evolution of Life and Intelligence (Hardcover, 1st ed. 2019)
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From Stars to Brains: Milestones in the Planetary Evolution of Life and Intelligence (Hardcover, 1st ed. 2019)
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The permutation of basic atoms-nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, carbon
and phosphorus into the biomolecules DNA and RNA, subsequently
evolved in cells and brains, defining the origin of life and
intelligence, remains unexplained. Equally the origin of the
genetic information and the intertwined nature of 'hardware' and
'software' involved in the evolution of bio-molecules and the cells
are shrouded in mystery. This treatise aims at exploring individual
and swarm behaviour patterns which potentially hint at as yet
unknown biological principles. It reviews theories of evolution
with perspectives from the earth sciences, commencing with the
earliest observed records of life. This is followed by reviews and
discussion of the building blocks of life, marine and terrestrial
communities, the arthropods, birds and finally humans. It is
suggested that, further to the mutation/natural selection processes
established by Darwin and Wallace, an understanding of the
evolution of intelligence remains little understood. A
directionality of evolutionary trajectories is evident, not least
the purposeful thinking process of humans as well as animals. It is
not clear how directional intelligence, manifested for example by
the collective intelligence of arthropod colonies, has evolved from
mutation/natural selection processes. Potential clues for the
understanding of life and evolution are provided by Aristotle's
dictum of "the whole being greater than the sum of the parts",
Niels Bohr's principle of quantum complementarity and George Ellis'
theory of top-down causality. Inherent in the question of the
origin of life is an anthropocentric bias, related to the
self-referential Anthropic Principle and theological paradigms of
man's supposed dominion over all other species. The Anthropic
Principle, however, should be capable of being circumvented using
the scientific falsification method, assuming universal verified
constants of physics. The phenomenon of the human mastery of fire
and the splitting of the atom, leading to the seventh major mass
extinction of species, remains incomprehensible.
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