Description
The concept of "evolution" has historically been applied to the origins and adaptation of biological traits and species. But what if the notion of evolution is more pervasive and multifaceted?
The concept of "evolution" has historically been applied to the origins and adaptation of biological traits and species.
But what if the notion of evolution is more pervasive and multifaceted?
In his groundbreaking earlier book, Active Biological Evolution, Frank Laukien made a startling, evidence-based assertion: While random mutations were the primary change mechanism of evolution during early life and remain relevant in pathobiology, in the era of modern
biology...
Adaptive evolution via genomic and epigenetic changes prior to Darwinian selection is primarily the result of active cell biology processes.
In short, Laukien concluded: The processes of adaptive evolution are, themselves, evolving.
In Origins & Evolution, his follow-up work, Laukien continues to challenge conventional wisdom and offer novel insights. Employing the framework
of evolution, he explores feedback-driven processes in the realms of cosmological, planetary, geological, and climate evolution and their effects on life and organismal evolution.
Laukien delves into:
- The origins of molecular evolvability and cellular life, as well as of astrobiology with putative exoplanet life
- Earth's tumultuous evolution with frozen episodes and warm periods with carbon dioxide levels five times higher than today
- The evolutionary impact of six mass extinctions in the last 600 million years and the chances of future mass extinctions
- Our evolving climate-with over 50 near-regular Northern ice ages in the last 3 million years, along with the unpredictable consequences of anthropogenic climate change
- Eusociality in homo sapiens-the only intelligent species with a technological civilization that has evolved on Earth in 3.8 billion years among 100 million species
- The concept of a lifetime of species in evolution, from ten thousands to millions of years, and the implications for the evolution of future hominin species and hybrids
A must-read for anyone pondering the evolutionary history and future of life, as well as of Homo sapiens and the meaning of our existence.