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- An intelligent look at life
- Good but boring at times
- Life is more then a Blind Algorithmic Process
- Simply wonderful
- An Ode to Creativity (aka "emergent properties")
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The Genius Within: Discovering the Intelligence of Every Living Thing
Jr., Frank T. Vertosick
Manufacturer: Harcourt
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ASIN: 0151005516 |
Amazon.com
If we're so smart, why are we still at the mercy of treacherous microorganisms? The Genius Within: Discovering the Intelligence of Every Living Thing asks readers to let go of brain worship and look at the incredible problem-solving skills of viruses, ants, and other lowly creatures. Neurosurgeon Frank T. Vertosick Jr. seems an unlikely candidate to write a book celebrating noncerebral intelligence, but his knowledge helps him draw comparisons that others might miss. The fast-moving genetic intelligence of bacteria and immune systems might not match the precision of digital computers, but they have devised arms races much more complex--and deadly--than our comparatively paltry efforts. Vertosick's grasp of what it means to behave intelligently comes through clearly, even if he is as stumped as anyone trying to define the I word. Exploring parallels between neural networks, insect colonies, and our own brains, he finds common ground and shows that, as far as evolution is concerned, we're not so bright. It's not all bad, though: we're very good at what we do, and Vertosick hopes that we can learn to use our intelligence more wisely. --Rob Lightner
Book Description
Can bacteria be as smart as we are? Can ants think? And fish? Yes, says Frank Vertosick, a neurosurgeon who combats our elitism about intelligence in this brilliant book.
A gifted writer and author of the widely praised Why We Hurt, Vertosick shows us that intelligence--the ability to react to the outside world, to change behavior, and survive-can be found wherever life exists. He demonstrates the keen intelligence of our immune system, how lowly bacteria mutate and outwit antibiotics, and how canny cancer cells elude our natural defenses.
A fascinating journey through worlds of unknown science and an unsettling argument against our valuing of brain intelligence above all else, The Genius Within tells a fascinating scientific story, one that could shake our ethical foundation to its core.
Customer Reviews:
An intelligent look at life.......2006-02-23
"The Genius Within" is a must read for the non-specialist interested in science. It is a thought provoking work; very speculative, but grounded in mainstream scientific fact and theory. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it...twice. It's a bit technical at times, so some familiarity with the science involved is recommended. Also, if you happen to be more interested in "intelligent" animal behavior as such, rather than in its biochemical, microbiological and systemic underpinnings, you may want to look elsewhere.
In this book, the author explores the notion the "networks" underlie the phenomenon we call life, and that life is synonymous with the information processing - intelligence - they architect. We tend to think of intelligence as a unique feature of brains, our conscious ones in particular (he calls this "brain chauvinism"), but he contends that all life is intelligent, or at least as "intelligent as it needs to be", and sets out to prove it.
In simplest terms, he defines intelligence as the ability to solve problems related to survival. This seems to run counter to mainstream evolutionary theory, where the survival of species is basically as matter of, well, "dumb luck". But the author views intelligence as a collective phenomenon firmly embedded within this framework; as an "emergent behavior" of large groups of highly interactive biological entities (Including sub-cellular enzymes) otherwise engaged in a contingency-driven, random struggle for survival. The architecture that endows such groups with "emergent properties" is called, for want of a better word, a "network" by the author.
The details of what the author means by a "network" is closely argued and beyond the scope of this review. In general, a biological "network" is a large collection of "selfish", randomly interacting entities whose components are capable of two or more relatively stable, but reversible, states (more active/less active, faster/slower, stronger/weaker), and whose components can variously enhance or impede each other's status over time, resulting in a collective "energy landscape" patterned by forces impinging on the network. The former allows for basic information storage (the biological equivalent of zeros and ones), and the latter for collective information storage (pattern recognition/memory) concerning the environment, allowing the collective to respond to environmental stimuli in, ultimately, a manner conducive to its survival. Overall, the architecture of a "network" harnesses the random, contingent interactions of its constituents into the directed or, as the author would claim, intelligent actions we associate with life at every level of biological organization.
The author spends much of the book "fleshing out" these and other abstractions, particularly with respects to interacting aggregates composed of things such as cellular enzymes, bacteria and somatic cells, what he calls "party networks" as opposed to "hard wired networks", though he does give ample attention to the latter (he is, after all, a brain surgeon). To assess intelligence from the "outside in", he employs a modified version of the Touring Test throughout these forays. Without making any assumptions about them based on what they are or how they're organized, he queries each system with a problem, and waits for a response. He queries an infectious bacterial species with a new antibiotic and, within months, it develops immunity. He queries the human immune system with the aforementioned bacteria and, within weeks, it develops an effective resistance. In these and other instances, he argues for an "intelligent" response from each based on their participation in network architecture, no more or less effective for the overall survival of its hosts than the quickened responses of "hard wired" brains.
I gave this book a five-star rating, and with good reason, but I'm not entirely in agreement with its conclusions. Although "networking" is arguably a characteristic of all living systems, it seems somewhat disingenuous to define intelligence as the ability to solve problems regardless of the time frame involved. Given enough time and numbers, "dumb luck" will achieve results that appear intelligent, and so will tempt teleological interpretations. Mainstream evolutionists have long had to contend with our compulsion to put a "forger" between the hammers of chance and the anvil of necessity. Like them, I suspect the author's hypothesis, however plausible, is just another in a series of attempts to inject Vitalism into biology, "networks" here replacing the less than scientific musings of an earlier age.
But then again, maybe I'm just a "brain chauvinist".
Good but boring at times.......2004-09-02
This is a relatively good book to read. However, the promise
that the author makes in not being technical is only partically
true. First, he concentrates too much on the medical explanations
that, at times, are not entirely relevant. Second, his analogies
are silly at times particularly when the concept is
already well understood without the analogy. One has to know
that the number of analogies given is not directly proportional
to how clear the concept will become to the reader.
But as I said, this is a good book and if you can live by
the parts of the book that are irrelevant you may learn
something new about the concept of intelligence and how
intelligence can be observed in seemingly "dumb" things.
Life is more then a Blind Algorithmic Process.......2003-11-15
Though Vertosick does not focus on the more technical and strictly academic foundations of his major thesis (life=intelligence), he does a beautiful job of using analogies and metaphors to describe how even a cell can exhibit "intelligent" behaviour. This book should be required reading for anyone who is remotely interested in biology, or anything to do with nature. Vertosick is able to successfully synthesize a completely different, yet strongly persuasive argument for the basis of life itself. He admits that his thesis may be flawed, but personally I think that most of his points are well thought out and strongly supported. This is one of the most interesting books on life and intelligence I have ever read.
Simply wonderful.......2003-11-08
As easy to read as a novel and just as enjoyable, it will forever change the way you see the world around you. It is one of those rare books that links together a number of more or less well known ideas and arrives at an extraordinary and inescapable set of conclusions. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
An Ode to Creativity (aka "emergent properties").......2003-07-18
If you want to know why Darwin might be "needlessy nihilistic" and what is at the core of Vertosick's carefully built case to explain--nothing less than--the possisble meaning of everything, then check this out. I thought the beginning was a little tedious, but the pay-off for hanging in there with his carefully crafted case was well worth it. I've bought several copies to share with friends and have had many lively debates. Thanks Dr. Vertosick for your emergent property--it's marvelous!
Book Description
I See a Kookaburra! lets readers search for an oystercatcher, an elephant shrew, and a fierce snapping turtle in the places where they live. Learn how these animals and many others grow and thrive in very different environments. Incorporated into the book is an interactive element. Hidden in the illustrations are animals camouflaged in their surroundings. Turn the page to see if you were able to find them all!
Book Description
A natural horsemanship novice reveals his inspiring journey toward a Better Way with horses.
Customer Reviews:
A brand new way to ride!.......2006-10-26
Natural Horsemanship has apparently been around for quite a few years now. Being new to the world of horses I just learned about this type of training a few short months ago. Mr. Moates gives a wonderfully insightful, and often amusing, introduction to the natural training method. Since I am new to horses this book was perfect for me. Anyone with a love of horses will enjoy this book. And it may inspire you, no matter what your age, to get involved with horses. This book never gets bogged down or tedious. It is fun!
Book Description
Since humans first wandered from their original habitat in Africa, over fifty millennia ago, they have radically altered the environment wherever they have gone, often at the cost of the animals who'd ruled the wild before mankind's arrival. Humanity's spread throughout the globe has begotten what paleontologist Richard Leakey has termed the "sixth age of extinction" -- the most deadly epoch the planet's fauna have seen since the demise of the dinosaurs. And in the last five hundred years, since the dawn of the age of exploration, this rate of extinction has accelerated ever more rapidly. In A Gap in Nature, scientist and historian Tim Flannery, in collaboration with internationally acclaimed wildlife artist Peter Schouten, catalogs 104 creatures that have vanished from the face of the earth since 1492. From the tiny Carolina parakeet to the majestic Steller's sea cow, which was over twenty-five feet long and weighed ten tons, all of these animals have become extinct as a direct result of the European expansion into every corner of the globe. Flannery evocatively tells the story of each animal: how it lived and how it succumbed to its terrible destiny. Accompanying each account is a beautiful color representation (life-size in the original painting) by Schouten, who has devoted years of his life to this extraordinary project. Animals from every continent are represented -- American passenger pigeons, Tasmanian wolves, and African blaauwboks -- in this homage to a lost Eden. This extraordinary book is at once a lament for the lost animals of the world and an ark to house them forever in human memory.
Customer Reviews:
A sad theme but.......2007-01-05
...a Very good book. The ilustrations are fantastic and the historical backgrounds on each species are very good.
Reading about extinct animals is always a bit of a sad and revolting reading but it's also a very interesting one. Read about this book on Bill Bryson's "A Short History of nearly Everything" so i bought it.
Very satisfied.
Rats, Cats & Foxes.......2006-07-02
Beautiful, interesting, well-written book, but it is clearly not intended as a scientific monograph, so if that is what you want you'd better look elsewhere.
Most of the species covered are rodents and birds, with some reptiles and larger mammals thrown in. All are beautifully illustrated.
While there are certainly many species in the book wiped out by direct human action (hunting & habitat destruction) in recorded history, most of the lost species seem to have been wiped out by indirect human action--the introduction of rats, cats, and foxes to the (usually) isolated island habitats by modern humans meant the end for the species which had evolved without these creatures. Interestingly, many of the species seem to have barely survived only in niche habitats even before the arrival of European colonists, etc. Two other species seem to have been wiped out by a volcanic eruption and a hurricane, respectively, in their very small habitats.
The book also records many instances of the last known specimens of clearly endangered species being killed by hunters and museum collectors (!), often identified by name. While it makes you wonder what makes these people tick, it sure seems like any species reduced to a handful of survivors didn't have long for this world in any event.
And the good news? Well, it sounds like many (by by no means all) of the lost species are survived--at least for now--by closely-related species. Hopefully we'll do better with these survivors!
Two sides to this book.......2006-05-01
I found this to be an excellent, but simple book. I say it in this way in that it is one that is a quick overview of the species involved, but also one that makes me appreciate what has been lost. It's not an in-depth biological study nor is it intended to be.
It's also has two sides in that it shows the wonder of nature and how amazing it is, but by the end of the book, it left me depressed. So much has been lost and this book makes me appreciate it. It give me the motivation to do what I can, however little that is, to perhaps help prevent this in the future.
I read this book several time and every time I went, "Wow!"
beatifully written and illustrated.......2006-02-24
this book is a masterpiece. everyone that i have shown it to has loved the illustrations and descriptions of these animals. the joy of this book, however, is bittersweet due to the loss of these animals from the face of the earth. it is a beautiful work and is a must if you are interested in evolution, extinction or conservation.
beautifully rendered book!.......2005-10-12
this is a great book for the non-specialist reader who wants to learn more about extinct animals but is not an expert in the area. you won't be disappointed-- it contains a great deal of information and the illustrations are top-notch.
Book Description
In this delightful fable for helping children to overcome bedwetting and to believe in their own self-worth, Sammy is a little elephant who can't hold his water. When he befriends Mr. Camel, he learns tricks and tips to hold his water until the right time to let it go, and later uses these new-found skills to put out a fire. With 26 richly textured illustrations, this gentle, cheery story will help children learn about their own inner strengths and resources. For ages 4-8.
Average customer rating:
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Discovering Endangered Species (Discovering Nature)
Nancy Field , and
Sally Machlis
Manufacturer: Dog-Eared Publications
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 094104209X |
Book Description
Discovering Endangered Species introduces concepts of biological diversity and the interdependence of life on earth. Children learn of habitat loss and other problems faced by threatened and endangered species. This book does a wonderful job of introducing children to important environmental issues through imaginative, fun, action orientated activities. Now includes a full colored sheet of 51 realistic endangered animal stickers.
Book Description
Learn about life in a Joshua tree, compare the Sonoran and Sahara deserts by creating dioramas, make a desert rain wheel, locate fossils in the gobi desert, and create a field guide of desert predators. These new activities and more pack this new edition with hands-on learning about one of the world's most amazing habitats.
Customer Reviews:
Discovering Deserts.......2006-01-17
I am a high school special education teacher for developmentally delayed students. We did a unit on deserts. This book help me organize/develop age-appropriate lessons and worksheets for the students. The pictures/illustrations were helpful also.
Wonderful Resource.......2003-07-26
This is a great book for teachers who will have to teach anything science related. Every book put out by the National Wildlife Federation is great.
There are lessons that provide art and craft ideas to help bring home the lesson that you are trying to teach. There are recipes for clay and food that you can use to help teach about deserts. There are facts to share and bulliton board ideas and more. There are copy sheets for worksheets and more.
The directions are clear. The books are easy to read and fit a large amount of information provided in a format that makes it easy to find when you are looking for something in particular.
Enjoy.
A book every science teacher needs.......2003-05-18
I used this book while teaching a unit on biomes in my High School Special Education Resource Science classroom. Discovering Deserts has exactly the right mix of factual material and hands-on activities needed to appeal to a wide range of ability levels, ages, and learning styles. The materials totally engaged my students' interest. This is a really useful resource and I plan to purchase other books in this series.
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Discovering Alabama Forests
Doug Phillips
Manufacturer: University Alabama Press
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ASIN: 081731525X |
Book Description
A visually stunning portrait of Alabama’s precious and majestic forests.
Green woodlands dress more than 22 million acres of the Alabama landscape, roughly two-thirds of the state. (Only Oregon and Georgia have a comparable abundance of forested acreage). Moreover, forest diversity in Alabama is greater than in any other region in the United States, with more than 200 kinds of native trees. These mixed forests consist of a great many hardwoods often thought of as emblematic of other regions: oaks, maples, hollies, elms and five species of buckeyes (Ohio has just two). Also abundant are softwoods and conifers—juniper, hemlock, cypress, and eight distinctive species of pine. As the official state tree, the longleaf pine was once among the most widespread species but decades of over-harvesting have reduced this graceful, fire-resistant tree to a mere remnant of its historical range.
In Discovering Alabama Forests, ecologist-educator Doug Phillips and photographer Robert Falls celebrate the current health and diversity of Alabama woodlands while sounding a call for their wise management and protection in the future. As population growth and urban development place new demands on forest communities, Phillips warns, advocates will succeed only if joined by a public spirit of appreciation for the state’s rich forest heritage.
With 100 beautiful color photographs illustrating the meticulous text, Discovering Alabama Forests provides an informed and accessible introduction to the ecological, geological, and biological richness of Alabama’s forests, their evolution through history, their contribution to the state’s economy, and the modern perils they face.
Doug Phillips is Coordinator for Environmental Information and Education with the Alabama Museum of Natural History, producer of the award-winning Public Television series Discovering Alabama, and author of Discovering Alabama Wetlands.
Robert P. Falls Sr. is a professional photographer specializing in wildlife and nature whose work has been featured in many national publications and whose book Exploring Gulf Islands National Seashore was published by Globe Pequot Press.
Rhett Johnson is Director of the Solon Dixon Forestry Education Center in Auburn.
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Flying Monsters (Discovering Dinosaurs (Alligator Books))
Michael Benton
Manufacturer: Gardner Publications
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 1842399039 |
Customer Reviews:
Excellent research--interesting for both children and adults.......2004-04-14
Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer discovered the fish long believed extinct on December 22, 1938. Walker provides the perfect amount of detail to make for a lively description of the research and discoveries that scientists have made until the present. Photographs and illustrations are excellent. Includes maps, timeline, source notes, selected bibliography, glossary, and index. Karen Woodworth-Roman, Children's Science Book Review
Out of the Depths.......2002-04-09
The mysteries of the ocean just keep on amazing me! This is a superbly written book about a fish, the coelacanth, that was thought to be extinct. Ms. Walker presents a tremendous amount of material in a highly readable manner. Her well-chosen photographs, drawings, and maps compliment her rich text. Ms. Walker has written clearly, bringing together comprehensive scientific research into a unique story of a unique fish. This is a terrific book and a definite must for any collection of ocean books.
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