Life cycles1993

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.