Slanted Truths: Essays on Gaia, Symbiosis and Evolution by Lynn Margulis, Dorion Sagan

From the Publisher

Lynn Margulis, one of the most original and perceptive scientific thinkers of our time, and the writer Dorion Sagan here present a selection from their many essays published in the last decade and a half. This collection includes some of their most provocative ideas on Gaia theory, symbiosis, individuality, and the way scientific research is conducted today. Lynn Margulis is best known for her suggestion that mitochondria and chloroplasts, the energy-producing components of plant and animal cells, originally evolved as separate organisms and then merged with their host cells in a symbiotic union. She is also one of the founders, with James Lovelock, of Gaia theory, the idea that the entire biosphere is a self-regulating meta-organism. More than in any of her and Dorion Sagan's previous books, these essays explore the more far-reaching implications of symbiosis as an evolutionary force: we see, for instance, how it may have played a crucial role in brain development and how symbiotic communities call into question the very idea of the "individual" organism. Extending symbiosis to its logical extent, we see that if self-regulating communities are the norm in nature, then Gaia becomes a natural expectation. It is simply the largest example of the form living systems evolve to. The symbiosis of Lynn Margulis and Dorion Sagan, mother and son, scientist and writer, is unique in all of science writing. Slanted Truths shows them at their multifaceted best: daring, provocative, an open challenge to conventional scientific thinking.

Lynn Margulis is Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Dorion Sagan is a writer livingin Amherst. This is their fourth book. They have previously collaborated on Microcosmos, The Garden of Microbial Delights, and What Is Life? and are at work on a new book, What Is Sex?

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