John Tyler Bonner, a major participant in the development of biology as
an experimental science, is the author not only of important monographs
but also of a wonderfully readable book, Life Cycles, which is both a
personal memoir and a profound commentary on the central themes of
biology. This volume of essays presents new material that extends the
concepts from Life Cycles and his other writings. Its originality lies
in comparing key basic biological processes at different levels, from
molecular interactions through multicellular development to behavior and
social interactions. The first chapter in the book discusses
self-organization and natural selection; the second, competition and
natural selection; and the third, gene accumulation and gene silencing.
The fourth chapter examines the division of labor in organisms at all
levels: within the organelles of a cell, within groups of cells in the
guise of differentiation, within groups of individuals in an animal
society, and within our culturally determined human societies. The work
closes with a charming personal history of sixty years of changes in the
field of biology, including the transformation in the ways that research
work is funded.
Originally published in 1996.
The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand
technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from
the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions
preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting
them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the
Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich
scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by
Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
