On Life: Cells, Genes, and the Evolution of Complexity

Competition between species arises when two or more species share at least some of the same limited resources. It is likely to affect all species, as well as many higher-level aspects of community and ecosystem dynamics. Interspecific competition shares many of the same characteristics as density dependence (intraspecific competition) and evolution (competition among genotypes). Despite this, a solid theoretical framework has yet to be established to develop a more coherent understanding of this important interaction. Despite its prominence in the ecological literature, theory seems to have lost its way in recent decades, with many synthetic papers promoting outdated ideas, failing to utilize resource-based models, and having little utility in applied fields such as conservation and environmental management. Competition theory has done little to incorporate new findings on consumer-resource interactions in the context of larger food webs that contain elements of behavioral or evolutionary adaptation. Simple models and analytical methods remain influential.

The theory of competition in ecology represents a timely opportunity to address these deficiencies and suggests a more useful approach to modeling that can provide a foundation for future models with greater predictive capacity in both ecology and evolution. The book concludes with some broader observations about the lack of agreement on the general principles that should be used to build mathematical models to help understand ecological systems. It argues that there is now an urgent need for more open discussion and debate about the underlying structure of ecological theory to advance the field.

All creatures, from bacteria and redwoods to garden snails and humans, belong to a single biochemical family. We all operate by the same principles and are all made up of cells, either one or many. We flaunt capacities that far exceed those of inanimate matter, yet we stand squarely within the material world. So what is life, anyway? How do living things function, and how did they come into existence? Questions like these have baffled philosophers and scientists since antiquity, but over the past half-century answers have begun to emerge.

Offering an inside look, Franklin M. Harold makes life accessible to readers interested in the biological big picture. The book traces how living things operate, focusing on the interplay of biology with physics and chemistry. He asserts that biology stands apart from the physical sciences because life revolves around organization-- that is, purposeful order.

On Life aims to make life intelligible by giving readers an understanding of the biological landscape; it sketches the principles as biologists presently understand them and highlights major unresolved issues. What emerges is a biology bracketed by two stubborn mysteries: the nature of the mind and the origin of life. This portrait of biology is comprehensible but inescapably complex, internally consistent, and buttressed by a wealth of factual knowledge.