About the Book
How does life work? How does nature produce the right numbers of zebras and lions on the African savanna, or fish in the ocean? How do our bodies produce the right numbers of cells in our organs and bloodstream? In The Serengeti Rules, award-winning biologist and author Sean Carroll tells the stories of the pioneering scientists who sought the answers to such simple yet profoundly important questions, and shows how their discoveries matter for our health and the health of the planet we depend upon. One of the most important revelations about the natural world is that everything is regulated--there are rules that regulate the amount of every molecule in our bodies and rules that govern the numbers of every animal and plant in the wild. And the most surprising revelation about the rules that regulate life at such different scales is that they are remarkably similar--there is a common underlying logic of life. Carroll recounts how our deep knowledge of the rules and logic of the human body has spurred the advent of revolutionary life-saving medicines, and makes the compelling case that it is now time to use the Serengeti Rules to heal our ailing planet.
A bold and inspiring synthesis by one of our most accomplished biologists and gifted storytellers, The Serengeti Rules is the first book to illuminate how life works at vastly different scales. Read it and you will never look at the world the same way again.
Table of Contents:
Introduction: Miracles and Wonder 1 I EVERYTHING IS REGULATED 13 1 The Wisdom of the Body 15 2 The Economy of Nature 30 II THE LOGIC OF LIFE 47 3 General Rules of Regulation 51 4 Fat, Feedback, and a Miracle Fungus 73 5 Stuck Accelerators and Broken Brakes 89 III THE SERENGETI RULES 107 6 Some Animals Are More Equal than Others 111 7 Serengeti Logic 129 8 Another Kind of Cancer 155 9 Take 60 Million Walleye and Call Us in 10 Years 169 10 Resurrection 183 Afterword: Rules to Live By 202 Acknowledgments 215 Notes 217 Bibliography 239 Index 253 A Conversation with Sean B. Carroll 265
About the Author :
Sean B. Carroll is an award-winning scientist, writer, educator, and executive producer. He is vice president for science education at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and professor of molecular biology and genetics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His books include Endless Forms Most Beautiful, Brave Genius, and Remarkable Creatures, which was a finalist for the National Book Award for nonfiction.
Review :
One of Nature.com's Top 20 Books for 2016 One of Financial Times (FT.com) Best Science Books of 2016 "In The Serengeti Rules, the author goes from E. coli to elephants to lay out the basic rules that shape so much of what's around us and inside us."--Brian Switek, Wall Street Journal "In this remarkably engaging book, Carroll ... persuasively argues that life at all levels of complexity is self-regulated, from the inner workings of cells to the larger relationships governing the Serengeti ecosystem... Carroll superbly animates biological principles while providing important insights."--Publishers Weekly "The Serengeti Rules is one of the best biology books for general readers I've ever encountered. It should be required reading for every college student, regardless of major."--Andrew H. Knoll, Harvard University "A compelling read filled with big, bold ideas."--Nature "A thought-provoking challenge to complacency."--Kirkus "Carroll's book is fantastic, a success story in going form the specific to the general. It helps that Carroll is a gifted writer, captivating and thoughtful, and highly respectful of the reader. Carroll brings in the history of thought and research in the relevant areas of physiology, ecology etc. His messages are framed in the larger context of the Earth's overall health and important environmental issues. He links the subject matter to key central themes in biological theory (such as natural selection and evolution). And this is all done very well. You've seen the synthetic overviews of life and evolution framed in chaos theory, complexity theory, even quantum physics. This is better. This is a book to give to your favorite biology teacher (high school or college), and that teacher will take from it examples, connections, lessons, ways of telling, that will enrich their teaching immeasurably."--Greg Laden, ScienceBlog's Greg Laden "[A]s a subject for popular science, regulation seems to fail the thrill test; genetics and neuroscience appear more alluring. Now Sean B. Carroll... Has risen to the challenge with this wonderful book about the natural control of numbers in living systems. Carroll is one of the top storytellers in contemporary science, as his previous writings about evolutionary biology have shown. Here he uses his narrative skills to take us on a scientific journey through time and space--making his case through the work of researchers around the world who have built up rules of life over the past century... [The Serengeti Rules] is wholeheartedly recommended for its entertaining view of biology from an original perspective."--Clive Cookson, Financial Times "[A] deep journey into the rules of life on Earth... By introducing us to the great pioneers of molecular biology, like Jacques Monod (enzyme regulation), Akira Endo (lovastatin developer) and Janet Rowley (cancer and inheritance of genetic diseases), Carroll sets the reader up with a strong foundation in the natural processes that go on within our own bodies, and describes how breakthroughs happen, such as the discovery of 'repressors' and 'suppressors,' (which act, not by 'doing things,' but by preventing things), and double-negative regulatory logic. We also learn what happens when these mechanisms fail."--Cathy Taibbi, Examiner.com "Carroll is both a distinguished scientist... and one of our great science writers... [The Serengeti Rules] is a visionary book, which celebrates the new wisdom and the men and women who have brought the vision to pass."--Guardian "Sean Carroll's new book, with his thesis that everything is regulated backed by stories of discovery and inquiry, will enhance the way I teach biology. I am convinced that The Serengeti Rules should be required reading for students in all fields of science, but especially those pursuing careers in biology education."--Paul K. Strode,American Biology Teacher "This book offers hope that we can make a difference, that we can follow those rules, and that things can get better on our planet, our home. It is well written, meticulously researched, and easy to read. I also learned more about the serendipitous nature of scientific discovery. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it to both teachers and students."--Cheryl Hollinger, American Biology Teacher "This book was easy to read and gave many great examples of the resiliency of nature.'--National Science Teachers Association Recommends "For biologists, Carroll's book successfully conveys a powerful message: although biology is infinitely complex and diverse, simple sets of rules of regulation that apply across scales, from molecules to the entire planet's ecosystem, can and have been identified. They are also remarkably easy to explain, as shown by the many beautiful examples described in the book. So perhaps, next time a physicist or mathematician views biological research as lacking fundamental theoretical underpinning, a glimpse into Carroll's book ... might help them reconsider their arguments. The Serengeti Rules is a great read."--Pavel Tomancak, Cell "Sean B. Carroll's new book The Serengeti Rules is a passionate telling of the story of the precarious and hard-fought balance that is the very precondition of health--both at the level of individual organisms and at the level of ecosystems... The book is informative, well-written, and persuasive... The Serengeti Rules is an optimistic book."--Alva Noe, NPR.org's 13.7 blog "The Serengeti Rules should be widely read."--Neil Paterson, Dundee University Review of the Arts "[A] triumphant account of how physiology and ecology turned out to share some of the same mathematics."--Simon Ings, New Scientist
