02465cam a2200337Ii 4500 on1200577631 OCoLC ta 210128s2020 mauab e 001 0 eng d 9780262044486 026204448X (OCoLC)1200577631 QH325 .T39 2020 Taylor, Marianne, 1972- The story of life in 10 1/2 species / Marianne Taylor. Story of life in ten and a half species Story of life in ten and one half species Story of life in ten 1/2 species Cambridge, Massachusetts : The MIT Press, 2020. 256 p. : ill. (some col.), maps. Includes index. Fern -- Virus -- Nautilus -- Stick insect -- Sponge -- Human -- Giraffe -- Dusky seaside sparrow -- Soft-shelled turtle -- Darwin's finches -- Artificial life. If an alien visitor were to collect ten souvenir life forms to represent life on earth, which would they be? This is the thought-provoking premise of Marianne Taylor's The Story of Life in 10 and a Half Species. Each life forms explains a key aspect about life on Earth. From the sponge that seems to be a plant but is really an animal to the almost extinct soft-shelled turtle deemed extremely unique and therefore extremely precious, these examples reveal how life itself is arranged across time and space, and how humanity increasingly dominates that vision. Taylor, a prolific science writer, considers the chemistry of a green plant and ponders the possibility of life beyond our world; investigates the virus in an attempt to determine what a life form is; and wonders if the human--"a distinct and very dominant species with an inevitably biased view of life"-- could evolve in a new direction. She tells us that the giraffe was one species, but is now four; that the dusky seaside sparrow may be revived through "re-evolution," or cloning; explains the significance of Darwin's finch to evolution; and much more. The "half" species is artificial intelligence. Itself an experiment to understand and model life, AI is central to our future--although from the alien visitor's standpoint, unlikely to inherit the earth in the long run. Life Origin. Evolution (Biology) Natural history. Species. Biodiversity. Biology Classification. lcc BK 0 0 0 0 PNLIB PNLIB GEN 2021-06-17 QH325 .T39 2020 PNLIB21060143 2021-06-17 2021-06-17 BK 329 329