Understanding Living Systems

Raymond Noble is Honorary Associate Professor at the Institute for Women's Health, University College London. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology and chartered biologist, writing extensively on biological theory and philosophy, working extensively on how organisms sense their environment. He held a Rockefeller Senior Research Fellowship with a joint appointment at University College London, where he became Deputy Dean of Life Sciences and Graduate Tutor in Women's Health. Denis Noble is Emeritus Professor of Cardiovascular Physiology, Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, University of Oxford. He is a Fellow of The Royal Society and was honoured by the Queen for his work in science. He discovered how protein channels in cell membranes of the heart automatically generate the electrical rhythm. This work Ied him to challenge the Neo-Darwinist gene-centric theory of evolution.

Part I. Introduction: 1. The gene delusion; 2. Replication, reproduction and variation; 3. What evolves?; 4. Purpose in life; 5. Cry of the wolf; 6. Learning from the wood mouse; 7. Artificial intelligence; 8. Culture and cooperation; 9. People of the forest summary of common misunderstandings; References and Further reading; Figure credits; Index.