At the crossroads of philosophy and science, the sometimes dry topics of evolution and ecology come alive in this new collection of essays - many never before anthologized. Learn how technology may be a sort of second nature, how the systemic human fungus Candida albicans can lead to cravings for carrot cake and beer, how the presence of life may be why there's water on Earth, and many other fascinating facts.
The essay Metametazoa presents perspectives on biology in a philosophical context, demonstrating how the intellectual librarian, pornographer, and political agitator Georges Bataille was influenced by Russian mineralogist Vladimir Vernadsky and how this led to his notion of the absence of meaning in the face of the sun - which later influenced Jacques Derrida, thereby establishing a causal chain of influence from the hard sciences to topics as abstract as deconstruction and postmodernism.
In Spirochetes Awake the bizarre connection between syphilis and genius in the life of Friedrich Nietzsche is traced. The astonishing similarities of the Acquired-Immunity-Deficiency-Syndrome symptoms with those of chronic spirochete infection, it is argued, contrast sharply with the lack of evidence that HIV is the cause of AIDS.
Throughout these readings, we are dazzled by the intimacy and necessity of relationships between us and our other planetmates. In our ignorance as civilized people we dismiss, disdain, and deny our kinship with the only productive life forms that sustain this living planet. The book is published by Chelsea Green Publishing.
Download and start listening now!
"Actually, it is written by Dorion Sagan and Lynn Margulis. It is a fascinating book about science. Some of their ideas were amazing, such as the one about the brain developing because of bacteria.
"
—
Mary (5 out of 5 stars)