Earth, Life, and System: Evolution and Ecology on a Gaian Planet

374 Pages·2015·3.066 MB·English

by  Bruce Clarke (ed.)

Earth, Life, and System
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series editors
Bruce Clarke and Henry Sussman
Editorial Board
Victoria N. Alexander, Dactyl Foundation
for the Arts and Humanities
Erich Hörl, Leuphana University at
Lüneberg
John H. Johnston, Emory University
Hans-Georg Moeller, Philosophy and
Religious Studies Program, University
of Macau, China
John Protevi, Louisiana State University
Samuel Weber, Northwestern University
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E art h , L i f e , a n d S y st e m
Evolution and Ecol ogy on a Gaian Planet
edited by bruce clarke
Fordham University Press : New York 2015
Copyright © 2015 Fordham University Press
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
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Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Earth, life, and system : evolution and ecol ogy on a Gaian
planet / edited by Bruce Clarke.
pages cm. — (Meaning systems)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8232-6524-4 (cloth : alk. paper) —
ISBN 978-0-8232-6525-1 (pbk.)
1. Convergence (Biology) 2. Gaia hypothesis.
3. Biodiversity. 4. Evolution (Biology)— Philosophy.
I. Clarke, Bruce, 1950– editor.
QH373.E27 2015
570.1— dc23
2014030497
Printed in the United States of America
17 16 15 5 4 3 2 1
First edition
For Lynn
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Contents
List of Plates and Figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xi
Ac know ledg ments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii
Introduction: Earth, Life, and System . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Bruce Clarke
1. Life on a Margulisian Planet:
A Son’s Philosophical Refl ections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
Dorion Sagan
2. The RNA/Protein World and the Endoprebiotic
Origin of Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Sankar Chatterjee
3. Exobiology at NASA: Incubator for the Gaia
and Serial Endosymbiosis Theories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
James Strick
4. On Symbiosis, Microbes, Kingdoms,
and Domains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .105
Jan Sapp
5. The World Egg and the Ouroboros:
Two Models for Theoretical Biology . . . . . . . . . . . . .127
Susan Squier
6. The Planetary Imaginary: Gaian Ecologies
from Dune to Neuromancer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .151
Bruce Clarke