The Serengeti Rules: The Quest to Discover How Life Works and Why It Matters - With a new Q&A with the author

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Review ------ One of Financial Times (FT.com) Best Science Books of 2016 Shortlisted for the 2017 Phi Beta Kappa Award in Science 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 [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, 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 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 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 Sean Carroll, a distinguished, erudite, and literate developmental biologist, has written a book about biological principles. Namely, the principles that control the behavior of every cell in our bodies, that determine how we, as individual organisms, respond to the outside world, and the principles that determine how ecosystems, large and small, respond to being perturbed. . . . If you read The Serengeti Rules, you will be better equipped to understand both the frailty and the resilience of the planet we share.---Bernard Wood, Evolutionary Studies in Imaginative Culture One of Nature.com's Top 20 Books for 2016 From the Back Cover ------------------- "A master storyteller, Carroll explores the unity of biology from the molecular level to the Serengeti, the rules that regulate life, and the consequences when regulation breaks down. A fascinating journey from beginning to end, this book will educate and entertain readers at all levels and leave them with a better understanding of how the biosphere works."--Simon Levin, Princeton University, author of Fragile Dominion: Complexity and the Commons "The Serengeti Rulesis a superb journey of a book written by a scientist of the first rank. Unfolding seamlessly from molecule to ecosystem, it explains with authority and grace why modern biology is central not just to human life but to that of the planet itself."--Edward O. Wilson, Harvard University "InThe Serengeti Rules, Carroll has crafted a work of epic sweep."--Neil Shubin, author of Your Inner Fish: A Journey into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body "Original, provocative, and beautifully crafted, Carroll's book provides a glimpse into the deeper laws of biology that govern the earth."--Siddhartha Mukherjee, author of The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer "This is a rattling good read by one of the leading scientists of our time. The Serengeti Rules made me think differently about what we biologists do. This is a book that needs to be shouted from the rooftops."--Andrew F. Read, Pennsylvania State University "Masterful and compelling. The Serengeti Rules is a significant contribution, one that will be welcomed by professional biologists and a wide range of lay readers."--Harry W. Greene, author of Tracks and Shadows: Field Biology as Art