A selection of the many essays that Margulis and Sagan have written together over the last decade and a half. This collection includes an extraordinary memoir of Margulis' encounter with J. Robert Oppenheimer as well as provocative ideas on Gaia theory, symbiosis, individuality, and the way scientific research is conducted today. More than in any of their previous books, these essays explore the far-reaching implications of symbiosis as an evolutionary force. Indeed, argues Margulis and Sagan, taking symbiosis to its logical conclusion, we see that if self-regulating communities are the norm in nature, then Gaia becomes a natural expectation. It is simply the largest example of the form living systems take.
`Deliciously provocative. The authors bring a different, refreshing perspective to widely held truths. We need more of this kind of stimulation'&o;, David Suzuki