Ebook: The Codes of Life: The Rules of Macroevolution

Building on a range of disciplines – from biology and anthropology to philosophy and linguistics – this book draws on the expertise of leading names in the study of organic, mental and cultural codes brought together by the emerging discipline of biosemiotics.

The book’s 18 chapters present a range of experimental evidence which suggests that the genetic code was only the first in a long series of organic codes, and that it has been the appearance of new codes – organic, mental and cultural – that paved the way for the major transitions in the history of life.

While the existence of many organic codes has been proposed since the 1980s, this volume represents the first multi-authored attempt to deal with the range of codes relevant to life, and to reveal the ubiquitous role of coding mechanisms in both organic and mental evolution. This creates the conditions for a synthesis of biology and linguistics that finally overcomes the old divide between nature and culture.

The book will appeal to all those interested in the origins and evolution of life, including biologists (from molecular and cellular biologists to evolutionary and developmental biologists), ecologists, anthropologists, psychologists, philosophers of science, linguists, and researchers interested in the history of science, the origins of life, artificial life and intelligence, and information theory and communication technology.

Marcello Barbieri is Professor of Embryology at the University of Ferrara, Italy, president of the Italian Association for Theoretical Biology, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Biosemiotics, and Co-Editor of the Springer book series in Biosemiotics.

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Building on a range of disciplines – from biology and anthropology to philosophy and linguistics – this book draws on the expertise of leading names in the study of organic, mental and cultural codes brought together by the emerging discipline of biosemiotics.

The book’s 18 chapters present a range of experimental evidence which suggests that the genetic code was only the first in a long series of organic codes, and that it has been the appearance of new codes – organic, mental and cultural – that paved the way for the major transitions in the history of life.

While the existence of many organic codes has been proposed since the 1980s, this volume represents the first multi-authored attempt to deal with the range of codes relevant to life, and to reveal the ubiquitous role of coding mechanisms in both organic and mental evolution. This creates the conditions for a synthesis of biology and linguistics that finally overcomes the old divide between nature and culture.

The book will appeal to all those interested in the origins and evolution of life, including biologists (from molecular and cellular biologists to evolutionary and developmental biologists), ecologists, anthropologists, psychologists, philosophers of science, linguists, and researchers interested in the history of science, the origins of life, artificial life and intelligence, and information theory and communication technology.

Marcello Barbieri is Professor of Embryology at the University of Ferrara, Italy, president of the Italian Association for Theoretical Biology, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Biosemiotics, and Co-Editor of the Springer book series in Biosemiotics.

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Building on a range of disciplines – from biology and anthropology to philosophy and linguistics – this book draws on the expertise of leading names in the study of organic, mental and cultural codes brought together by the emerging discipline of biosemiotics.

The book’s 18 chapters present a range of experimental evidence which suggests that the genetic code was only the first in a long series of organic codes, and that it has been the appearance of new codes – organic, mental and cultural – that paved the way for the major transitions in the history of life.

While the existence of many organic codes has been proposed since the 1980s, this volume represents the first multi-authored attempt to deal with the range of codes relevant to life, and to reveal the ubiquitous role of coding mechanisms in both organic and mental evolution. This creates the conditions for a synthesis of biology and linguistics that finally overcomes the old divide between nature and culture.

The book will appeal to all those interested in the origins and evolution of life, including biologists (from molecular and cellular biologists to evolutionary and developmental biologists), ecologists, anthropologists, psychologists, philosophers of science, linguists, and researchers interested in the history of science, the origins of life, artificial life and intelligence, and information theory and communication technology.

Marcello Barbieri is Professor of Embryology at the University of Ferrara, Italy, president of the Italian Association for Theoretical Biology, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Biosemiotics, and Co-Editor of the Springer book series in Biosemiotics.

Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-xix
Codes of Biosequences....Pages 3-14
The Mechanisms of Evolution: Natural Selection and Natural Conventions....Pages 15-35
Catalytic Propensity of Amino Acids and the Origins of the Genetic Code and Proteins....Pages 39-58
Why the Genetic Code Originated: Implications for the Origin of Protein Synthesis....Pages 59-67
Self-Referential Formation of the Genetic System....Pages 69-110
The Mathematical Structure of the Genetic Code....Pages 111-152
The Arithmetical Origin of the Genetic Code....Pages 153-185
Protein Linguistics and the Modular Code of the Cytoskeleton....Pages 189-206
A Lipid-based Code in Nuclear Signalling....Pages 207-221
Biological Information Transfer Beyond the Genetic Code: The Sugar Code....Pages 223-246
The Immune Self Code: From Correspondence to Complexity....Pages 247-263
Signal Transduction Codes and Cell Fate....Pages 265-283
Towards an Understanding of Language Origins....Pages 287-317
The Codes of Language: Turtles All the Way Up?....Pages 319-345
Code and Context in Gene Expression, Cognition, and Consciousness....Pages 347-356
Neural Coding in the Neuroheuristic Perspective....Pages 357-377
Error Detection and Correction Codes....Pages 379-394
The Musical Code between Nature and Nurture: Ecosemiotic and Neurobiological Claims....Pages 395-434
Back Matter....Pages 435-437

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Building on a range of disciplines – from biology and anthropology to philosophy and linguistics – this book draws on the expertise of leading names in the study of organic, mental and cultural codes brought together by the emerging discipline of biosemiotics.

The book’s 18 chapters present a range of experimental evidence which suggests that the genetic code was only the first in a long series of organic codes, and that it has been the appearance of new codes – organic, mental and cultural – that paved the way for the major transitions in the history of life.

While the existence of many organic codes has been proposed since the 1980s, this volume represents the first multi-authored attempt to deal with the range of codes relevant to life, and to reveal the ubiquitous role of coding mechanisms in both organic and mental evolution. This creates the conditions for a synthesis of biology and linguistics that finally overcomes the old divide between nature and culture.

The book will appeal to all those interested in the origins and evolution of life, including biologists (from molecular and cellular biologists to evolutionary and developmental biologists), ecologists, anthropologists, psychologists, philosophers of science, linguists, and researchers interested in the history of science, the origins of life, artificial life and intelligence, and information theory and communication technology.

Marcello Barbieri is Professor of Embryology at the University of Ferrara, Italy, president of the Italian Association for Theoretical Biology, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Biosemiotics, and Co-Editor of the Springer book series in Biosemiotics.

Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-xix
Codes of Biosequences....Pages 3-14
The Mechanisms of Evolution: Natural Selection and Natural Conventions....Pages 15-35
Catalytic Propensity of Amino Acids and the Origins of the Genetic Code and Proteins....Pages 39-58
Why the Genetic Code Originated: Implications for the Origin of Protein Synthesis....Pages 59-67
Self-Referential Formation of the Genetic System....Pages 69-110
The Mathematical Structure of the Genetic Code....Pages 111-152
The Arithmetical Origin of the Genetic Code....Pages 153-185
Protein Linguistics and the Modular Code of the Cytoskeleton....Pages 189-206
A Lipid-based Code in Nuclear Signalling....Pages 207-221
Biological Information Transfer Beyond the Genetic Code: The Sugar Code....Pages 223-246
The Immune Self Code: From Correspondence to Complexity....Pages 247-263
Signal Transduction Codes and Cell Fate....Pages 265-283
Towards an Understanding of Language Origins....Pages 287-317
The Codes of Language: Turtles All the Way Up?....Pages 319-345
Code and Context in Gene Expression, Cognition, and Consciousness....Pages 347-356
Neural Coding in the Neuroheuristic Perspective....Pages 357-377
Error Detection and Correction Codes....Pages 379-394
The Musical Code between Nature and Nurture: Ecosemiotic and Neurobiological Claims....Pages 395-434
Back Matter....Pages 435-437
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