Smart Biology: A New Look at Life

Smart organisms make biology exciting again. Look carefully, and even the simplest microorganism is smart. Microorganisms engage in the same life challenges as animals on the Serengeti. They graze, hunt, and avoid predators.

This book redefines evolution as the history of intelligent organisms. Life is wetware.

We would do well to consider Alan Turing as well as Charles Darwin. Turing had more to say about biology than people realise.

Some of the most incredible biological developments came from symbiosis rather than genetics. The idea of selfish genes driving evolution is a political concept imposed on biology. In reality, cooperation, competition, and cognition are all necessary for successful evolution.

The popular Neo-Darwinian narrative is not even wrong so let's start again.

Steve Hickey has a PhD in biophysics from Manchester University and a BA in science from the Open University. He has been a member of the Royal Society of Biology (MRSB, CBiol) for many years and was formally a member of the British Computer Society (MBCS). His interests include biocomputing, machine intelligence, pharmacology, and imaging.