Download or read book The Runes of Evolution written by Simon Conway Morris and published by Templeton Foundation Press. This book was released on 2015-06-30 with total page 525 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How did human beings acquire imaginations that can conjure up untrue possibilities? How did the Universe become self-aware? In The Runes of Evolution, Simon Conway Morris revitalizes the study of evolution from the perspective of convergence, providing us with compelling new evidence to support the mounting scientific view that the history of life is far more predictable than once thought. A leading evolutionary biologist at the University of Cambridge, Conway Morris came into international prominence for his work on the Cambrian explosion (especially fossils of the Burgess Shale) and evolutionary convergence, which is the process whereby organisms not closely related (not monophyletic), independently evolve similar traits as a result of having to adapt to similar environments or ecological niches. In The Runes of Evolution, he illustrates how the ubiquity of convergence hints at an underlying framework whereby many outcomes, not least brains and intelligence, are virtually guaranteed on any Earth-like planet. Conway Morris also emphasizes how much of the complexity of advanced biological systems is inherent in microbial forms. By casting a wider net, The Runes of Evolution explores many neglected evolutionary questions. Some are remarkably general. Why, for example, are convergences such as parasitism, carnivory, and nitrogen fixation in plants concentrated in particular taxonomic hot spots? Why do certain groups have a particular propensity to evolve toward particular states? Some questions lead to unexpected evolutionary insights: If bees sleep (as they do), do they dream? Why is that insect copulating with an orchid? Why have sponges evolved a system of fiber optics? What do mantis shrimps and submarines have in common? If dinosaurs had not gone extinct what would have happened next? Will a saber-toothed cat ever re-evolve? Cona Morris observes: “Even amongst the mammals, let alone the entire tree of life, humans represent one minute twig of a vast (and largely fossilized) arborescence. Every living species is a linear descendant of an immense string of now-vanished ancestors, but evolution itself is the very reverse of linear. Rather it is endlessly exploratory, probing the vast spaces of biological hyperspace. Indeed this book is a celebration of how our world is (and was) populated by a riot of forms, a coruscating tapestry of life.” The Runes of Evolution is the most definitive synthesis of evolutionary convergence to be published to date.
Download or read book Life s Solution written by Simon Conway Morris and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2003-09-04 with total page 488 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The assassin's bullet misses, the Archduke's carriage moves forward, and a catastrophic war is avoided. So too with the history of life. Re-run the tape of life, as Stephen J. Gould claimed, and the outcome must be entirely different: an alien world, without humans and maybe not even intelligence. The history of life is littered with accidents: any twist or turn may lead to a completely different world. Now this view is being challenged. Simon Conway Morris explores the evidence demonstrating life's almost eerie ability to navigate to a single solution, repeatedly. Eyes, brains, tools, even culture: all are very much on the cards. So if these are all evolutionary inevitabilities, where are our counterparts across the galaxy? The tape of life can only run on a suitable planet, and it seems that such Earth-like planets may be much rarer than hoped. Inevitable humans, yes, but in a lonely Universe.
Download or read book Runes for Transformation written by Kaedrich Olsen and published by Weiser Books. This book was released on 2008-08-01 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Runes have long been used as vital tools for transformation. The Norse employed them as tools for communication, and the Vikings would use them as wisdom before embarking on a journey or entering battle. Runic scholar Kaedrich Olsen reclaims the transformative power of the runes for readers today as a key to unlocking our potential for personal growth and our life's vision. Runes for Transformation is unlike any other rune book on the market, with Olsen's unique techniques and applications for this ancient alphabet including affirmations, NLP, visualizations, and meditation, as well as the historical background essential to embarking on this path. A highly respected teacher and transpersonal path worker, Kaedrich Olsen posits that the time for this "deeper working" of the runes has come and this will aid readers in both personal and collective evolution. Runes for Transformation is a rich resource and excellent guide for readers to take the steps to change their lives with a boldly modern approach to the ancient runes and for "change that really matters."
Download or read book From Extraterrestrials to Animal Minds written by Simon Conway Morris and published by Templeton Foundation Press. This book was released on 2022-03-28 with total page 425 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this learned romp of science writing, Cambridge professor Simon Conway Morris cheerfully challenges six assumptions—what he calls ‘myths’—that too often pass as unquestioned truths amongst the evolutionary orthodox. His convivial tour begins with the idea that evolution is boundless in the kinds of biological systems it can produce. Not true, he says. The process is highly circumscribed and delimited. Nor is it random. This popular notion holds that evolution proceeds blindly, with no endgame. But Conway Morris suggests otherwise, pointing to evidence that the processes of evolution are “seeded with inevitabilities.” If that is so, then what about mass extinctions? Don’t they steer the development of life in radically new directions? Rather the reverse, claims Conway Morris. Such cataclysms accelerate evolutionary developments that were going to happen anyway. And what about that other evolutionary canard: the “missing link”? There is plenty to choose from in the fossil record, but persistently overlooked is that in any group, there is not one but a phalanx of “missing links.” Once again, we under-score the near-inevitability of evolutionary outcomes. Turning from fossils to minds, Conway Morris critically examines the popular tenet that the intelligence of humans and animals are the same thing, a difference of degree, not kind. A closer scrutiny of our minds shows that, in reality, an unbridgeable gulf separates us from even the chimpanzees, so begging questions of consciousness and Mind. Finally, Conway Morris tackles the question of extraterrestrials. Undoubtedly, the size and scale of the universe suggest that alien life must exist somewhere beyond Earth and our tiny siloed solar system? After all, evolutionary convergence more than hints that human-like forms are universal. But Dr. Conway Morris has serious doubts. The famous Fermi Paradox (“Where are they?”) appears to hold: Alone in the cosmos—and unique, but not quite in the way one might expect.
Download or read book Radical Evolution written by Joel Garreau and published by Crown. This book was released on 2006-05-09 with total page 402 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Taking us behind the scenes with today’s foremost researchers and pioneers, bestselling author Joel Garreau shows that we are at a turning point in history. At this moment we are engineering the next stage of human evolution. Through advances in genetic, robotic, information, and nanotechnologies, we are altering our minds, our memories, our metabolisms, our personalities, our progeny–and perhaps our very souls. Radical Evolution reveals that the powers of our comic-book superheroes already exist, or are in development in hospitals, labs, and research facilities around the country–from the revved-up reflexes and speed of Spider-Man and Superman, to the enhanced mental acuity and memory capabilities of an advanced species. Over the next fifteen years, Garreau makes clear in this New York Times Book Club premiere selection, these enhancements will become part of our everyday lives. Where will they lead us? To heaven–where technology’s promise to make us smarter, vanquish illness, and extend our lives is the answer to our prayers? Or, as some argue, to hell–where unrestrained technology brings about the ultimate destruction of our species?
Download or read book Darwinian Politics written by Paul H. Rubin and published by Rutgers University Press. This book was released on 2002 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An examination of political behaviour from a modern evolutionary perspective. Paul H. Rubin discusses group or social behaviour, including: ethnic and racial conflict; altruism and co-operation; envy; political power; and the role of religion in politics.
Download or read book Convergent Evolution written by George R. McGhee and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2011 with total page 335 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Convergent evolution occurs on all levels, from tiny organic molecules to entire ecosystems of species.
Download or read book Runes written by Raymond Ian Page and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 1987 with total page 72 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Describes the ancient writing system used by Northmen, Anglo-Saxons, and Vikings, and the inscriptions found in Scandanavia, the British Isles, and North America.
Download or read book Arrival of the Fittest written by Andreas Wagner and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2014-10-02 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Natural selection can preserve innovations, but it cannot create them. Nature’s many innovations—some uncannily perfect—call for natural principles that accelerate life’s ability to innovate.” Darwin’s theory of natural selection explains how useful adaptations are preserved over time. But the biggest mystery about evolution eluded him. As genetics pioneer Hugo de Vries put it, “natural selection may explain the survival of the fittest, but it cannot explain the arrival of the fittest.” Can random mutations over a mere 3.8 billion years really be responsible for wings, eyeballs, knees, camouflage, lactose digestion, photosynthesis, and the rest of nature’s creative marvels? And if the answer is no, what is the mechanism that explains evolution’s speed and efficiency? In Arrival of the Fittest, renowned evolutionary biologist Andreas Wagner draws on over fifteen years of research to present the missing piece in Darwin's theory. Using experimental and computational technologies that were heretofore unimagined, he has found that adaptations are not just driven by chance, but by a set of laws that allow nature to discover new molecules and mechanisms in a fraction of the time that random variation would take. Consider the Arctic cod, a fish that lives and thrives within six degrees of the North Pole, in waters that regularly fall below 0 degrees. At that temperature, the internal fluids of most organisms turn into ice crystals. And yet, the arctic cod survives by producing proteins that lower the freezing temperature of its body fluids, much like antifreeze does for a car’s engine coolant. The invention of those proteins is an archetypal example of nature’s enormous powers of creativity. Meticulously researched, carefully argued, evocatively written, and full of fascinating examples from the animal kingdom, Arrival of the Fittest offers up the final puzzle piece in the mystery of life’s rich diversity.
Download or read book Runic Palmistry written by Jon Saint-Germain and published by Llewellyn Worldwide. This book was released on 2001 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Runic Palmistry" combines standard palmistry, Norse mythology, and the runes, using all three to understand a person and his or her path, personality, needs and special gifts.
Download or read book Runes written by Teresa Dröfn Freysdóttir Njarovik and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 173 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Infused with Norse mythology, the Fuþark runes still serve as a vital key to the cultural heritage of the Icelandic people. Runes: The Icelandic Book of Fuþark introduces three different but related forms of runic systems in a chronological order: the Elder Fuþark, the Younger Fuþark and the Icelandic Fuþark.
Download or read book Yyggssbok written by Ulf Asgardson and published by AuthorHouse. This book was released on 2005-04-18 with total page 393 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a blinding lightning strike to the ways and traditions of the Northern peoples and the magic of the runes. It is an absolute mental and spiritual aviking to uncharted waters and hitherto unexplored territory. This book introduces such a scope of new metaphysical and Runic concepts, that in the near future, a new era of magical thought will be defined by its publication!! Not only does Yyggssbok define the twelve elements of the Runes, but it presents the most complete, poetic, and powerful version of the Norse cosmology that has as of yet been written. The Runic Poem presented as a synthesis of traditional lore bound to the foundations of the new, is perhaps the most powerful, beautiful, and intelligent runic poem ever written for Northern practitioners. The great hallmark of this work is a description and analysis of the two energies of magic and their role in the evolution and progression of the human soul. Never has such a depth of understanding been applied to such a complex and elusive subject as reincarnation and the function of magic via the mind-body-soul of man. The lore of the runes takes a radical evolutionary leap of many decades and is presented as a further unfolding of the thoughts of the greats such as Aswynn, Pennick, and Thorsson. The Runic ways may just have found a way to reclaim the natural evolution and progression that was cut short by the violent conversion of the Northlands by the Church!!! This book is of such importance that Freya Aswynn has made it the required reading for her advanced magical students. In Freya's own words, "I honestly support his (Ulf's) claim that it (Yyggssbok) has been inspired by Odin himself. I recognize His paw prints all over the place."
Download or read book Runic Amulets and Magic Objects written by Mindy MacLeod and published by Boydell Press. This book was released on 2006 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A fresh examination of one of the most contentious issues in runic scholarship - magical or not? The runic alphabet, in use for well over a thousand years, was employed by various Germanic groups in a variety of ways, including, inevitably, for superstitious and magical rites. Formulaic runic words were inscribed onto small items that could be carried for good luck; runic charms were carved on metal or wooden amulets to ensure peace or prosperity. There are invocations and allusions to pagan and Christian gods and heroes, to spirits of disease, and even to potential lovers. Few such texts are completely unique to Germanic society, and in fact, most of the runic amulets considered in this book show wide-ranging parallels from a variety of European cultures. The question ofwhether runes were magical or not has divided scholarship in the area. Early criticism embraced fantastic notions of runic magic - leading not just to a healthy scepticism, but in some cases to a complete denial of any magical element whatsoever in the runic inscriptions. This book seeks to re-evaulate the whole question of runic sorcery, attested to not only in the medieval Norse literature dealing with runes but primarily in the fascinating magical texts of the runic inscriptions themselves. Dr MINDY MCLEOD teaches in the Department of Linguistics, Deakin University, Melbourne; Dr BERNARD MEES teaches in the Department of History at the University of Melbourne.
Download or read book Elder Futhark Arcanum written by All Natural Spirit and published by . This book was released on 2021-02-21 with total page 138 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Are you an open-minded spiritual practitioner? A seeker of truth and knowledge? Someone who is willing to discuss alternate perspectives? Then this book is for you. Here within is my attempt at finding the truth behind the purpose and origin of the Elder Futhark as well as intuitively deciphering their somewhat obscure meanings. At a glance this book provides: * Discussion on how runes became a language used for divination * Modern meaning interpretations for each rune * Abstract geometric artwork for each rune * Additional western alchemical and astronomical associations for each rune * Several overview tables and references In this context, this book does not discuss the traditional meanings or interpretations of the runes, but rather more modern outlooks and perspectives on each. Instead of adding more content to already confusing and conflicting traditional/conventional meanings - I have opted for the opposite, to simplify rather than complicate. I have tried to distill the core of each rune through my studies into their history, linguistics and metaphysics in order to make clear delineations between the runes. Thus, brief mentions are made to traditional meanings in favour of more discussion around the transference of the runes into our daily lives with reference to more familiar circumstances and challenges. I am quite partial to the metaphysical symbolism of animals, plants and objects, thus this book includes plenty representations form the animal kingdom as well as everyday objects and some minor contributions from herbology. I have tried to keep to the mythology related to the Germanic tribes and to the everyday references of people living in Iron Age Europe. Therefore, some of my interpretations are similar to their traditional counterparts, but the majority of them have been cast anew. I truly appreciate any reviews, feedback and recommendations as I am constantly striving towards improving this runic body of work to make it more relatable to my fellow rune enthusiasts!
Download or read book Celestial Rune Sigils written by All Natural Spirit and published by . This book was released on 2020-07-10 with total page 103 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first and only book (which I am aware of) that is exclusively dedicated to a comprehensive system of bind runes created from the Elder Futhark! At a glance, it provides the following: * Easy-to-read and easy-to-use information with no expert rune knowledge required * Contains 24 black and white Elder Futhark bind runes, each with an unique stanza * Discusses the bind runes as active tools for magick, spiritual and/or self-empowerment rituals * Guidance on the purpose and use of each bindrune * Designs include additional western alchemical elements as well as a novel alchemical symbol of my own design My studies into the Elder Futhark, which have fascinated me since childhood, have been converted into a coherent system of bindrunes for everyday use without the requirement of expert knowledge. I have named this bindrune project; the Celestial Rune Sigils. It started as a set of magickal tools with which to facilitate self-improvement through the exploration of spirituality. Subsequently, I have transformed the bindrunes into a set of 24 black and white sigils, representative of their origins from the 24 Elder Futhark Runes. The sigils were initially featured on the Celestial Rune Sigils oracle deck (more details on my website) and now they have been converted into book format as well! In this book I provide guidance on the crafting, uses and invocation of the Celestial Rune Sigils. These sigils are not merely meant for use in divination, but rather they have a more active role with each sigil having a specific intention and contribution towards metaphysical, spiritual and magickal rituals. Therefore, the Celestial Rune Sigils are not only restricted to tarot readers or oracle enthusiasts. They have been created for the larger metaphysical community and would be of special interest to our energy workers and magick wielders. They are appropriate for most ages, including the very young and those who are wiser, since they can be used for both personal rituals and to assist clients during various healing and/or magick sessions. The Celestial Rune Sigils represent a metaphysical, spiritual or magickal toolbox, with each sigil representing a different metaphysical tool. Each sigil can be used in this way, much as one would use a wand, crystal or other spiritual tool. There is a lot of freedom as to how precisely to apply each card and I hope that the practitioners who make use of this book will find their own intuitive ways of applying each of the sigils during their spiritual journeys and magickal rituals. I appreciate any feedback, comments and/or reviews about this book as I am constantly striving to improve on the system and to make it relatable to all my fellow rune enthusiasts!
Download or read book Battle Runes written by Gregory Tague and published by Editions Bibliotekos, Incorporated. This book was released on 2011 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "'Battle Runes' opens in a child's voice and ends with a child's concern; the book begins in horror and terror and ends with care and hope; the collection starts in darkness and ends in color. The stories and poems - while focused on war - include private and public spaces, often addressing family relationships, such as those between husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, or parents and children. While there is blood in these pages, the emphasis is on the complex psychological dimensions of war. The individual stories cohere around problems of humanity during war, questions about what is humane and what is inhumane. Wars touched on in this book (from various perspectives) include: the American Civil War, World War I, World War II, the Vietnam War, the African Wars (South Sudan, C.A.R., Congo, Uganda), the Balkan Wars, the Iran-Iraq War, and the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In each and every case the emphasis is on the individual human element, the physical, mental, and spiritual devastation to people who fall victim to social or political forces often byond their control"--Preface, Fredericka A. Jacks, p. xi.
Download or read book Runes and Germanic Linguistics written by Elmer H. Antonsen and published by Walter de Gruyter. This book was released on 2011-04-20 with total page 405 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The older runic inscriptions (ca. AD 150 - 450) represent the earliest attestation of any Germanic language. The close relationship of these inscriptions to the archaic Mediterranean writing traditions is demonstrated through the linguistic and orthographic analysis presented here. The extraordinary importance of these inscriptions for a proper understanding of the prehistory and early history of the present-day Germanic languages, including English, becomes abundantly clear once the accu-mulation of unfounded claims of older mythological and cultic studies is cleared away.
