Microbial Life History: The Fundamental Forces of Biological Design

Paperback / softback

Main Details

Title Microbial Life History: The Fundamental Forces of Biological Design
Authors and Contributors      By (author) Steven A. Frank
Physical Properties
Format:Paperback / softback
Pages:400
Dimensions(mm): Height 235,Width 156
Category/GenreBiochemistry
Microbiology (non-medical)
ISBN/Barcode 9780691231198
ClassificationsDewey:576.82
Audience
General
Illustrations 55 b/w illus.

Publishing Details

Publisher Princeton University Press
Imprint Princeton University Press
Publication Date 16 August 2022
Publication Country United States

Description

A powerful framework for understanding how natural selection shapes adaptation and biological design. Design and diversity are the two great challenges in the study of life. Microbial Life History draws on the latest advances in microbiology to describe the fundamental forces of biological design and apply these evolutionary processes to a broad diversity of traits in microbial metabolism and biochemistry. Emphasising how to formulate and test hypotheses of adaptation, Steven Frank provides a new foundation for exploring the evolutionary forces of design. He discusses the economic principles of marginal valuations, trade-offs, and payoffs in risky and random environments; the social aspects of conflict and cooperation; the demographic aspects of age and spatial heterogeneity; and the engineering control theory principles by which systems adjust to environments. Frank then applies these evolutionary principles to the biochemistry of microbial metabolism, providing the first comprehensive link between the forces that shape biological design and cellular energetics. Tracing how natural selection sculpts metabolism, Microbial Life History provides new perspectives on the life histories of organisms, from growth rate and survival to dispersal and defense against attack. Along the way, this incisive book addresses the conceptual and philosophical challenges confronting evolutionary biologists and other practitioners who study biological design and seek to apply its lessons.

Author Biography

Steven A. Frank is Donald Bren Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of California, Irvine. His books include Dynamics of Cancer, Immunology and Evolution of Infectious Disease, and Foundations of Social Evolution (all Princeton).