Cover -- Contents -- List of tables -- Preface -- 1 Introduction -- 1.1 Preamble -- 1.2 The fallacy of progress -- 1.3 The measurement of complexity -- 1.4 The major transitions -- 1.5 Duplication, symbiosis and epigenesis -- 1.6 Some other features of the major transitions -- 2 What is life? -- 2.1 The definition of life -- 2.2 The Oklo reactor -- 2.3 The chemoton -- 3 Chemical evolution -- 3.1 Introduction -- 3.2 Experiments: the primitive soup -- 3.3 The hypothesis of surface metabolism: the primitive pizza -- 3.4 A logical basis for autocatalysis -- 3.5 Is chemical 'evolution' evolution? -- 3.6 Evolution of metabolic networks through chemical symbiosis -- 3.7 Chemical evolution in clouds, and the extraterrestrial contribution -- 3.8 Conclusions -- 4 The evolution of templates -- 4.1 Introduction -- 4.2 Replication and nucleation -- 4.3 The accuracy of replication and the error threshold -- 4.4 The ecology and coexistence of RNA molecules -- 4.5 The hypercycle -- 4.6 The stochastic corrector model -- 4.7 Conclusions -- 5 The chicken and egg problem -- 5.1 Introduction -- 5.2 RNA as an enzyme -- 5.3 Autocatalytic protein nets -- 5.4 The urgene: RNA, clay or something else? -- 5.5 What determines the size of the genetic alphabet? -- 6 The origin of translation and the genetic code -- 6.1 Modifications of the code -- 6.2 The origin of the code I: the top-down approach -- 6.3 The origin of the code II: the bottom-up approach -- 7 The origin of protocells -- 7.1 The need for active compartmentation -- 7.2 The origin of membranogenic molecules and membranes -- 7.3 Spontaneous cell division -- 7.4 The problem of membrane transport -- 7.5 Primordial ancestry of autotrophy -- 7.6 Metabolism in ribo-organisms: the iron-sulphur world meets the RNA world -- 7.7 The evolution of specific enzymes -- 7.8 The origin of the two negibacterial membranes.

7.9 The origin of chromosomes -- 8 The origin of eukaryotes -- 8.1 The problem -- 8.2 A possible scenario -- 8.3 The origin of intracellular membranes -- 8.4 The origin of mitosis -- 8.5 The nucleus, genome organization and the origin of introns -- 8.6 The origin of mitochondria, chloroplasts and microbodies -- 8.7 The origin of centrioles and undulipodia -- 8.8 Timing -- 9 The origin of sex and the nature of species -- 9.1 Introduction -- 9.2 Cellular mechanisms of the haploid-diploid cycle -- 9.3 Ancient haploid-diploid cycles -- 9.4 Mating types and the origin of anisogamy -- 9.5 Sex and the nature of species -- 10 Intragenomic conflict -- 10.1 Introduction -- 10.2 A fair meiosis -- 10.3 Intrachromosomal repetitive DNA -- 10.4 Avoiding conflict between organelles -- 10.5 Distortion of sex allocation -- 11 Symbiosis -- 11.1 Introduction -- 11.2 The ecology of symbiosis -- 11.3 A model -- 11.4 Modes of transmission -- 11.5 Irreversibility -- 11.6 Does symbiosis evolve towards mutualism? -- 11.7 Evolution within a host -- 11.8 Symbiosis, variability and sex -- 12 Development in simple organisms -- 12.1 The origins of development -- 12.2 The limits of self-assembly -- 12.3 The organization of gene action in time: the cell cycle -- 12.4 The 'development' of a unicellular organism: budding yeast -- 12.5 The division of labour in the origin of multicellular eukaryotes: Volvox -- 12.6 Multicellularity through aggregation: myxobacteria and slime moulds -- 12.7 Two mechanisms of cell differentiation -- 13 Gene regulation and cell heredity -- 13.1 Gene regulation -- 13.2 Cell heredity -- 13.3 What had to be invented? -- 14 The development of spatial patterns -- 14.1 Flower development as an example of morphogenesis -- 14.2 Positional information: external specification or self-organization? -- 14.3 Positional information in Drosophila and the chick.

14.4 Segmentation as an example of further elaboration -- 14.5 From Cartesian to polar coordinates: the generation of proximodistal structures -- 15 Development and evolution -- 15.1 Introduction -- 15.2 Development and the levels of selection -- 15.3 Cell heredity and the inheritance of acquired characters -- 15.4 Gene homology in development -- 15.5 The zootype and the definition of animals -- 16 The origins of societies -- 16.1 Introduction -- 16.2 The evolution of cooperation -- 16.3 Kinds of animal society -- 16.4 The genetics of insect sociality -- 16.5 The division of labour in animal societies -- 16.6 Factors predisposing insects to sociality -- 16.7 The origins of human society -- 17 The origin of language -- 17.1 Introduction -- 17.2 Language and representation -- 17.3 Some features of syntax -- 17.4 Language acquisition -- 17.5 Natural selection for language -- 17.6 Tool use and language: hierarchically organized sequential behaviour -- 17.7 Brain damage and language disorders -- 17.8 The genetics of language disorders -- 17.9 Protolanguage -- 17.10 From protolanguage to language -- 17.11 Conclusions -- References -- Author index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- Y -- Z -- Subject index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- Z.