Abstract
Our survey of the possibilities for life in our Solar System has left us with the strong likelihood that ours is the only world with intelligent species, the only one on which at least one species has acquired technology, and quite possibly the only planet orbiting our Sun that hosts organisms of great size, complexity, and diversity. We will now turn to the question of why life with those characteristics arose on Earth, and what the explanation portends for the possibility that complex, intelligent, technologically competent life will be found on any given world.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Pimm, S. L. and Jenkins, C. 2005. Sustaining the variety of life. Sei Am 293: 66-73.
Young, J. 1964. A Model of the Brain. London: Oxford Univ. Press.
Wilson, E. 1980. Sociobiology. Cambridge: Harvard Univ. Press.
Pepperberg, I. M. 2002. In search of king Solomon's ring: cognitive and communicative studies of Grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus). Brain Behav Evol 59: 54-67.
Emery, N. J. and Clayton, N. S. 2004. The mentality of crows: convergent evolution of intelligence in corvids and apes. Science 306: 1903-7.
Jerison, H. 1973. Evolution of the Brain and Intelligence. London: Academic Press;
Marino, L. 2004. Dolphin cognition. Curr Biol 14: R910-1.
Hart, B. L., Hart, L. A. and Pinter-Wollman, N. 2008. Large brains and cognition: where do elephants fit in? Neurosci Biobehav Rev 32: 86-98.
Wood, B. 1996. Human evolution. Bioessays 18: 945-54.
Marino, L. 2002. Convergence of complex cognitive abilities in cetaceans and primates. Brain Behav Evol 59: 21-326.
Lovejoy, C. O. 2009. Reexamining human origins in light of Ardipithecus ramidus. Science 326: 741-8.
Byrne, R. 1995. The Thinking Ape: Evolutionary Origins of Intelligence. New York: Oxford Univ. Press.
Webb S. 2002. Where Is Everybody? Fifty Solutions to the Fermi Paradox and the Problem of Extraterrestrial Life. Copernicus, New York.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Irwin, L.N., Schulze-Makuch, D. (2011). Biocomplexity in the Cosmos. In: Cosmic Biology. Springer Praxis Books(). Praxis, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1647-1_12
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1647-1_12
Published:
Publisher Name: Praxis, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-1646-4
Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-1647-1
eBook Packages: Physics and AstronomyPhysics and Astronomy (R0)