Book Preview: Random Homeostasis – On the Nature of Contingent Reality

| June 6, 2023 | Leave a Comment

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Publication Info: https://doi.org/10.52305/TDSC6068

Date of Publication: August

Year of Publication: 2023

Publication City: New York, NY

Publisher: Nova Science Publishers

Author(s): Jane Gray Morrison, Michael Tobias

Jane Gray Morrison (Author), Michael Charles Tobias, PhD (Author)

Series: Distinguished Men and Women of Science, Medicine and the Arts; Conservation Biology and Biodiversity

This book is the first comprehensive exploration of theoretical biology in the context of hybrid, real-time evolution within an ethical and philosophical context. The book focuses on global biodiversity conservation from the perspectives of mathematical and phenomenological areas of critical significance to the crisis of endangered species and habitats, and the well-being – as well as potential extinction – of humankind. The book discusses new, landmark theories of ecological imagination, survival ethics, and an altogether original discourse on the nature of Nature.

Reviews:

“Utterly fascinating. Scientifically provocative. Urgently necessary. Read this book.” – William Shatner, Actor, Writer, and Producer

“Tobias and Morrison have done it again! In an important sequel to their previous books, they introduce the concept of Compound Expressive Potential, which combines aspects of human history, biosemiotics, and quantum physics to propose a radically novel solution to how we view evolution, predation, and stability in ecosystems. This may well be the most important book that Tobias and Morrison have written to date, challenging our understanding of how Nature works and how humans can seamlessly fit into this world without destroying it.” – Dr. Con Slobodchikoff, Author of Chasing Doctor Dolittle: Learning the Language of Animals (St. Martin’s Press, 2012); Professor Emeritus of Biology, Northern Arizona University, CEO of Zoolingua, CEO of Animal Communications Ltd., Director, Animal Language Institute; Lead author, Prairie Dogs: Communication and Community in an Animal Society (Harvard University Press, 2009)

“Tobias and Morrison’s mastery of the sciences, philosophy, history, mathematics and the work of numerous other scholars chronicled in this masterpiece is amazing, compelling, extraordinary, articulate, engaging and, at times, very demanding…Random Homeostasis – On the Nature of Contingent Reality is a must-read for all who have compassion for nature and love the children who will inherit the earth.” – Bob Gillespie, President, Population Communication

“When Albert Einstein observed the phenomenon of particles separated by great distances interacting with each other, he realized that reality is stranger than we can imagine. So it is with homeostasis, the main subject of this extraordinary far-ranging and fascinating book, one bursting with enlightening facts and the wisdom of the world’s thinkers, cultures, and history. The Authors posit that certainty is out the window, and our kindnesses must be brought to bear. In their words, “Our generation’s singular task will be to emancipate our intentions and behavior outside the perceived boundaries of gravity.” This book is not only jaw-dropping and eye-opening, it reminds us that while we may sometimes see ourselves as mere cogs in the wheel, without us, the wheel will not turn in the right direction, if at all. This is a Michelin guide to what Jains call right thinking.” – Ingrid Newkirk, Founder and President of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and its international affiliates – the largest animal rights organization in the world. A Forbes Person of the Year, Ms. Newkirk is the author of 14 books on animals, their abilities, language, and sentience, and the subject of the HBO documentary, “I Am an Animal.”

Random Homeostasis– On the Nature of Contingent Reality by Michael Charles Tobias and Jane Gray Morrison is a bold and brave book of historical significance both theoretically and practically. The book’s power is to address both the contingent nature of local and global homeostatic processes expressed in the biosphere’s co-evolutionary earth-shaping power, and at the same time to explore the biological realities and dynamics of an ecosphere under unremitting assault by the power of the human species, an animal quite unlike any other…” – Roy Morrison’s books include Ecological Democracy, Sustainability Sutra; An Ecological Investigation, and his latest, The New Green Republic. Morrison is an internationally acclaimed energy expert and Managing Partner of Sun Partners Solar in the northeastern United States. Morrison (no relation to the co- Author, Jane) is a Fellow at the Center for Ecozoic Societies, and has coordinated China’s International Working Groups (CIWG) to develop super grid and ecological solutions (www.ciwg.net) www.EcoCivilization.info; www.SunPartnersSolar.com. He was the Founding Director of the Office for Sustainability at Southern New Hampshire University and wrote the first law in the nation for municipal aggregation under retail electric competition.

Random Homeostasis -On the Nature of Contingent Reality, is the latest work by Tobias and Morrison. This tome presents the first theory of Anthropocene extinctions based upon a fusion of philosophical and scientific meaning. It challenges us to think about where we fit in the orchestra of the cosmos and how fragile our part is in it. A great contribution.” – Melanie L. DeVore, Georgia College & State University Professor, Department of Biology & Environmental Sciences; Arizona State University, Adjunct Faculty Member, Center for Biology & Society and School of Life Sciences; University of Washington, Research Associate in Paleobotany, Burke Museum; New Jersey City University, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Adjunct Professor; University of Rwanda, Honorary Research Fellow in the Center of Excellence in Biodiversity & Natural Resource Management (CoEB-UR, CST)

“Tobias and Morrison’s book Random Homeostasis – On the Nature of Contingent Reality provides a fascinating and novel alternative to traditional theories of “punctuated equilibria” and builds a holistic theory of “random homeostasis” based upon theoretical biology, but also the humanities, social sciences, and ecological metaphysics. The book is extremely well written and provides insight into the real world we live in today and tomorrow.” – Thomas Gillespie, Ph.D., Professor of Geography specializing in Geographic Information Systems, Remote Sensing and Biogeography, UCLA

Random Homeostasis by Michael Charles Tobias and Jane Gray Morrison is a treatise on the topic of change through ecological time and space, thought, action, and inaction. Fundamental to their discourse is the notion that organisms in the past have existed because contingencies allowed them to adapt and survive external challenges. But of course, times have changed, along with climate and decimation of habitat and species. Their book is a philosophical examination of “the broad discourse on general evolutionary mutations, phenotypically expressed human behaviors, and the largely inaccessible alterations to the biosphere that follow on from collision points, non-equilibrium, and the seemingly random oscillations of ecosystem mechanics.” Precognitive yet retrospective, the Authors’ literary journey brings the reader to the observation that in spite of political rhetoric, nations of the world have failed in their attempts to course correct from an impending Anthropocene tipping point because the world is hamstrung by “the political syndrome of historical sovereignties (illusory boundaries with no ecological basis) vying for power.” Random Homeostasis is a challenging work, which weaves in and out of first-person and third-person reference to bring together a phenomenally wide range of analytics from quantum math to literary analysis and so much more.” – David J. Wagner, Ph.D., Author, American Wildlife Art; Guest Curator, and adjunct faculty at colleges and universities, and Curator of over fifty art exhibitions

To read these reviews in full, please CLICK HERE or download them from the link above.

The views and opinions expressed through the MAHB Website are those of the contributing authors and do not necessarily reflect an official position of the MAHB. The MAHB aims to share a range of perspectives and welcomes the discussions that they prompt.