TY - BOOK AU - Taylor,Marianne AU - Woodcock,John TI - The story of life in 10 1/2 species SN - 9780262044486 PY - 2020/// CY - Cambridge, Massachusetts PB - The MIT Press KW - Life KW - Origin KW - Evolution (Biology) KW - Natural history KW - Species KW - Biodiversity KW - Biology KW - Classification KW - Informational works KW - lcgft N1 - Includes index; First published in 2020 by UniPress Books Ltd; "If an alien visitor were to collect ten souvenir life forms to represent life on Earth, which would they be?" -- cover; Fern -- Virus -- Nautilus -- Stick insect -- Sponge -- Human -- Giraffe -- Dusky seaside sparrow -- Soft-shelled turtle -- Darwin's finches -- Artificial life N2 - If an alien visitor were to collect ten souvenir life forms to represent life on earth, which would they be? This is the thought-provoking premise of Marianne Taylor's The Story of Life in 10 and a Half Species. Each life forms explains a key aspect about life on Earth. From the sponge that seems to be a plant but is really an animal to the almost extinct soft-shelled turtle deemed extremely unique and therefore extremely precious, these examples reveal how life itself is arranged across time and space, and how humanity increasingly dominates that vision. Taylor, a prolific science writer, considers the chemistry of a green plant and ponders the possibility of life beyond our world; investigates the virus in an attempt to determine what a life form is; and wonders if the human--"a distinct and very dominant species with an inevitably biased view of life"-- could evolve in a new direction. She tells us that the giraffe was one species, but is now four; that the dusky seaside sparrow may be revived through "re-evolution," or cloning; explains the significance of Darwin's finch to evolution; and much more. The "half" species is artificial intelligence. Itself an experiment to understand and model life, AI is central to our future--although from the alien visitor's standpoint, unlikely to inherit the earth in the long run ER -