Developmental Biology, 11th Edition

A BIOLOGIST, A PHILOSOPHER, AND A THEOLOGIAN WALK INTO A BAR. Yes, it actually happened, in the chill of a winter night in Finland! A group of enthusiastic people listened as the moderator asked what each of them considered to be the most important story people need to know. The Christian theologian said that the most important story was salvation through God’s grace. The analytic philosopher disagreed, saying that the most important story for mankind was that of the Enlightenment. The developmental biologist knew that he was supposed to say “evolution.” But evolution is the consequence of another, more fundamental story. So the biologist claimed that most inspiring and meaningful story was how the embryo constructs itself. You pass from unformed zygote to the adult organism with its heart, brain, limbs, and gut all properly differentiated and organized. It is a story of how newness is created, how one keeps one’s identity while building oneself, and how global forces and local forces work together to generate a functional entity. This is the story we tell in this book.