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Summary: A cogent--if combative--case for a new evolutionary paradigm
Review: "Symbiotic Planet" may sound to the average reader like just another attempt to "classify" life on our little Earth. This would be an error. This book, as is typical of Dr. Margulis' writing is precise, complete, and allows the reader to easily follow along this amazing journey through time and life itself. I have read, as well as reviewed a number of Dr. Margulis' books through the years, and stand in awe at how she can "break down" what to myself seems an incredibly complicated idea, into plain common examples. Her writing captivates the mind of the reader, to the point that it seems impossible to put down. I am a very slow reader-yet I finished the book (the first time) in a single day. One cannot stop reading it is just that fascinating! There is little I can say that would be nearly adequate to properly describe this book. The reader will decide for themselves that is really is a great read and a great book to keep as reference. It really is as simple as that.
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Summary: Especially recommended for Margulis fans but not her best
Review: I am a great admirer of the author, who is one of the most creative biologists alive today, and a tireless popularizer of the brilliant and exciting ideas that define her career. For fans like me, this book is a must, as it offers tidbits about the author's life, including her marriage to Carl Sagan. It is also valuable in that it seeks to respond to criticisms of the Gaia hypothesis. But for those new to Margulis' work, I would recommend starting with Microcosmos, which she wrote with her son Dorion Sagan, a truly wonderful book that everyone interested in biology or the environment should have on their shelves. If Microcosmos doesn't grab you, don't bother with Symbiotic Planet. If it does grab you, then you'll probably want to go on to this book and others by Margulis.
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Summary: Talks too much, says too little
Review: I cannot say the book has no value - it contains a lot of interesting stuff which I enjoyed reading - I learned many new things. What annoyed me much was the extra autobiographical content that was totally useless to me. I didn't want autobiography, I wanted popular science book. IMHO, the book's content could have been delivered in half of its size. It's nice sometimes to have a little "behind the scenes" stuff, but this book certainly overdose it. However, although you might complain the extraneous content, the book is well written. You won't be bored.
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Summary: Simbiosys and Gaia
Review: I found this book an easy read, but felt it misrepresented itself a bit. I was hoping for a straightforward concentrated dose of Margulis's symbiogenesis theory, explaining how eucaryotic life came about as a combining of procaryotes. What I got was some of that, but mostly rather diffuse chat about herself, her colleagues, and the obstinacy of some scientists who don't see things her way. Fine, nothing wrong with such venting, but that was not what I was hoping for. Perhaps this is characteristic of the Science Masters series, where well-known folks are invited to write casually-edited, free-form summaries of the work they are known for.Let me not be too negative: the book really DID talk about some fascinating things, though not in a way that would so much satisfy as tantalize. Again, nothing wrong with that, and perhaps the appropriate reader is someone coming to symbiogenesis or the Gaia hypothesis, say, for the first time. This book could inspire them to further research, and the notes to the literature would aid in that. The notes are not terribly many, but would get someone started. But from this book alone one will get more of a feel for the author than for the subject she so obviously loves.
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Summary: Radical theories on the evolution of life on earth
Review: I um'd and ah'd about how many stars to give this book. If I was just assessing the importance of Lynn Margulis's scientific work it would definitely receive five stars. Margulis is an underrated genius. Her work on symbiosis and evolution is extremely important. It reminds us that evolution is far more complex than a simple choice between neo-Darwinism and Lamarckism. Her connecting of her ideas to the Gaia hypothesis of James Lovelock is inspired. Unfortunately, this book shows why she might be getting less exposure than she deserves - it is not terribly well written. In fact, it reads as though it was produced in a hurry with almost no editing. Further, there are diagrams in the book which have no stated connection to the text (OK, you can work it out for yourself, but it still comes across as shoddy). Having said that, the style perhaps gives an insight into the person - clearly Margulis is a battler for her ideas. Its good to have something to read by her that is less weighty than her other seminal but hefty works. Sometimes here she can be very funny. I particularly liked her comments on James Lovelock's dislike of the patenting process. So in all, four stars - a very good book that with a little tightening up could be great.
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Summary: The Biology Teachers Should Read!
Review: Its a good pool of (r)evolutionary ideas about life on Earth. "Symbiotic Planet" bring us old (but not solved) questions again like "what is life?" and "How do the life beings evolve?" The symbiotic approach of "merged" beings could be useful to explain a lot of tricky mysteries of evolution. This book make us realize how uncertain and out of sense is the biologic "knowledge" teached in our schools and could be compared (in some terms) with darwinian's theory social impact when faced to the Bible's theory of life. Let's change the text books in high school!
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Summary: World much smaller than ours, yet vital
Review: Let's hear it for the bugs-not your creepy-crawlies, but bacteria, the be-all (and possible end-all) of life on Earth, according to Margulis. Here she describes the once radical theory that cells have incorporated bacteria to mutual advantage and uses that as a springboard to summarize a still more radical theory of how species evolve. She calls it serial endosymbiosis theory (SET). It is now conventional wisdom that the energy-producing mitochondria in animal cells were once free-living bacteria. Indeed, they have their own genes-different from nuclear DNA. Margulis provides many examples of fruitful symbioses, including sexual union itself as the merger of sperm and egg cells. According to SET, there are successive steps or mergers that led to multicellular life forms: In steps one and two the oldest bacterial forms-the non-oxygen breathing 'archaebacteria' found in deep ocean vents-merged with swimming bacteria two billion years ago to form the nuclear heart of animal, plant, and fungal cells and provide the cilia for swimming. Later steps introduced a third partner able to breathe oxygen and added the ability to engulf and digest food (phagocytosis). The last step involved engulfing yet another bacterium-but one these various new forms of life could not digest: bright green photosynthetic bacteria. The bone of contention here is the origin of ciliated cells-critical to evolution for their vital role as sperm tails, among other things. Margulis has a theory about their origin, but as they say, more research is needed. Margulis' theory also dictates a change in taxonomy to five kingdoms: bacteria at the base, then 'protoctists' (algae, slimemolds, ciliates) next, and then animals, plants, and fungi. Finally, she defends Lovelock's Gaia theory, which she interprets to mean that enormous interacting ecosystems on Earth achieve homeostasis rather than that the planet is in the hands of some benign Mother Earth. This is vintage Margulis-personal, autobiographical, passionate, argumentative, at times over the top, but full of ideas-at least some of which, in the past, have proved to be right.
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Summary: Somewhat loose thoughts from a great thinker.
Review: Lynn Margulis is an outspoken proponent of her endosymbiotic theory. Parts of it have been accepted into high-school and college textbooks, and biological thought, while other parts of it haven't as yet. In this short book, in a highly autobiographical way, Margulis briefs us on her theory, the history of its acceptance/rejection, and why it should be more wholely accepted. There is also a chapter on endosymbiosis and Gaia. Without getting into details, I'd like to say that this isn't the book to read for a well rounded introduction to endosymbiotic theory. I wish I knew which of hers was, but I don't. This book feels like just another installment in a longer scientific saga. Definitely search for the book with better content, I know I will.
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Summary: An superb book for all readers interested in life's origins.
Review: Lynn Margulis takes a decidedly personal approach in explaining her view on how the two theories she has been most devoted to in her career, serial endosymbiotic theory (SET) and GAIA, the interrelation of all things, are linked. Beginning with the smallest organisms, bacteria, all the way to the largest, the planet Earth, Margulis charts the way from the beginnings of life to current day thinking in symbiotic biology. Symbiosis, which is the biological term for the intimate and mutually rewarding pairing of two kinds of organisms, is critical to evolution. A reknowned expert in both SET and Gaia theories, Lynn Margulis writes with authority and persuasion on the subjects she knows best. Interspersed in her account is the evolution of her own professional life which allows the reader a glimpse into her mind. Called "one of the most successful synthetic thinkers in modern biology", (E.O. Wilson) Margulis invites the reader to think about the world and our place in it in a totally new way.
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Summary: Excellent summary with a few flaws
Review: Readable in a few hours, this book gives a quick introduction to a concept tremendously important to understanding the evolution on life on earth. I would have liked more extensive discussion of SET, with respect to the protoctists; the recognition of the development of these organisms from the symbiosis of various bacteria laid the groundwork for the understanding of symbiotic relationships in plants, animals, and fungi, which Margulis discusses in later chapters, yet the details of it take only a couple early chapters. Other volumes in this series are longer (some 170 pp.), and this one could have been, too. The clarification of "the Gaia hypothesis," in the last chapter, is very strong, and welcome; undergirding it is Margulis's insistence (throughout the book) on unsentimental and rigorous scientific thinking. The book does contain flaws. Editorial errors show a lack of careful proofreading (e.g., the date of the rediscovery of Mendel's work is given as 1990). Many sentences would have benefitted from more use of commas. More illustrations (e.g., of the structures of cells and organelles, mitosis, and meiosis) and summary equations for various metabolic processes, as well as a glossary, would make the book more accessible and useful to those who retain only a hazy knowledge (and that probably out-dated) of these things. Finally, Margulis takes too much the stance of the battered, then embraced and finally vindicated iconoclast, and seems rather too smug (as when she refers to "my SET theory"). It's just not attractive, and could have been toned down; it's obvious that she's brilliant. My criticisms, however, are relatively minor, and I recommend this book enthusiastically.
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