"Why do I have two arms but just one head? How is my left leg the same size as my right one? Why are the fingerprints of identical twins not identical? How did my brain learn to learn? Why must I die? Biology's deepest and most ancient challenges. They force us to confront a fundamental biological problem: how can something as large and complex as a human body organize itself from the simplicity of a fertilized egg? A convergence of ideas from embryology, genetics, physics, networks, and control theory has begun to provide real answers. Based on the central principle of 'adaptive self-organization,' it explains how the interactions of many cells, and of the tiny molecular machines that run them, can organize tissue structures vastly larger than themselves, correcting errors as they go along and creating new layers of complexity where there were none before. The story of human development from egg to adult, and why bodies age and fail, showing how our whole understanding of how we come to be has been transformed in recent years"--Provided by publisher.

Confronting an alien technology --First sketch. From one cell to many -- Making a difference -- Laying down a body plan -- Beginning a brain -- Long division -- Adding details. Fateful conversations -- Inner journeys -- Plumbing -- Organizing organs -- Taking up arms (and legs) -- The Y and How -- Wired -- Refinement. Dying to be human -- Making your mind up -- A sense of proportion -- Making friends and facing enemies -- Maintenance mode -- Perspectives. Acknowledgements -- Ethical Statement -- Introduction -- 1. Confronting an alien technology -- 2. From one cell to many -- 3. Making a difference -- 4. Laying down a body plan -- 5. Beginning a brain -- 6. Long division -- 7. Fateful conversations -- 8. Great migrations -- 9. Plumbing -- 10. Organizing organs -- 11. Taking up arms -- 12. The Y and how -- 13. Wired -- 14. Dying to be human -- 15. Making your mind up -- 16. A sense of proportion -- 17. Making friends and facing enemies -- 18. Maintenance mode -- 19. Perspectives -- Glossary -- Further reading -- References.