INDEX

adaptation, 55–56, 57–58, 93

agriculture, cycles of, 37

algae, emergence of, 48

alphabets, 97

Amaterasu, 43

animals: communities of, 65;

female choice, 74–76;

mating, 73–74, 75;

parental care, 77–79;

souls of, 105;

timeline, 120–23

Anthropocene era, 102

apes: bipedalism of, 82;

brain size of, 82–83;

origin of, 81

Aphrodite, 71

Archimides, 104

Aristarchus, 20

Aristotle, 104, 105

arts, and culture, 89

asteroids, 45

atmosphere: chemical composition of, 55, 56;

degradation of, 102;

emergence of, 44–45

atoms: collisions of, 29;

creation of, 12–13, 14–15;

neutral, 14;

sources of, 60;

structure of, 12

attraction, 12–13, 14–15

Aurignacian era, 124

awareness, 49–51, 65, 89

Bacon, Francis, 105

bacteria: light sensitivity of, 61;

thermophyllic, 48

basaltic rocks, 39

behavior, 84–86

Big Bang, 5

Big Dipper, 28

bipedalism, 82, 84

bonding, 7–9, 14

bowerbirds, 73–74, 75

brain, size of, 82–83, 84

calcite rods, 61–62

calcium, 34

calendar, establishment of, 37

Cambrian era, 120

carbon: fused into oxygen, 33;

and supernova explosions, 34, 36

carbon dioxide, 56

Carboniferous era, 121

cave paintings, 83

cells: adaptiveness of, 55;

awareness in, 50, 65;

community of, 64–65;

emergence on Earth, 47–48, 55;

finding food, 50–51;

living, 45;

membranes of, 50;

nuclei in, 48;

self-organizing systems of, 49, 65

Cenozoic era, 102, 122–23

center, new meaning of, 21

Chaco Canyon, 43

chaos, 117

cheetahs, 101

chlorophyll, 51, 54

cities, 20

civilizations: emergence of, 95;

hierarchical, 95–97;

symbolic codes of, 96, 97–98

classical civilizations, timeline, 125–27

Clockwork universe, 98

codes, 96, 97–98

coevolution, 68

communion, 51–52, 54, 56

community, 64–65

compassion, 77

complexity science, 50

consciousness, 49–51;

behavioral, 84–85;

and evolution, 66;

externalization of, 88–90;

self-awareness, 63, 109, 111;

symbolic, 86–88, 93, 94, 96, 101, 115

control, human wish to, 117

cooperation, 96

Copernicus, 4, 20, 38

cosmos, fiery furnace of, 44

courage, 117

cranes, 73–74

creativity, 18, 30–32;

and attraction, 12, 14;

beyond our control, 65–66;

and flourishing, 115–17;

human, 95–96;

learning process of, 60–61;

of nature, 52–53;

in spirals, 24;

and timing, 9–10

Cretaceous era, 122

cultural selection vs. natural selection, 101

cultures: and the arts, 89;

centers of, 20;

collective DNA of, 88–90;

hierarchical civilizations, 95–97;

stories of, 2–3;

survival of, 90–91

curiosity, 85

cytochrome c, 59–60

dance, mating, 73–74

Darwin, Charles, 4, 52;

and evolutionary time, 108;

and natural selection, 40;

on sexual selection, 75;

and survival, 68

death, 69

decision-making, 50–51, 76

deep sea vents, 48

Descartes, René, 105, 106

destiny, 111–13, 115–17

destruction, 66–67, 102, 103, 107, 116

deterministic materialism, 103–4, 105

Devonian era, 121

dinosaurs, parental care among, 78

Dionysus, 71

DNA: collective, in culture, 88–90;

information stored in, 88–89;

and memory, 58–59, 79;

outside the body, 89

Dyson, Freeman, 11–12

Earth: cellular life on, 47–48, 55;

collisions with, 42, 45;

communion with the Sun, 51–52, 54, 56;

complexity of, 51;

conscious self-awareness of, 109, 111;

cooling, 45;

core of, 39;

crust of, 39, 40;

cycles of, 96;

dynamics of, 39–41, 45;

emergence of, 54;

evolution of, 106;

fecundity of, 96;

formation of, 44;

human impact on, 100–102, 103, 105–7;

interconnectivity on, 55–56;

land mass of, 40;

life on, 44, 47–48, 55–56, 84, 118;

mantle of, 39;

mapping, 40;

in molten state, 38;

and Moon, 41–42;

moving around the Sun, 3, 4, 21;

rotation of, 42;

self-organizing systems of, 49, 56;

surface temperature of, 56

Einstein, Albert, 11, 40, 43, 108

electromagnetic interaction, 13

electrons: and attraction, 12–13, 14–15;

free, 31;

interconnectedness of, 51–52

empathy, 115

energy: and mass, 43–44;

original source of, 60

Eocene era, 122

evil, existence of, 66–67

evolution: coevolution, 68;

desire in, 71–72;

human alteration of dynamics of, 101;

imagining, 62–63;

and learning, 60, 61;

of the mind, 63–66;

and self-organizing dynamics, 106;

and symbolic consciousness, 101

experience, memory of, 89

extinction, 94, 102, 108

eyes, 61–63

felsic rock, 39

fish: eyes of, 62;

parental care among, 78;

stickleback, 72, 75

Flamsteed, John, 98

flexibility, 84–86

food: digestion of, 60;

sources of, 50–51, 57–59

fusion, 30, 31

future, 117–18

galaxies: clusters of, 19–22;

elliptical, 23;

formation of, 17–19, 116;

and gravity, 6;

Large Magellanic Cloud, 24–25;

Milky Way, 6, 17, 21, 23;

relationship of, 24–25;

self-organizing dynamics of, 49, 50;

spiral, 22–24;

timeline, 119;

Virgo Cluster, 21, 22

Galileo Galilei, 104

gas, 14

gazelles, 86

genes, 58–59

gold, 34

good and evil, 66–67

grains, 57–59

granite, 39

Gravettian era, 124

gravity, 6;

and birth of stars, 29, 30;

and Earth, 39;

as effect of mass, 28;

repulsive form of, 11

Greenwich Observatory, 98

Guth, Alan, 11

hadrons, 14

harmony, 58

hawks, and survival, 68

heavens, mapping the movements of, 37

heavy metals, 48

helium: formation of atoms, 15;

hydrogen transformed into, 31, 32–33, 44;

nuclei of, 12, 31, 33;

and stars, 28, 29, 31, 33

hierarchical civilizations, 95–97

holy springs, 105

Homer, Odyssey, 3

horticulture, 96–97

Hubble, Edwin, 6, 21, 40, 108

humans: Anthropocene era, 102;

bipedalism of, 82, 84;

brain size of, 82–83, 84;

creativity of, 95–96;

destiny of, 111–13, 115–17;

flexibility of, 84–86;

fossil evidence of, 81–83;

hierarchical civilizations, 95–97;

life span of, 61;

migration of, 91, 94;

mind of, 105;

origin of, 81–91;

planetary presence of, 93–102, 103, 105–7;

populations of, 83, 100;

symbolic consciousness of, 86–88, 93, 94, 96, 101, 115;

symbolic language of, 87–88, 96, 97;

timeline, 123–25

hurricanes, 49

Hutton, James, 108

hydrogen: formation of atoms, 15;

nuclei, 12;

resistance of, 30–31;

and stars, 28, 29, 36;

transformed into helium, 31, 32–33, 44

hydrogen sulfide, 45

images, multiple, 9

imagination, 66, 88

infants, human, development of, 53–54

insight, 63

instinct, 84–85

iron, 33, 39

Jupiter, 38

Jurassic era, 121

Kant, Immanuel, 98

Kepler, Johannes, 38

knowledge, accumulation of, 90–91

Kuan Yin, 77, 79

language: power of, 89–90;

symbolic, 87–88, 96, 97

Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), 24–25

lava, 39, 45

Lawrence, D. H., “Whales Weep Not!,” 72–73

leptons, 7, 14

life: adaptivity of, 56, 57–58, 59–61;

as a dream, 66;

ecological processes of, 108;

emergence of, 11, 64, 84, 118;

interconnectivity of, 55–56;

and Sun’s energy, 52;

time-line, 120;

transformations of, 4, 15, 34

life expectancy, 61

light, 9, 12;

calcite rods in eyes, 61–62;

movement of, 14, 15;

release of, 44;

sensitivity to, 61

lizard: mind of, 63–64;

sex organs of, 72;

survival of, 67–68

lunar eclipse, 41

Lyell, Charles, 108

machines, 99–100, 105, 107

Magdalenian era, 124

Magellan, Ferdinand, 40

magic, 97

magma, 39, 42

magnesium, 34, 39

Mahabharata, 3

mammals: behavioral flexibility of, 85;

extinction of, 94, 102, 108;

passion in, 72–73;

pregnancy, 75–76;

rearing offspring, 76, 77–79

Man in the Moon, 41

Mars, 38, 39

Mary, as feminine icon, 77, 79

mass: and energy, 43–44;

and gravity, 28

mathematical laws, 104–5

mathematics, 97, 98

mating dance, 73–74

matter: evolution of, 9;

passivity of, 106;

rethinking, 103–6;

self-organizing dynamics of, 106

Mayr, Ernst, 62

meaning, search for, 9–10

mechanistic philosophy, 105

memory, 57–58, 60, 61, 79

Mercury, 38

Mesozoic era, 121–22

metaphors, 9

Milky Way, 6, 17, 21, 23;

and LMC, 24–25

mind: development of, 63–66, 84;

human, 105

Miocene era, 122–23

modern world, timeline, 127–29

Monet, Claude, 43

Moon, 41–42;

origin of, 42;

tidal force of, 45

motion, laws of, 97–98

music: cosmic, 19;

harmonious, 58

mutual evocation, 24–25

mythology, 71

natural selection, 40, 101

nature: creativity of, 52–53;

cycles of, 107, 108

navigation, 37, 98–99

Neo-Confucianism, 89–90

Neolithic era, 124–25

Neptune, 38

nested nature of self-organizing structures, 49

neutrinos, 34

neutrons, 7, 9

Newton, Isaac, 52, 100, 104, 106;

and laws of motion, 97–98;

Principia Mathematica Philosophiae Naturalis, 105

nickel, 39

nuclear fusion, 30, 31

nuclei: emergence of, 8–10, 12, 30, 34, 48;

free, 31;

fusion process of, 31;

synthesis of, 34

nucleosynthesis, 34

nucleotides, 58–59

numbers, 58, 97, 99, 104

oceans: cells adapting to, 55;

chemical composition of, 55;

deep sea vents in, 48;

degradation of, 102;

formation of, 44–45;

power of, 114–15

Oligocene era, 122

opposites, attraction of, 13

Ordovician era, 120

Oshun, as feminine icon, 77, 79

oxygen, fused into silicon, 33

painting, 89

Paleocene era, 122

Paleolithic era, 123–24

Paleozoic era, 120–21

paradox of unintended consequences, 102

parental care, 76, 77–79

particles, 7–8;

electrically charged, 12

passion, 71–79;

compassion, 77;

female choice, 74–76;

mating, 73–74, 75;

and parental care, 76, 77–79;

and pregnancy, 75–76;

quantity vs. quality, 75–76

pattern, 58–61, 99, 108

peacocks, 74, 76

Permian era, 121

phosphorous, 34

photons, 14–15, 51

photosynthesis, 51–54, 56

physics, laws of, 49, 97–98

pictographs, 97

planetesimals, 36, 42, 44

planets: creation of, 36;

gaseous, 38;

mathematical laws applied to, 104–5;

and navigation, 37;

orbits of, 38;

orienting ourselves to, 37–38;

rocky, 38;

self-organizing dynamics of, 49, 56;

stories of, 37

plants, timeline, 120–23

plasma, 7, 12, 15

plate tectonics, 40–41

play, 85

Pleistocene era, 123

Pliocene era, 123

poetry, 89

polymers, 41

predator-prey relationships, 67

pregnancy, 75–76

Prigogine, Ilya, 48, 106

productivity, 107, 108

progress, 98–100

prokaryotic organisms, 79

prose, 89

proteins, 58–59

protons, 7–9, 12–13, 14–15

protostars, 29

Pythagoras, 19, 58, 97, 99

quantum community, creation of, 8

quarks, 7

Ra, 43

Rabbit in the Moon, 41

radiation, 9

randomness, 59–60

reflection, 87

reindeer people, 93

relationships: bonding, 8–9, 14;

intimacy of, 115

Relativity, General Theory of, 11

remembering, 57–58, 79

reptiles: parental care among, 77–78;

sex organs of, 72;

survival of, 67–68

rituals, 96

rivers, degradation of, 102

sacred groves, 105

Saturn, 38

scientific revolution, timeline, 129–31

seeds, germination of, 10

seeing, 61–63

selection: cultural vs. natural, 101;

decision-making, 50–51, 76

self-awareness, 63, 109, 111

self-destruction, 108

self-organizing dynamics, 48–50, 56, 65, 75, 106

sensing, 61–63

sexual selection, 74–76

Shapley, Harlow, 21

silicates, 39

silicon, 36

Silurian era, 121

soil, degradation of, 102

solar system: birth of, 35–36, 116;

collisions in, 67;

heliocentric, 4, 20, 38;

mathematical laws applied to, 104–5;

timeline, 120

space, rhythm of, 37

spiders, 73

Starobinsky, Alexei, 11

stars: activity of, 30–32;

birth of, 29–30;

collapse of, 33;

creation of, 6, 23, 116;

creativity of, 30–31;

deaths of, 25;

disequilibrium of, 31, 32;

explosion of, 32–34, 67;

as giant balls of gas, 27;

implosion of, 33–34;

meditation on, 28;

and navigation, 37;

as our ancestors, 29;

protostars, 29;

radiance of, 28–29;

self-organizing processes of, 27–28, 49;

semistable state of, 33;

shooting, 36–37;

supernovas, 28, 32, 34, 35–36;

timeline, 119;

and wonder, 113–14

Stonehenge, England, 43

stories: birth of, 88;

of cultures, 2–3;

of the universe, 2–5, 37

suffering, existence of, 67

Sun: communion with Earth, 51–52, 54, 56;

Earth moving around, 3, 4, 20;

energy of, 52, 54;

as god, 43;

light of, 44;

matter transformed into energy by, 43–44;

movement of, 21;

planets orbiting, 38;

power of, 43;

and solar system, 35–36, 38;

temperature of, 56

superclusters, 21–22

supernovas, 32, 34, 35–36

survival: of cultures, 90–91;

drive for, 54, 67–68;

human impact on, 101

symbolic consciousness, 86–88, 93, 94, 96, 101, 115

symbols: of civilization, 96, 97–98;

invention of, 88;

magic of, 97

taste, development of, 62

technology, 97;

machines, 99–100, 105, 107;

and productivity, 107, 108

thermophyllic bacteria, 48

tides, 41, 45

time: beginning of, 11;

cosmological, 116;

and cycles of nature, 107, 108;

evolutionary, 108;

as measure of creative emergence, 108–9;

mechanical, 107;

rhythm of, 37

timeline, 119–31;

classical civilizations, 125–27;

formation of the universe, 119;

galaxies and stars, 119;

human journey, 123–25;

life, 120;

modern world, 127–29;

plants and animals, 120–23;

scientific revolution, 129–31;

solar system, 120

timing, dynamic of, 10

touch, development of, 62

transformations, 4, 12, 15, 34, 96

trees, survival of, 78–79

Triassic era, 121

trilobites, 61–63

tuning forks, 51

unintended consequences, paradox of, 102

universe: birth of, 5–7, 49, 119;

changing nature of, 61;

Clockwork, 98;

dynamic opposing forces of, 118;

energies of, 114;

evolution of, 106, 108–9, 116;

expansion of, 5–6, 10–12, 19, 21–22, 40;

folding back on itself, 95;

heart of, 19–20;

mathematical model of, 7;

multicentric, 19–22;

number as essence of, 58;

pattern as heart of, 58;

rhythm of, 7;

self-organizing dynamics of, 48;

stories of, 2–5, 37;

and time, 116;

transparency of, 13–15;

and wonder, 114

Uranus, 38

Venus, 38

vibration, and music, 58

violence, 66–69

Virgo Cluster, 21–22

Virgo Supercluster, 21–22

vision, development of, 61–63

volcanic processes, 44, 45

Voltaire, 98

water, and eye formation, 62

water vapor, release of, 45

waves, 18–19;

density, 23

Wegener, Alfred, 40

whale people, 93

whirlpool, 48–49

wonder, 87, 113–14

words, development of, 87

worms, sight in, 62, 63

writing, 97

Zhang Zai, 89–90