Life, The Wonder of It All

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION
PART I: IN THE BEGINNING
CHAPTER 1: THE LAW OF COSMIC UNIFICATION
UNDERSTANDING THE LAW OF COSMIC UNIFICATION
A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO THE BIOPHYSICAL PRINCIPLES
OUR AMAZING PLANET EARTH
EARTH BEFORE OXYGEN
        Our Magnetic Shield
        The Chemistry Of Life
THE ADVENT OF OXYGEN
        Of Blue-Green Algae and Oxygen
        The Arrival of Diatoms
        Photosynthesis In the Sea
        And Life Moved Onto Land
DIVERSITY AND PERCEPTION
        Diversity
        Perception
A BRIEF HISTORY OF HUMANS

CHAPTER 2: LANGUAGE AND THE NEED TO SHARE
WE ARE TRULY ALONE IN MATERIAL LIFE
AND LANGUAGE FILLED THE WORLD
AN IDEA
THE GIFT OF LANGUAGE
PART II: THE INVIOLATE, BIOPHYSICAL PRINCIPLES THAT GOVERN LIFE
CHAPTER 3: EVERYTHING IS A RELATIONSHIP
PHYSICAL RELATIONSHIPS
        Oh What Chemistry
        Our Restless Earth
BIOPHYSICAL RELATIONSHIPS
        We Are Each A World Inhabited By Microbes
        An Example of Life Serving Life: Figs, Wasps, and Fruit Bats
        How Argonauts Use Air and Water To Position Themselves In the Ocean
        Of Scaly Mariners and Ocean Currents
        Designed For The Wind
        Gliding On Air
        We Humans Are Continually Redesigning the Earth and How It Functions
                In The Beginning
                The Domestication of Animals
                Sharing Our Life, Labor, and Strife
                Just Being There
                A Brief Glimpse of Prehistoric England
                The Commons Usufruct Law
                Losing Sight of the Commons Usufruct Law
                Our Challenge In the Twenty-First Century

CHAPTER 4: ALL RELATIONSHIPS ARE DEPENDENT ON AND RESULT IN A TRANSFER OF ENERGY
HUMANS AS DISSIPATIVE ENTITIES
THE WONDER OF A TOUCAN'S BEAK
COPING WITH WINTER

CHAPTER 5: THE ONLY TRUE INVESTMENT IS ENERGY FROM SUNLIGHT
THE HUMAN NOTION OF "INVESTMENT"
TRUE INVESTMENTDRINKING THE INVESTMENT OF SUNLIGHT
        Fermenting the Investment
        Sipping the Investment
HOW OAKS SHARE THE SUN'S ENERGY
CHAPTER 6: ALL RELATIONSHIPS ARE PRODUCTIVE
THE MAN WHO CREATED BEAUTIFUL, URBAN PARKS
THE NEEM TREE, A GIFT FROM NATURE
NATURE'S MARINE MEDICINE CABINET
CHAPTER 7: ALL RELATIONSHIPS ARE BASED ON CHANGE AS A CONSTANT PROCESS
WHEN HABITATS CHANGE
OF STALACTITES, CLIMATE CHANGE, AND MONSOONS
HOW ONE MAN INSPIRED A NEVER-ENDING STORY OF CHANGE

CHAPTER 8: ALL RELATIONSHIPS ARE SELF-REINFORCING FEEDBACK LOOPS
ACACIAS AND ANTS
FISH THAT FARM
A BIRD AND A PINE—AN INSEPARABLE COUPLE
OF HUMMINGBIRDS AND FLOWERS
THE GOLDEN GARDENS AT VERSAILLES
CHAPTER 9: ALL RELATIONSHIPS HAVE TRADEOFFS
THE CACAO TREE
TIMBER VERSUS MEDICINE IN TROPICAL FORESTS
AN AIRBORNE PARADOX

CHAPTER 10: ALL RELATIONSHIPS ARE IRREVERSIBLE
REDUNDANCY OR BACKUP?
MOUNT ST. HELENS
PRE-INCAN CIVILIZATIONS
SAHARA: THE PAST 6000 YEARS
EXTINCTION IS FOREVER
ARE MARINE LEATHERBACKS ON THE BRINK?
CHAPTER 11: ALL SYSTEMS ARE BASED ON COMPOSITION, STRUCTURE, AND FUNCTION
HOW DID A CHAIR BECOME A CHAIR?
A LESSON FROM HONEYBEES
NATURE'S EVER-CHANGING ECOSYSTEMS
HUMAN-CAUSED ACIDIFICATION OF THE OCEANS
THE COAST REDWOOD
THE CRAFTSMANSHIP OF ANTONIO STRADIVARI
THE GENIUS OF LEONARADO DA VINCI
CHAPTER 12: ALL SYSTEMS ARE DEFINED BY THEIR FUNCTION
CARNIVOROUS PLANTS
FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT
LAKE TANGANYIKA
OCEANIC ANOXIC EVENTS
CHAPTER 13: ALL SYSTEMS HAVE CUMULATIVE EFFECTS, LAG PERIODS, AND THRESHOLDS
OUR INVISIBLE PRESENT
IT'S IN THE WIND
PLASTIC ISLAND
CHAPTER 14: ALL SYSTEMS ARE OPEN
THE AMBER TIME CAPSULE
THE ILLUSION OF CLOSED-LOOP TECHNOLOGY

CHAPTER 15: ALL SYSTEMS ARE CYCLICAL, BUT NONE ARE PERFECT CIRCLES
DEATH AND REBIRTH IN THE DEEP OCEAN
THE CYCLE OF SEASONS
        Spring, the Season of Gentle Days and Soft Nights
        Summer, the Season of Blue Skies and Butterflies
        Autumn, the Season of Floating Spider Webs and Falling Leaves
        Winter, the Season of Sleeping Trees and Rain
NATURE'S ENGINEERS
CHAPTER 16: SYSTEMIC CHANGE IS BASED ON SELF-ORGANIZED CRITICALITY
OF EARTHQUAKES AND TSUNAMIS
NOW CONSIDER A FOREST
HOW ABOUT CITIES
CHAPTER 17: DYNAMIC DISEQUILIBRIUM RULES ALL SYSTEMS
SHEET FLOODING IN PORTAL, ARIZONA
AND THEN THERE ARE MEGAFLOODS
CLIMATE, THE PURVEYOR OF PERPETUAL DISEQUILIBRIUM
PART III: WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
CHAPTER 18: OUR SHARED FUTURE
LESSONS FROM THE MEDIEVAL WARM PERIOD
ARCTIC BAROMETER
THE COMMONS
        Governing the Commons
                Perception Is Truth
                The Degree To Which a Commons Is Isolated
                Changing Biophysical Environment
                Adaptive Principles of Governance
        The Commons Is A Living Trust
                A Living Trust As A Big Idea
                Nature's Commons As A Biological Living Trust
                Our Human Commons As A Cultural Living Trust
        Finding the Commons In Your Life

ENDNOTES
GLOSSARY
APPENDIX OF COMMON AND SCIENTIFIC NAMES

Endorsements:

"Bravo, bravo! It was an absolute joy to read. As you'll see from the long gaps between comments, I often became so immersed in the story that I forgot I was reading to see what was missing. You both weave together rich ideas, science, personal narrative, facts, and exposition in a very nimble way. What I appreciated most was the time you spent on everyday subjects: hummingbirds, copepods, tea, and Chinese emperors—and how you made these things relevant to universal experiences. You truly evoke a profound sense of wonder for LIFE. Better yet, you inspire readers to examine the makings of their own LIFE, as a trustee, beneficiary, and participant in this ongoing narrative of relationships.
"At first I was hoping for some more philosophical discussions of what we're to make of all this, or how we ought to live—not in a prescriptive sense, but more in the way of ideas. But, the end really drives this home."
Abby Metzger
College of Business
Oregon State University
Corvallis, Oregon

"Let's go back to a very important beginning, a childhood event with mystery and emotional connection that exposes us unknowingly to an uncontaminated truth of the human spirit for the first time. An ancient union with nature, although we are no longer trained to recognize it. Having had a similar childhood experience as those described by Chris Maser and co-author Reese Halter, I wanted, but could not find, a willing ear as a child to describe the resulting feelings, much less avoid mockery, which reflect the loss of important cultural connections. This book recognizes these critically valuable events with nature as a portal to ancient wisdom and happiness. Although, as individuals, we may allow these experiences to affect us, we usually tuck them away to be lost in the illusions of modern economics instead of the miracle of natural systems.
"This book reminds me, with strong scientific descriptions, that we all should cherish those first insights right up front, like a totem to tell again our relationship to all else. Chris Maser masterfully integrates different areas of science and ecological principles into a holistic understanding, like no one else I have ever known. Assimilating the scientific and its philosophical significance with cultural history, Chris sends the reader to peek above the clouds of political spin, economic growth models, agricultural production models, and general utilitarian nonsense to vividly see the parts with the whole and the reason we must all take responsibility to protect ourselves (with a far greater understanding as to what, when, where, and why) from loss of the very elements of nature that make life worth living, and so prevent our own demise."
Cindy Haws
Executive Director of the Umpqua Watersheds, Inc., and
Profesor of Wildlife Biology
Umpqua Community College
Winston, Oregon

"The overall concept—tracing life's myriad interconnections from the big bang to the Earth's present sorry state—is wonderful! You have given us many moments of beauty: your wondrous ditch; the miracle of dragonflies; the notion of conduit; the fall of snowflakes. For me, the narrative itself is at its best when it focuses on these specifics. Of course, you need the larger concepts to hold it all together, but it is these small and individual moments I look forward to as a reader.
"By the time you get to Nature's Commons, and introduce the concept of living trust, I realize how carefully you have laid out the steps of the journey. I think you have prepared us well for the emperor's wise gardener and the notion that each of us internalizes the wonder you have described.
"Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read and comment. I believe this will be a volume many of us will treasure: read, pass on but insist on getting it back for a second and third read."
Jane Braxton Little
Freelance Journalist Focusing on the Natural Environment
Plumas County, California
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