Embryogenesis: species, gender, and identity

Embryogenesis is an unusual book in that it brings together a highly illustrated, practical embryology book in simple language, perfect for health practitioners, with a fascinating read on the history and philosophy of biological science. It discusses the various stages of embryonic development (meiosis, fertilization, blastula development, and gastrulation, and then the embryology of each of the human organs and organ systems in detail). It puts each of them in context, both in terms of its phylogeny: the evolutionary trajectory of cell-organized systems on Earth, and its ontogeny: the formation of individual organisms in the modern world. There are 24 color plates, many of them commissioned uniquely for this volume, and several hundred black and white illustrations. The book is 950 pages hardcover, 8-1/2 by 10.Chapters include: The Original Earth; The Materials of Life; The First Beings; The Cell; The Genetic Code; Sperm and Egg; Fertilization; The Blastula; Gastrulation; Morphogenesis; Biological Fields; Chaos, Fractals, and Deep Structure; Ontogeny and Phylogeny; and Biotechnology. The Origin of the Nervous System; The Evolution of Intelligence; Neurulation and the Human Brain; Organogenesis; The Musculoskeletal and Hematopoietic Systems; Mind; The Origin of Sexuality and Gender. Healing; Transsexuality, Intersexuality, and the Cultural Basis of Gender; Self and Desire; Cosmogenesis and Mortality