The book is divided into three parts. The first part delves into humanity's relationship with the biological world and our impact as a dominant species on the planet, with a focus on the role of microbes. The second part presents the concept of biocivilizations, providing an alternative perspective to futurism based on mechanical science. The third part advocates for a new approach to studying life.

Although I found the book to be a bit lengthy and would have preferred a greater focus on microbes (considering the incredible variety of microorganisms that thrive in harsh conditions), I still thought it was a good read overall. It's written in a way that makes the concepts accessible to anyone, regardless of scientific background.

NetGalley arc review


DNF DNF

I got to the first few pages, not a fan of AI or human AI or both together, so nope

A very surprising and thought-provoking book. It challenges many of the tenets of life sciences, and while I am not sure I agree with every theory presented here, it is unquestionably a fresh and compelling vision. I liked the radical departure from anthropocentrism–given all the evidence, I find it silly and naive to see humans as the crown of creation. I think the author's proposed Copernican shift in biology is very urgently needed. And it is somehow soothing to learn that “given that all forms of life except bacteria become extinct and are replaced by new forms of life, it’s clear that life will continue in some form, post-Homo sapiens, long into the future” (learning that humans are non-essential by-products of what mostly amounts to microbial evolutionary games" maybe less so...) .

Although there are many fascinating facts about bacteria, plants, and animals, this is not a typical popular science book. At times it is more like an academic treatise, well written but still quite dense. But I think anyone interested in biology and new trends in science will read it with pleasure.

Thanks to the publisher, Chelsea Green Publishing, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

I think I would have enjoyed this book if someone else had written it. The content is interesting. But the author's style was so confrontational that it immediately put my hackles up. I don't think what he's proposing is particularly revolutionary. Yet the tone throughout is militantly anti-establishment. To me, the book reads more like propaganda than science. It's also long-winded and repetitive. DNF around 30%.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

I grew up surrounded by trees, meadows, and billions of insects. Now, four decades later, almost no trees from that time are left, and meadows are covered by concrete and fancy houses (who can afford them?). Most insects are gone too. I remember cycling through passages between rows of neglected fruit trees with squinted eyes and clenched jaw to avoid an insect salad on my face and inside my mouth.
Since I remember I felt very sad every time I saw a dead creature. Especially tree. I am absolutely convinced that trees and other plants can feel pain. Probably not on an electrical level like humans, but on a biochemical level. It´s just something I always knew. Once I tried to talk about this to a scientist, that person is actually a well-known biologist with a huge scientific experience and knowledge. He looked at me the same way you look at someone who tells you that was kidnapped by aliens.
But miracles can happen. The author writes about a new approach within biology, a new way of seeing things. Finally, after all these years of poking and probing, there are scientists out there who have the courage to listen. Because everything around us talks. There´s even this idea of cross-kingdom communication! (yep, I knew this, too). Bacterias talk, bacterias and plants communicate, they have intelligence, and animals create art. What else do you need to finally acknowledge that every time you snip a beautiful rose from your garden you actually cause pain and sadness?
Just yesterday friend of mine sent me a petition to sign against opening the first octopus farm in Spain. One of the most intelligent creatures in the entire world farmed! Unimaginable suffering for human pleasure.
Back to the book.
I love the idea behind this publication, however, I struggled with the scientific jargon. I think I read a good amount of scientific articles, and yet I had to google quite a few things. So for a reader less familiar with the biological vocabulary, this book might be unreadable. Also, there are a huge number of references across other disciplines from philosophy to physics. Again, this requires some sort of stamina and knowledge in the first place. An average reader might just put the book away.
More stubborn readers will definitely enjoy this book.

4 Stars !

Brilliant, compelling, fascinating, mind-blowing and thought-provoking.

This book took me back to that incredible sense of awe and wonder I felt when I first read 'The Hidden Life of Trees' by Peter Wohlleben. I could practically feel my mind being blown and my brain rewiring. Every time I went for a walk and looked at all of the plant life and trees around me I couldn’t help but notice that the same sights and sounds to which I was accustomed had developed more depth, new dimensions and were exploding with colour. My perspective had been irrevocably changed, as was the case again after reading 'Biocivilisations'. Not only was I left gaping at the thought of a planet-wide bacterial communication network and the fact that ants have mobile army surgical hospitals, but I couldn’t help but be thoroughly impressed by Slijepčević's brilliant writing and refreshing and insightful perspective.

We say that wisdom comes with age and yet we Homo sapiens, mere evolutionary foetuses, pride ourselves on some superior sense of wisdom. One only has to look at the way in which we seem to be striving towards our own destruction to truly see how little wisdom we have to speak of. I loved that this book confronted assumptions of human omnipotence and the belief that we are superior to nature, as if we ourselves are not just another mere part of nature floating along the river of life. The author very helpfully situates Homo sapiens along the continuum of life, on which our existence is revealed to only account for 0.01% of time. Our insignificance relative to the grandeur of life and evolution is both reassuring and embarrassing. Reassuring because if we bury our heads in the sand long enough to wholly self-destruct, life, as it did for 99.9% of its existence, will in fact continue without us, and embarrassing because believing otherwise only acts as further evidence of our naivety and exaggerated sense of self-importance.

Similarly, this book opened my mind to the fact that many phenomena we consider uniquely human are, in fact, not. We aren’t the only communicators, engineers, scientists, doctors, artists, and farmers and importantly, we are not the only life forms capable of creating civilisations.

I was also completely invested in her bold discussions about the tendency of western biology to fall into reductionist and mechanistic patterns of thinking and her challenging of the ever pervasive gene theory. Life cannot be humbled by mere genes and codes. Its uncertain yet sophisticated artistry cannot be understood through a lens of mechanistic rationalism. Attempting to do so leaves us admiring the epistemological chains that bind us to faulty and inadequate theoretical perspectives and blind to the true genius of artful biology and the wonder of Gaian science.

The vast majority of this book felt surprisingly accessible, however, admittedly, there were some small sections that flew over my head, but that may have also just been a result of my over-tired uni brain.

It's always a good sign when I find my hands itching to highlight everything and fill the margins with my notes. But alas, I have to wait for the book to actually be released to get my hands on it!

Overall, a fantastic and unforgettable read. 100% recommend, especially for science lovers!

I expected something completely different. From the title and the description I thought it would be a book about different microorganisms and their collective behaviours that have been observed in recent years. Instead, it is a dissertation to try to justify a new paradigm in biology.
Although there are some things I agree with, overall I had a feeling that the arguments in favour are rather weak, which did not convince me.
In addition, despite studying biology, I found the book a bit dense and complicated to follow. I would have liked something more adapted to the general public so that people without basic knowledge could understand the arguments of the new paradigm.
The examples used throughout the book were very good and illustrative. This is what I liked most about the book.

While this book is different from what I usually read in nonfiction books, I picked this one up because it seemed interesting. This book informed me a great deal about biodiversity and survival of the fittest in the world.

Synopsis: What is life? Many scientists believe life can be reduced to ‘mechanistic’ factors, such as genes and information codes. Yet there is a growing army of scientists, philosophers and artists who reject this view. The gene metaphor is not only too simplistic but deeply misleading. If there is a way to reduce life to a single principle, that principle must acknowledge the creativity of life, turning genetic determinism on its head.

The term biocivilisations is the acknowledgement of this uncertainty of life, as opposed to a quasi-certainty of the human position governed by a narrow time window of the scientific revolution. Life existed without humans for more than 99.99 percent of the Earth’s existence. Life will also continue without humans long after our inevitable extinction.

In Biocivilisations, Dr Predrag Slijepčević shows how bacteria, amoebas, plants, insects, birds, whales, elephants and countless other species not only preceded human beings but demonstrate elements of how we celebrate human civilisation – complex communication, agriculture, science, art, medicine and more.

Humans must try to adopt this wisdom from other biocivilisations that have long preceded our own. By rethinking the current scientific paradigm, Dr Slijepčević makes clear that a transformation – from a naïve young species into a more mature species in tune with its surroundings – will save us from our own violence and the violence we inflict on the rest of our living planet.

Opinion: As virologist I love this books where science does not focus on the human being but in other types of life such as bacteria, amoebas. We can debate if the viruses are life or not. The book tries to explain what life is beyond humans in its first part, it talks about a brave new world in part 2 and the part 3 is about looking forward. If you like science you will enjoy it.

“What I cannot create, I do not understand” - Richard Feynman

Phew! This book is just filled with so much information. It definitely took me a while to get through. But I was able to get it down to the basics so you can see if it will interest you.

According to author, Biocivilization is the emergence of wiring between organisms and their environments that fills the biological world with meaning.

Three parts
1. Beyond Humans - about humanity’s views of the biological world and our planetary dominance. But it has been proven that microbes are in fact the dominant environmental force on Earth.
2. Brave New World - the story of biocivilizations. This is a challenge to the kind of futurism that is based on mechanistic science.
3. Looking Forward - the author argues for a new school of thought in the science of life.

All in all, a very informative read. Personally I enjoyed Part 1 the best. It was definitely the most enjoyable.

This book is incredibly interesting to flip through but a little much to actually sit down and read from cover to cover. I personally don't have any scientific knowledge above waht you learn in high school but this book does interest me.