Introduction -- The Molecular Determination of a Bird’s Pattern -- The Occurrence of Conspicuous Feathers at Different Body Locations and Their Genetic Interdependence -- The Evolution of the Birds -- The Bird Genome and the Molecular Determination of Wings, Legs and Beaks -- The Mental Ability of Birds Takes Many Forms -- How to Redesign the Body Pattern of an Organism -- The Molecular Geometry -- The Symmetry of Birds Emerges as the Expression of an Uninterrupted Atomic Order -- Order is Present at Every Level but is not Total -- A Bird’s Plumage is a Stage Curtain Hiding a Molecular Scenario - An Overview -- References.

After having read this book you will never see birds in the same way again. The unexpected patterns displayed by a bird’s body have been seen as bizarre events that demanded little attention or were described as ‘amazing curiosities’. None of these surprising features seem to be coincidental. Rather, they appear to be an integral part of a rigid order and a coherent geometry, which is directed by simple gene interactions and molecular cascades occurring at various cellular levels, and at different times, during the organism’s development. This novel geometry unfolds in front of your eyes, giving the body configurations another meaning. Lima-de-Faria is Professor Emeritus of Molecular Cytogenetics at Lund University, Lund, Sweden. This is his sixth book dealing with the molecular organization of the chromosome and its implications for the understanding of the mechanisms responsible for biological evolution.