Thinking differently about life

The living world is fascinating. Its complexity surpasses that of the most sophisticated machines invented by humans and that of physical material objects. Faced with the major challenges of the ^21st century, we need to understand this living world and its biodiversity as fully as possible, so that planet Earth continues to be habitable for humans. This lecture will analyze several features of the living world that are not intuitive and yet are essential to its understanding: its anchorage in a historical process, its interconnections at numerous scales and its surprising trajectories in the course of evolution. This lecture will also examine how DNA sequences and domestication have altered our perception of the living world, and will conclude with current conceptions of nature.