Arrival of the Fittest - with Andreas Wagner

Evolutionary biologist Andreas Wagner shows how adaptations are not only driven by chance, but rather by a set of fundamental laws that give rise to a world of biological creativity. Subscribe for regular science videos: http://bit.ly/RiSubscRibe Andreas' book "The Arrival of the Fittest" is available to buy now - https://geni.us/Y0raJi How do innovations arise in biology? Darwin’s theory of natural selection doesn’t tell us, except that they come about by ‘trial and error’. Evolutionary biologist Andreas Wagner shows how adaptations are not only driven by chance, but rather by a set of fundamental laws that give rise to a world of biological creativity, and to innovations as diverse as animals that fly and plants that harvest energy from sunlight. Finding where innovations in nature come from begins to place the final puzzle piece in the mystery of life’s rich diversity. Andreas Wagner is professor in the Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies at the University of Zurich. His main research interest is in the evolution of biological systems, from genomes to complex molecular networks. Wagner is the author of more than 100 scientific publications and a medal-winning popular science book ‘Paradoxical Life’. This event was filmed at the Royal Institution on 13 November 2014 The Ri is on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ri_science and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/royalinstitution and Tumblr: http://ri-science.tumblr.com/ Our editorial policy: http://www.rigb.org/home/editorial-policy Subscribe for the latest science videos: http://bit.ly/RiNewsletter Product links on this page may be affiliate links which means it won't cost you any extra but we may earn a small commission if you decide to purchase through the link.