Contents
Introduction
Every living organism communicates
Why do we need this book?
Life’s to-do list
A world of information
Part I
How is information exchanged?
- Life is live
Everything is so nice and colorful here
Nature’s orchestra
The world of smells
- Life is on stand-by
No information without receptors
Here’s looking at you, kid
Listen and be amazed
Follow your sense of smell
Part II
Who exchanges information with whom and why?
- Unicellular organisms—communication in the smallest spaces
Eating and being eaten
Says one bacterium to another
- Multicellular organisms—the language of fungi and plants
Order a bite!
Plants à la carte
Sex or no sex
Lovely neighbors
- Multicellular organisms—communication is animal magic
A matter of life and death
Coming, ready or not
Let’s get it on?
Two, three, many—communication in groups
Part III
What if everything changes?
- When animals leave the forest
Rabbits at home in the city
And the moral of the story?
Acknowledgements
Bibliography