InvestigationsOxford University Press, 19 sep 2002 - 308 pagina's "It may be that I have stumbled upon an adequate description of life itself." These modest yet profound words trumpet an imminent paradigm shift in scientific, economic, and technological thinking. In the tradition of Schrödinger's classic What Is Life?, Kauffman's Investigations is a tour-de-force exploration of the very essence of life itself, with conclusions that radically undermine the scientific approaches on which modern science rests--the approaches of Newton, Boltzman, Bohr, and Einstein. Building on his pivotal ideas about order and evolution in complex life systems, Kauffman finds that classical science does not take into account that physical systems--such as people in a biosphere--effect their dynamic environments in addition to being affected by them. These systems act on their own behalf as autonomous agents, but what defines them as such? In other words, what is life? Kauffman supplies a novel answer that goes beyond traditional scientific thinking by defining and explaining autonomous agents and work in the contexts of thermodynamics and of information theory. Much of Investigations unpacks the progressively surprising implications of his definition. Significantly, he sets the stages for a technological revolution in the coming decades. Scientists and engineers may soon seek to create autonomous agents--both organic and mechanical--that can not only construct things and work, but also reproduce themselves! Kauffman also lays out a foundation for a new concept of organization, and explores the requirements for the emergence of a general biology that will transcend terrestrial biology to seek laws governing biospheres anywhere in the cosmos. Moreover, he presents four candidate laws to explain how autonomous agents co-create their biosphere and the startling idea of a "co-creating" cosmos. A showcase of Kauffman's most fundamental and significant ideas, Investigations presents a new way of thinking about the fundamentals of general biology that will change the way we understand life itself--on this planet and anywhere else in the cosmos. |
Inhoudsopgave
The Origins of Life | |
Autonomous Agents | |
Propagating Organization | |
A Physics of Semantics? | |
Beyond Newton Einstein and Bohr? | |
The Possibility of New Laws? | |
Candidate Laws for the Coconstruction of a Biosphere | |
The Persistently Innovative Econosphere | |
A Coconstructing Cosmos? | |
Epilogue | |
Overige edities - Alles bekijken
Veelvoorkomende woorden en zinsdelen
adjacent possible algorithmic amino acids amplitudes antibody autocatalytic sets autonomous agents avalanches bacterium behavior binding biosphere Boolean functions Calabi-Yau spaces canalyzing inputs candidate laws Carnot catalytic task catalyzed cell chaotic regime chemical reaction classical coconstructing coevolving collectively autocatalytic sets complex concept configuration space consider constraints construction coupled curve cycle decoherence displacements from equilibrium economic econosphere endergonic endergonic reactions entropy enzyme eukaryotic evolution evolve exaptations exergonic extinction events extracted Figure finitely prestate fitness landscape genetic geometry hence hexamer increases initial Lego ligation linked lisp expressions living makespan measure microstate million molecular diversity molecular species molecular systems mutation natural selection nonequilibrium nonergodic objects ordered regime pathways persistently phase transition physical piston power law distribution prestate the configuration processes propagating organization proteins random reaction graph recombination release of energy replication RNA sequences Schrödinger self-organized critical shape space sources of energy spin networks structure substrates theory thermodynamic universe