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Experiences in the biocontinuum : a new foundation for living systems / by Richard L. Summers.
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Summers, Richard L., author.
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Biological systems.
- Physical Description:
- 1 online resource (xv, 486 pages) : illustrations
- Edition:
- 1st ed.
- Place of Publication:
- Newcastle upon Tyne, England : Cambridge Scholars Publishing, [2020]
- Summary:
- The central question in the biological sciences for the past 100 years has concerned an understanding of how living systems differ from other general physical phenomena and what makes these systems unique. With new developments in the fields of nonequilibrium thermodynamics, systems theory, chaos, and information theory over the past few decades, there has been growing interest in finally answering the question first posed by Erwin Schrödinger in the 1940s concerning the true scientific nature of living systems. Similarly, there is also increasing interest within the biologic community for a more holistic and non-reductionist methodology. The approach followed in this book builds on a foundation of information theory and semiotics while integrating basic thermodynamic considerations and systems theory to form a singular unifying concept that is proposed to be the essential process of living systems. However, the premise presented is much more than simply the exposition of a new hypothesis. This book describes the logical progression of thought incorporating a diverse array of established scientific ideas that were used in the conceptualization of a dynamic mathematical framework that can be employed as a novel analytic means for the study of living systems and their fundamental processes.
- Contents:
- Intro
- Dedication
- Table of Contents
- Preface
- Chapter 1
- Chapter 2
- Chapter 3
- Chapter 4
- Chapter 5
- Chapter 6
- Chapter 7
- Chapter 8
- Chapter 9
- Chapter 10
- Chapter 11
- Chapter 12
- Chapter 13
- Chapter 14
- Chapter 15
- Chapter 16
- Chapter 17
- Chapter 18
- Chapter 19
- Chapter 20
- Chapter 21
- References.
- Notes:
- Description based on print version record.
- Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.
- ISBN:
- 1-5275-5789-8
- OCLC:
- 1195822461
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