The Origins of Order: Self-Organization and Selection in Evolution

Kauffman here presents a brilliant new paradigm for evolutionary biology, one that extends the basic concepts of Darwinian evolution to accommodate recent findings and perspectives from the fields of biology, physics, chemistry, and mathematics. The book drives to the heart of the exciting debate on the origins of life and maintenance of order in complex biological systems. It explores the concept of self-organization into evolutionary theory--the extent to which selection itself can yield systems able to adapt more successfull. The approaches investigated here may prove to be the new center around which biological science itself may evolove. The work is written for all those interested in the cutting edge of research in the life sciences, including students and researchers in the fields of physics, biophysics, biochemistry, molecular biology, cell and developmental biophysics, biochemistry, molecular biology, cell and developmental biology, ecology, mathematics, philosophy, computer science, and social science. 273 illustration.