The Origin of Life 1º edição

Marc Notes: Originally published: Chicago: Aldine Pub. Co., 1968, as v. 1 of Towards a theoretical biology: an IUBS symposium / edited by C. H. Waddington.; Includes bibliographical references and index. Table of Contents: Pre-Circulated Papers -- The basic ideas of biology / C. H. Waddington -- Comments / Rene Thom -- Cause and effect in biology / Ernst Mayr -- Comments / C. H. Waddington -- Symposium Papers -- An approach to a blueprint for a primitive organism / A. G. Cairns-Smith -- The Physical basis of coding and reliability in biological evolution / H. H. Pattee -- Towards a physical theory of self-organization / Karl Kornacker -- A party game model of biological replication / D. Michie, C. Longuet-Higgins -- Comments / H. H. Pattee -- Theoretical biology and molecular biology / C. H. Waddington -- A note on evolution and changes in the quantity of genetic information / C. H. Waddington, R. C. Lewontin -- Does evolution depend on random search? / C. H. Waddington -- The counting problem / J. Maynard Smith -- The French flag problem / Lewis Wolpert -- The division of cells and the fusion of ideas / Brian Goodwin -- Tolerance spaces and the brain / E. C. Zeeman, O. P. Buneman -- Une theorie dynamique de la morphogenese / Rene Thom -- Correspondence / C. H. Waddington, Rene Thom -- Constants of nature: biological theory and natural law / Paul Lieber -- 'Boxes' as a model of pattern formation / Donald Michie, R. A. Chambers -- Projections -- Note on topics for the second Symposium / Brian Goodwin -- Comments / C. H. Waddington, H. H. Pattee, W. M. Elsasser -- Index -- Participants -- Author -- Subject. Publisher Marketing: Theoretical biology is still in its early stages as an academic discipline. There is even little agreement as to what topics it should deal with or in what manner it should precede; and it is only recently that philosophers felt called upon to notice the relevance of biological topics as evolution or perception to their traditional problems. This work is a publication of the International Union of Biological Sciences, the central organization of all the branches of biology. The main focus here is to explore the possibility of formulating some frame of concepts and methods around which theoretical biology can grow. The intention of this collective effort was that discussions would be concerned, not with the theory of particular biological processes, such as membrane permeability, genetics, and neural activity, but rather with an attempt to discover and formulate general concepts and logical relations characteristic of living as contrasted with inorganic systems. Further, this project is a consideration of implications these might have for general philosophy. Many well-known scientists contributed to this volume, such as J. Maynard Smith, Ernst Mayr, Brian Goodwin, and Renu Thom. The Origin of Life: Toward a Theoretical Biology explores the character of the problems facing any theory of general biology. It contains a series of chapters and exchanges discussing such topics as the origin of life, cellular differentiation, morphogensis, evolution, and indeterminacy in biological and physical systems, the organization of the brain, the statistical mechanics of non-linear oscillators, and many other topics. This is a pioneering volume by recognized leaders in an emerging field--the first of four such works.

Contributor Bio:  Waddington, C H C. H. Waddington (1905-1975) was a world-class biologist, paleontologist, geneticist, embryologist, and philosopher. He is credited with helping to create the field of systems biology. He is the author of numerous books, including New Patterns in Genetics and Development, Principles of Development and Differentiation, and The Ethical Animal.