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Nonequilibrium Thermodynamics and Different Axioms of Evolution by Daniel R. Brooks; Richard T. O'Grady is a Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology article available to read on EtoBox.

What is Nonequilibrium Thermodynamics and Different Axioms of Evolution about?

Proponents of two axioms of biological evolutionary theory have attempted to find justification by reference to nonequilibrium thermodynamics. One states that biological systems and their evolutionary diversification are physically improbable states and transitions, resulting from a selective process; the other asserts that there is an historically constrained inherent directionality in evolutionary dynamics, independent of natural selection, which exerts a self-organizing influence. The first, the Axiom of Improbability, is shown to be nonhistorical and thus, for a theory of change through time, acausal. Its perception of the improbability of living states is at least partially an artifact of closed system thinking. The second, the Axiom of Historically Determined Inherent Directionality, is supported evidentially and has an explicit historical component. Historically constrained dynamic populations are inherently nonequilibrium systems. It is argued that living, evolving systems, when considered to be historically constrained nonequilibrium systems, do not appear improbable at all. Thus, the two axioms are not compatible. Instead, the Axiom of Improbability is considered to resul

Who reads Nonequilibrium Thermodynamics and Different Axioms of Evolution?

Author

Daniel R. Brooks; Richard T. O'Grady

Publisher

Springer; Springer-Verlag; Springer Netherlands; Springer Science and Business Media LLC (ISSN 0001-5342)

Published

1986

Language

EN

Field

Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology (Life Sciences)