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A review by beejai
At Home in the Universe: The Search for the Laws of Self-Organization and Complexity by Stuart A. Kauffman
3.0
Spontaneous generation makes a comeback.
If you were to sum up this book in one sentence, that would be it. Stuart Kauffman, a specialist in the theory of complexity, asks a very legitimate question. In a world where nature's laws demand we move from order to disorder, why does all life evolve into ever more complex forms. He then attempts to demonstrate three things: 1) his work with autocatalytic reactions demonstrate that chemical combinations for the first generation of life was not some highly improbable event but rather a near certain inevitability (hence the first sentence), 2) there are parallels between natural biological and human technological evolution, 3) coevolution, thrives best at a specific balance between chaos and order.
Even though he acknowledges that the theories behind a lot of this book are the minority view, it does sound awfully convincing to me, I am reminded of Proverbs 18:17 "The first to speak in court sounds right - until the cross examination begins." This is not an area in which I know enough about to be able to debate him in my own mind. So my interest is peaked enough to read further that I might be able to eventually do so.
If you were to sum up this book in one sentence, that would be it. Stuart Kauffman, a specialist in the theory of complexity, asks a very legitimate question. In a world where nature's laws demand we move from order to disorder, why does all life evolve into ever more complex forms. He then attempts to demonstrate three things: 1) his work with autocatalytic reactions demonstrate that chemical combinations for the first generation of life was not some highly improbable event but rather a near certain inevitability (hence the first sentence), 2) there are parallels between natural biological and human technological evolution, 3) coevolution, thrives best at a specific balance between chaos and order.
Even though he acknowledges that the theories behind a lot of this book are the minority view, it does sound awfully convincing to me, I am reminded of Proverbs 18:17 "The first to speak in court sounds right - until the cross examination begins." This is not an area in which I know enough about to be able to debate him in my own mind. So my interest is peaked enough to read further that I might be able to eventually do so.