num_pages: 734
description: Stuart Kauffman has written a challenging book on the general problem of the origins of life and maintenance of order in complex biological systems. Kauffman contends that the basic concepts of Darwinian evolution by natural selection must be extended to accommodate new information frommolecular biology, chemistry, physics, and mathematics. Kauffman's hallmark is a shift to nonlinear paradigms for living systems. Kauffman argues that biological order is largely self-organized and spontaneous, and proposes to extend evolutionary theory beyond Darwin. His thesis requires three an understanding of spontaneous sources of order and self-organization; integration with natural selection, which in Kauffman's scheme molds biological order; and a consideration of adaptation. Origins of Order will advance our understanding of evolution and provoke considerablediscussion among evolutionary, molecular and developmental biologists.
language: English
title: The Origins of Order: Self-Organization and Selection in Evolution
titlecomplete: The Origins of Order: Self-Organization and Selection in Evolution
genres: Biography, Popular Science, Biology, Science, Philosophy, Mathematics, Computer Science, Physics, Nonfiction, Evolution
ratings_count: 269
publisher: Oxford University Press