Alfred A. Wallace refers to a Creator. Hans Driesch and Edmond Sinnott sought a vital force. The Jesuit priest and scientist, Teilhard de Chardin, tried to relate evolution to the ultimate concern, Man's destiny. Randomness and unfolding have become a part of a powerful new theory of evolution. The chaos theory is presented as a challenge to reductionism in science.
Biological evolution demands genetic variability.
Chaos provides a means for structural random changes. The reductionistic search for the constituent parts of matter was yielding to the search for the whole. This led to an understanding of the wholeness of design and patterns. Empiricism cannot supply all the answers. The author states that the evolution of the species to a higher consciousness involved a process of transformation of energy by which matter was actualized into life.