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Description for Life Itself
In a sophisticated (but clear and understandable) exposition, Rosen (physiology and biophysics, Dalhousie U.) rejects both the necessity and the sufficiency of the mechanistic model/metaphor for biological life, and proposes an alternative, drawn equally from experience in biology, physics, and mat Series: Complexity in Ecological Systems. Num Pages: 285 pages, Ill. BIC Classification: PSAJ. Category: (P) Professional & Vocational. Dimension: 254 x 203 x 25. Weight in Grams: 681.
Why are living things alive? As a theoretical biologist, Robert Rosen saw this as the most fundamental of all questions-and yet it had never been answered satisfactorily by science. The answers to this question would allow humanity to make an enormous leap forward in our understanding of the principles at work in our world. For centuries, it was believed that the only scientific approach to the question "What is life?" must proceed from the Cartesian metaphor (organism as machine). Classical approaches in science, which also borrow heavily from Newtonian mechanics, are based on a process called "reductionism." The thinking ... Read more
Why are living things alive? As a theoretical biologist, Robert Rosen saw this as the most fundamental of all questions-and yet it had never been answered satisfactorily by science. The answers to this question would allow humanity to make an enormous leap forward in our understanding of the principles at work in our world. For centuries, it was believed that the only scientific approach to the question "What is life?" must proceed from the Cartesian metaphor (organism as machine). Classical approaches in science, which also borrow heavily from Newtonian mechanics, are based on a process called "reductionism." The thinking ... Read more
Product Details
Publication date
1991
Publisher
Columbia University Press United States
Number of pages
285
Condition
New
Series
Complexity in Ecological Systems
Number of Pages
285
Format
Hardback
Place of Publication
New York, United States
ISBN
9780231075640
SKU
V9780231075640
Shipping Time
Usually ships in 15 to 20 working days
Ref
99-15
About Robert Rosen
Dr. Robert Rosen (1934-1998) was a prominent theorist in the areas of biology and biophysics and taught and conducted research at various universities for over three decades. He was the author of thirteen books, including Anticipatory Systems; Fundamentals of Measurement and Representation of Natural Systems; Rosennean Complexity; and The Limits of the Limits of Science.
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