Evolution, Development and Complexity

Download Evolution, Development and Complexity PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 3030000753
Total Pages : 454 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (3 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Evolution, Development and Complexity by : Georgi Yordanov Georgiev

Download or read book Evolution, Development and Complexity written by Georgi Yordanov Georgiev and published by Springer. This book was released on 2019-06-25 with total page 454 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores the universe and its subsystems from the three lenses of evolutionary (contingent), developmental (predictable), and complex (adaptive) processes at all scales. It draws from prolific experts within the academic disciplines of complexity science, physical science, information and computer science, theoretical and evo-devo biology, cosmology, astrobiology, evolutionary theory, developmental theory, and philosophy. The chapters come from a Satellite Meeting, "Evolution, Development and Complexity" (EDC) hosted at the Conference on Complex Systems, in Cancun, 2017. The contributions have been peer-reviewed and contributors from outside the conference were invited to submit chapters to ensure full coverage of the topics. This book explores many issues within the field of EDC such as the interaction of evolutionary stochasticity and developmental determinism in biological systems and what they might teach us about these twin processes in other complex systems. This text will appeal to students and researchers within the complex systems and EDC fields.

Evolution, Development and Complexity

Download Evolution, Development and Complexity PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9783030000769
Total Pages : 454 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (7 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Evolution, Development and Complexity by : Georgi Yordanov Georgiev

Download or read book Evolution, Development and Complexity written by Georgi Yordanov Georgiev and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page 454 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores the universe and its subsystems from the three lenses of evolutionary (diversifying), developmental (converging), and complex (adaptive) processes at all scales. It draws from prolific experts within the academic disciplines of complexity science, physical science, information and computer science, theoretical and evo-devo biology, cosmology, astrobiology, evolutionary theory, developmental theory, and philosophy. The chapters come from a Satellite Meeting, "Evolution, Development and Complexity" (EDC) hosted at the Conference on Complex Systems, in Cancun, 2017. The contributions will be peer-reviewed and contributors from outside the conference will be invited to submit chapters to ensure full coverage of the topics. This book explores many issues within the field of EDC such as the interaction of evolutionary stochasticity and developmental determinism in biological systems and what they might teach us about these twin processes in other complex systems. This text will appeal to students and researchers within the complex systems and EDC fields. .

The Evolution of Complexity by Means of Natural Selection

Download The Evolution of Complexity by Means of Natural Selection PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 0691222118
Total Pages : 276 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (912 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Evolution of Complexity by Means of Natural Selection by : John Tyler Bonner

Download or read book The Evolution of Complexity by Means of Natural Selection written by John Tyler Bonner and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2020-12-08 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: John Tyler Bonner makes a new attack on an old problem: the question of how progressive increase in the size and complexity of animals and plants has occurred. "How is it," he inquires, "that an egg turns into an elaborate adult? How is it that a bacterium, given many millions of years, could have evolved into an elephant?" The author argues that we can understand this progression in terms of natural selection, but that in order to do so we must consider the role of development--or more precisely the role of life cycles--in evolutionary change. In a lively writing style that will be familiar to readers of his work The Evolution of Culture in Animals (Princeton, 1980), Bonner addresses a general audience interested in biology, as well as specialists in all areas of evolutionary biology. What is novel in the approach used here is the comparison of complexity inside the organism (especially cell differentiation) with the complexity outside (that is, within an ecological community). Matters of size at both these levels are closely related to complexity. The book shows how an understanding of the grand course of evolution can come from combining our knowledge of genetics, development, ecology, and even behavior.

Behaviour, Development and Evolution

Download Behaviour, Development and Evolution PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Open Book Publishers
ISBN 13 : 1783742518
Total Pages : 134 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (837 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Behaviour, Development and Evolution by : Patrick Bateson

Download or read book Behaviour, Development and Evolution written by Patrick Bateson and published by Open Book Publishers. This book was released on 2017-02-20 with total page 134 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The role of parents in shaping the characters of their children, the causes of violence and crime, and the roots of personal unhappiness are central to humanity. Like so many fundamental questions about human existence, these issues all relate to behavioural development. In this lucid and accessible book, eminent biologist Professor Sir Patrick Bateson suggests that the nature/nurture dichotomy we often use to think about questions of development in both humans and animals is misleading. Instead, he argues that we should pay attention to whole systems, rather than to simple causes, when trying to understand the complexity of development. In his wide-ranging approach Bateson discusses why so much behaviour appears to be well-designed. He explores issues such as ‘imprinting’ and its importance to the attachment of offspring to their parents; the mutual benefits that characterise communication between parent and offspring; the importance of play in learning how to choose and control the optimal conditions in which to thrive; and the vital function of adaptability in the interplay between development and evolution. Bateson disputes the idea that a simple link can be found between genetics and behaviour. What an individual human or animal does in its life depends on the reciprocal nature of its relationships with the world about it. This knowledge also points to ways in which an animal’s own behaviour can provide the variation that influences the subsequent course of evolution. This has relevance not only for our scientific approaches to the systems of development and evolution, but also on how humans change institutional rules that have become dysfunctional, or design public health measures when mismatches occur between themselves and their environments. It affects how we think about ourselves and our own capacity for change.

The Engine of Complexity

Download The Engine of Complexity PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Columbia University Press
ISBN 13 : 0231535287
Total Pages : 417 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (315 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Engine of Complexity by : John E. Mayfield

Download or read book The Engine of Complexity written by John E. Mayfield and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2013-07-09 with total page 417 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The concepts of evolution and complexity theory have become part of the intellectual ether permeating the life sciences, the social and behavioral sciences, and, more recently, management science and economics. In this book, John E. Mayfield elegantly synthesizes core concepts from multiple disciplines to offer a new approach to understanding how evolution works and how complex organisms, structures, organizations, and social orders can and do arise based on information theory and computational science. Intended for the intellectually adventuresome, this book challenges and rewards readers with a nuanced understanding of evolution and complexity that offers consistent, durable, and coherent explanations for major aspects of our life experiences. Numerous examples throughout the book illustrate evolution and complexity formation in action and highlight the core function of computation lying at the work's heart.

Development and Evolution

Download Development and Evolution PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 9780262193351
Total Pages : 388 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (933 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Development and Evolution by : Stanley N. Salthe

Download or read book Development and Evolution written by Stanley N. Salthe and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 1993 with total page 388 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Development and Evolution surveys and illuminates the key themes of rapidly changing fields and areas of controversy that the redefining the theory and philosophy of biology. It continues Stanley Salthe's investigation of evolutionary theory, begun in his influential book Evolving Hierarchical Systems, while negating the implicit philosophical mechanisms of much of that work. Here Salthe attempts to reinitiate a theory of biology from the perspective of development rather than from that of evolution, recognizing the applicability of general systems thinking to biological and social phenomena and pointing towards a non-Darwinian and even a postmodern biology.

Systems and Models

Download Systems and Models PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : BoD – Books on Demand
ISBN 13 : 3833481218
Total Pages : 374 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (334 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Systems and Models by : Hartmut Bossel

Download or read book Systems and Models written by Hartmut Bossel and published by BoD – Books on Demand. This book was released on 2007 with total page 374 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A multitude of complex systems and actors pursuing their own agenda shape the dynamics of our world. Better understanding of their actions and interactions is crucial, and can be achieved by a profound knowledge of systems and their properties, and their representation in models allowing simulation of probable behavior. Drawing on his extensive research and teaching experience in modeling and simulation of a wide range of systems - from engineering to social systems and ecosystems - the author presents the fundamental concepts and approaches for understanding and modeling the complex systems shaping the dynamics of our world. The book applies state space analysis and system dynamics to deal with the dynamic processes of "causal systems," discusses information processing approaches for modeling decision processes of "actors" and "agents," and uses aspects of the coevolutionary development of systems in their environment to deal with normative orientation, ethics, and evaluation of policies and long-term development. The concepts are applied in particular to the issue of sustainable development of human society in an evolving world. The book is complemented by a survey of system topics and of models from many fields, and by an extensive bibliography on the many systems-related subjects covered. Hartmut Bossel is Professor Emeritus of environmental systems analysis. He taught for many years at the University of California in Santa Barbara and the University of Kassel, Germany, where he was director of the Center for Environmental Systems Research until his retirement. He holds an engineering degree from the Technical University of Darmstadt, and a Ph.D. degree from the University of California at Berkeley. With a background in engineering, systems science, and mathematical modeling, he has led many research projects and future studies in different countries, developing computer simulation models and decision support systems in the areas of energy supply policy, global dynamics, orientation of behavior, agricultural policy, and forest dynamics and management. He has written numerous books on modeling and simulation of dynamic systems, social change and future paths, and has published widely in the scientific literature in several fields. Bossel is author of a System Zoo containing over one hundred simulation models of diverse systems.

Biology's First Law

Download Biology's First Law PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 0226562271
Total Pages : 186 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (265 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Biology's First Law by : Daniel W. McShea

Download or read book Biology's First Law written by Daniel W. McShea and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2010-07-15 with total page 186 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Life on earth is characterized by three striking phenomena that demand explanation: adaptation—the marvelous fit between organism and environment; diversity—the great variety of organisms; and complexity—the enormous intricacy of their internal structure. Natural selection explains adaptation. But what explains diversity and complexity? Daniel W. McShea and Robert N. Brandon argue that there exists in evolution a spontaneous tendency toward increased diversity and complexity, one that acts whether natural selection is present or not. They call this tendency a biological law—the Zero-Force Evolutionary Law, or ZFEL. This law unifies the principles and data of biology under a single framework and invites a reconceptualization of the field of the same sort that Newton’s First Law brought to physics. Biology’s First Law shows how the ZFEL can be applied to the study of diversity and complexity and examines its wider implications for biology. Intended for evolutionary biologists, paleontologists, and other scientists studying complex systems, and written in a concise and engaging format that speaks to students and interdisciplinary practitioners alike, this book will also find an appreciative audience in the philosophy of science.

Cosmic Evolution

Download Cosmic Evolution PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Harvard University Press
ISBN 13 : 0674009878
Total Pages : 288 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (74 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Cosmic Evolution by : Eric J. Chaisson

Download or read book Cosmic Evolution written by Eric J. Chaisson and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2001-02-16 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Chaisson addresses some of the most basic issues we can contemplate: the origin of matter and the origin of life, and the ways matter, life, and radiation interact and change with time. He designs for us an expansive yet intricate model depicting the origin and evolution of all material structures.

How the Leopard Changed Its Spots

Download How the Leopard Changed Its Spots PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780691088099
Total Pages : 284 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (88 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis How the Leopard Changed Its Spots by : Brian Goodwin

Download or read book How the Leopard Changed Its Spots written by Brian Goodwin and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2001-02-18 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Do genes explain life? Can advances in evolutionary and molecular biology account for what we look like, how we behave, and why we die? This intervention into biological thinking argues that such genetic reductionism has limits. It shows how an understanding of the self-organizing patterns of networks is necessary for making sense of nature.

Modularity

Download Modularity PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 9780262033268
Total Pages : 480 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (332 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Modularity by : Werner Callebaut

Download or read book Modularity written by Werner Callebaut and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2005 with total page 480 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Modularity—the attempt to understand systems as integrations of partially independent and interacting units—is today a dominant theme in the life sciences, cognitive science, and computer science. The concept goes back at least implicitly to the Scientific (or Copernican) Revolution, and can be found behind later theories of phrenology, physiology, and genetics; moreover, art, engineering, and mathematics rely on modular design principles. This collection broadens the scientific discussion of modularity by bringing together experts from a variety of disciplines, including artificial life, cognitive science, economics, evolutionary computation, developmental and evolutionary biology, linguistics, mathematics, morphology, paleontology, physics, theoretical chemistry, philosophy, and the arts. The contributors debate and compare the uses of modularity, discussing the different disciplinary contexts of "modular thinking" in general (including hierarchical organization, near-decomposability, quasi-independence, and recursion) or of more specialized concepts (including character complex, gene family, encapsulation, and mosaic evolution); what modules are, why and how they develop and evolve, and the implication for the research agenda in the disciplines involved; and how to bring about useful cross-disciplinary knowledge transfer on the topic. The book includes a foreword by the late Herbert A. Simon addressing the role of near-decomposability in understanding complex systems. Contributors: Lee Altenberg, Lauren W. Ancel-Meyers, Carl Anderson, Robert B. Brandon, Angela D. Buscalioni, Raffaele Calabretta, Werner Callebaut, Anne De Joan, Rafael Delgado-Buscalioni, Gunther J. Eble, Walter Fontana, Fernand Gobet, Alicia de la Iglesia, Slavik V. Jablan, Luigi Marengo, Daniel W. McShea, Jason Mezey, D. Kimbrough Oller, Domenico Parisi, Corrado Pasquali, Diego Rasskin-Gutman, Gerhard Schlosser, Herbert A. Simon, Roger D. K. Thomas, Marco Valente, Boris M. Velichkovsky, Gunter P. Wagner, Rasmus G. Winter Vienna Series in Theoretical Biology

The Major Transitions in Evolution

Download The Major Transitions in Evolution PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 019850294X
Total Pages : 361 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (985 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Major Transitions in Evolution by : John Maynard Smith

Download or read book The Major Transitions in Evolution written by John Maynard Smith and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 1997-10-30 with total page 361 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During evolution there have been several major changes in the way genetic information is organized and transmitted from one generation to the next. These transitions include the origin of life itself, the first eukaryotic cells, reproduction by sexual means, the appearance of multicellular plants and animals, the emergence of cooperation and of animal societies. This is the first book to discuss all these major transitions and their implications for our understanding of evolution.Clearly written and illustrated with many original diagrams, this book will be welcomed by students and researchers in the fields of evolutionary biology, ecology, and genetics.

The Origin of Wealth

Download The Origin of Wealth PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Harvard Business Press
ISBN 13 : 9781578517770
Total Pages : 556 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (177 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Origin of Wealth by : Eric D. Beinhocker

Download or read book The Origin of Wealth written by Eric D. Beinhocker and published by Harvard Business Press. This book was released on 2006 with total page 556 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Beinhocker has written this work in order to introduce a broad audience to what he believes is a revolutionary new paradigm in economics and its implications for our understanding of the creation of wealth. He describes how the growing field of complexity theory allows for evolutionary understanding of wealth creation, in which business designs co-evolve with the evolution of technologies and organizational innovations. In addition to giving his audience a tour of this field of complexity economics, he discusses its implications for real-world issues of business.

Syntactic Complexity

Download Syntactic Complexity PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : John Benjamins Publishing
ISBN 13 : 9027229996
Total Pages : 561 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (272 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Syntactic Complexity by : Talmy Givón

Download or read book Syntactic Complexity written by Talmy Givón and published by John Benjamins Publishing. This book was released on 2009 with total page 561 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Complex hierarchic syntax is considered one of the hallmarks of human language. The highest level of syntactic complexity, recursive-embedded clauses, has been singled out by some for a special status as the apex of the uniquely-human language faculty – evolutionary but somehow immune to adaptive selection. This volume, coming out of a symposium held at Rice University in March 2008, tackles syntactic complexity from multiple developmental perspectives. We take it for granted that grammar is an adaptive instrument of communication, assembled upon the pre-existing platform of pre-linguistic cognition. Most of the papers in the volume deal with the two grand developmental trends of human language: diachrony, the communal enterprise directly responsible for fashioning synchronic morpho-syntax; and ontogeny, the individual endeavor directly responsible for the acquisition of competent grammatical performance. The genesis of syntactic complexity along these two developmental trends is considered alongside with the cognition and neurology of grammar and of syntactic complexity, and the evolutionary relevance of diachrony, ontogeny and pidginization is argued on general bio-evolutionary grounds. Lastly, several of the contributions to the volume suggest that recursive embedding is not in itself an adaptive target, but rather the by-product of two distinct adaptive gambits: the recruitment of conjoined clauses as modal operators on other clauses and the subsequent condensation of paratactic into syntactic structures.

Eco-Evolutionary Dynamics

Download Eco-Evolutionary Dynamics PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Academic Press
ISBN 13 : 0128014334
Total Pages : 392 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (28 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Eco-Evolutionary Dynamics by :

Download or read book Eco-Evolutionary Dynamics written by and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 2014-08-12 with total page 392 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The theme of this volume is to discuss Eco-evolutionary Dynamics. Updates and informs the reader on the latest research findings Written by leading experts in the field Highlights areas for future investigation

Innovation, Evolution and Complexity Theory

Download Innovation, Evolution and Complexity Theory PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN 13 : 9781781956410
Total Pages : 200 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (564 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Innovation, Evolution and Complexity Theory by : Koen Frenken

Download or read book Innovation, Evolution and Complexity Theory written by Koen Frenken and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2006-03-29 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The motivation behind this book is the desire to integrate complexity theory into economic models of technological evolution. By means of developing an evolutionary model of complex technological systems, the book contributes to the neo-Schumpetarian literature on innovation, diffusion and technological paradigms.

Robustness and Evolvability in Living Systems

Download Robustness and Evolvability in Living Systems PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 1400849381
Total Pages : 384 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (8 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Robustness and Evolvability in Living Systems by : Andreas Wagner

Download or read book Robustness and Evolvability in Living Systems written by Andreas Wagner and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2013-10-24 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: All living things are remarkably complex, yet their DNA is unstable, undergoing countless random mutations over generations. Despite this instability, most animals do not grow two heads or die, plants continue to thrive, and bacteria continue to divide. Robustness and Evolvability in Living Systems tackles this perplexing paradox. The book explores why genetic changes do not cause organisms to fail catastrophically and how evolution shapes organisms' robustness. Andreas Wagner looks at this problem from the ground up, starting with the alphabet of DNA, the genetic code, RNA, and protein molecules, moving on to genetic networks and embryonic development, and working his way up to whole organisms. He then develops an evolutionary explanation for robustness. Wagner shows how evolution by natural selection preferentially finds and favors robust solutions to the problems organisms face in surviving and reproducing. Such robustness, he argues, also enhances the potential for future evolutionary innovation. Wagner also argues that robustness has less to do with organisms having plenty of spare parts (the redundancy theory that has been popular) and more to do with the reality that mutations can change organisms in ways that do not substantively affect their fitness. Unparalleled in its field, this book offers the most detailed analysis available of all facets of robustness within organisms. It will appeal not only to biologists but also to engineers interested in the design of robust systems and to social scientists concerned with robustness in human communities and populations.