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Progress in Theoretical Biology
- 1st Edition - January 1, 1972
- Editor: Fred Snell
- Language: English
- eBook ISBN:9 7 8 - 0 - 3 2 3 - 1 5 3 9 5 - 9
Progress in Theoretical Biology, Volume 2, brings together the significant and timely theoretical developments in particular areas of biology in a critical and synthetic manner. It… Read more
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Request a sales quoteProgress in Theoretical Biology, Volume 2, brings together the significant and timely theoretical developments in particular areas of biology in a critical and synthetic manner. It is concerned with a field which has emerged as an identifiable subdiscipline of the biological sciences. This emergence and recognition signify that biological science has evolved from its initial stage of description and classification into the adolescence of transformation to the quantitative. The book's opening chapter develops a theory that uses a new generalization of statistical mechanics to provide a basis for understanding how the microscopic behavior of nonliving parts can generate the macroscopic appearance of a living aggregate. The subsequent chapters discuss theoretical methods in systematic and evolutionary studies; the theory of neural masses; the design of chemical reaction systems; cooperative processes in biological systems; and the organization of motor systems. This book is intended for the modern biological scientist as well as for the physical scientist who is inquisitive of the ways of the most complex of all processes.
List of Contributors
Preface
Nicholas Rashevsky
Contents of Volume 1
Living Aggregates of Nonliving Parts: A Generalized Statistical Mechanical Theory
I. Introduction
II. Generalized Statistical Mechanics
III. Active and Passive Anomalous Transport
IV. Living Organization
References
Theoretical Methods in Systematic and Evolutionary Studies
I. Introduction
II. Theory and Method
III. Concepts for Comparison and Review
IV. Concluding Remarks
References
Waves, Pulses, and the Theory of Neural Masses
I. Introduction
II. Comparison of the Hypotheses of Reflex Centers and of Pulse Logic
III. State Variables of Neural Masses
IV. The Parameters of Neural Masses
V. Some Implications for Neural Information Processing
VI. Summary
Notes
References
Design for Autonomous Chemical Growth under Different Environmental Constraints
I. Introduction
II. Examples of Autonomous Chemical Growth
III. Simplest Forms of Autonomous Growth in Different Environments
IV. The Bottleneck Constraint of Chemical Self-Reproduction
V. Adequate Design for Autonomous Chemical Growth under Increasing Environmental Restrictivity
VI. Discussion
References
Cooperative Processes in Biological Systems
I. Introduction
II. Mathematical Analysis
III. Conformational Transformations in Biopolymers
IV. Small Molecule-Large Molecule Reactions
V. Cooperativity of Biological Membranes
VI. Self-Sorting of Biological Cells
VII. Polarization Phenomena in a Society
References
Problems of Organization of Motor Systems
I. Introduction
II. Uses of Low-Level Combinations
III. Control of Movement by the Brain
IV. A Program of Research
V. Conclusion
References
Author Index
Subject Index
- No. of pages: 366
- Language: English
- Edition: 1
- Published: January 1, 1972
- Imprint: Academic Press
- eBook ISBN: 9780323153959
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