The Origins of Order: Self-Organization and Selection in Evolution [Biology, Ecology]

New York & Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993. First Edition, First Printing. Trade Paperback. Fine, Unread and Unused..

No Flaws or Blemishes but minimal shelf handling and embossed ownership stamp on lower corner of the Second Page; Still Gift Quality.

Appears Unread. Text is clean. 9.25 inches tall; 709 pages with Bibliography and Index. In-text Illustrations.. "This book does a real service in building a bridge between reductionist and holistic ways of thinking about systems. . .Kauffman writes with great intelligence and clarity and is able to bring together a large range of theory and experimental information without getting bogged down in detail." --Whole Earth Review

Stuart Kauffman here presents a brilliant new paradigm for evolutionary biology, one that extends the basic concepts of Darwinian evolution to accommodate recent findings and perspectives from the fields of biology, physics, chemistry and mathematics.

This book explores these themes. It shows how complex systems,
contrary to expectations, can spontaneously exhibit stunning degrees of order, and how this order, in turn, is essential for understanding the emergence and development of life on Earth.

Topics include the new biotechnology of applied molecular evolution, with its important implications for developing new drugs and vaccines; the balance between order and chaos observed in many naturally occurring systems; new insights concerning the predictive power of statistical mechanics in biology; and other major issues.

The work is written for all those interested in the cutting edge of research in the life sciences.