The Origins of Order : Self-Organization and Selection in Evolution

This monograph extends the basic concepts of Darwinian evolution to accommodate recent findings and perspectives from the fields of biology, physics, chemistry and mathematics. It explains how complex systems, contrary to expectations, can spontaneously exhibit degrees of order.

In what will certainly be one of the key works in the emerging science of complexity, Kauffman here presents a brilliant new paradigm for evolutionary biology. It extends the basic concepts of Darwinian evolution to accommodate recent findings and perspectives from the fields of biology, physics, chemistry, and mathematics. The book drives to the heart of the exciting debate on the origins of life and maintenance of order in complex biological systems. It focuses on the concept of self-organization - the first time this concept has been incorporated into evolutionary theory. The book shows how complex systems, contrary to expectations, can spontaneously exhibit stunning degrees of order, and how this order in turn is essential for the emergence and development of life on Earth. Origins of Order will advance our understanding of evolution and provoke considerable discussion among evolutionary, molecular, and developmental biologists.