Apter / Kerkut Cybernetics and Development

International Series of Monographs in Pure and Applied Biology: Zoology
1. Auflage 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4831-5511-1
Verlag: Elsevier Science & Techn.
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: 1 - PDF Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 200 Seiten, Web PDF

Cybernetics and Development deals with the ways in which growing and developing biological systems control themselves during development. It is a preliminary attempt to apply some of the insights and techniques of cybernetics to the problem of understanding such development and its control. The book begins with a discussion of the nature of cybernetics and its methods. Separate chapters cover the use of cybernetics in the field of biological development; previous work in the area of cybernetics related to automata theory; and the application of information theory to development. Subsequent chapters present models of development. These include computer programs which continually replicate themselves and control the resulting development; growing automata nets as models of development; and a method that allows a system to control the relative sizes of its parts during development and afterwards during regeneration. This book provides enough background material to make it understandable both to the biologist with little knowledge of cybernetics and the cybernetician with no great knowledge of developmental biology.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Apter, Michael J.

Kerkut, G. A.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1;Front Cover;2
2;Cybernetics and Development;4
3;Copyright Page;5
4;Dedication;6
5;Table of Contents;8
6;PREFACE;10
7;CHAPTER 1. THE CYBERNETIC APPROACH;14
7.1;Introduction;14
7.2;The Nature of Cybernetics;15
7.3;Criticisms of Cybernetics;33
7.4;References;39
8;CHAPTER 2. THE PROBLEMS OF DEVELOPMENT;44
8.1;The Relevance of Cybernetics;44
8.2;Background in Biology;47
8.3;An Axiomatisation of Development;57
8.4;Some Basic Problems;61
8.5;References;65
9;CHAPTER 3. CYBERNETICS AND DEVELOPMENT;68
9.1;Cybernetic Models of Development;68
9.2;Models of Self-reproduction;74
9.3;Evolution, Learning, and Development;79
9.4;References;87
10;CHAPTER 4. INFORMATION THEORY AND DEVELOPMENT;89
10.1;Amount of Information in the Organism;90
10.2;Changes in Information Content during Development;94
10.3;Preformation and Epigenesis;98
10.4;General Discussion;100
10.5;References;102
11;CHAPTER 5. DEVELOPMENT ON THE COMPUTER;104
11.1;Programming Development;104
11.2;Some Basic Models;106
11.3;Towards Greater Complexity;112
11.4;References;124
12;CHAPTER 6. GROWING AUTOMATA NETS;125
12.1;Design for a Zygote;125
12.2;Some Algorithms for Development;127
12.3;The Nucleus and its Environments;138
12.4;References;144
13;CHAPTER 7. THE CONTROL OF PATTERN;146
13.1;A Model of Pattern Control;146
13.2;A Genetic Interpretation of the Model;154
13.3;References;164
14;CHAPTER 8. DISCUSSION;166
14.1;Self-reference in Development;166
14.2;Development into Complexity;172
14.3;Possibilities for Further Research;178
14.4;Concluding Remarks;183
14.5;References;185
15;APPENDIX 1: NATIONAL—ELLIOTT 803 INSTRUCTION CODE;187
16;APPENDIX 2: INFORMATION THEORY
;189
16.1;References;192
17;APPENDIX 3: TURING MACHINES
;193
17.1;References;194
18;APPENDIX 4: THE JACOB AND MONOD WORK
;195
18.1;References;196
19;INDEX;198