Blum Time's Arrow and Evolution

Erscheinungsjahr 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4008-7473-6
Verlag: De Gruyter
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: 1 - PDF Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 252 Seiten

Reihe: Princeton Legacy Library

In a book that has become a milestone of scientific writing Dr. Blum uses "time's arrow," the second law of thermodynamics, as a key concept to show how the nature and evolution of the nonliving world place limits on the nature and evolution of life. He seeks to show that, from the beginning of the universe, physical and chemical laws have inexorably channeled the course of evolution so that possibilities were already limited when life first emerged.

Originally published in 1951.

The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Blum, Harold Francis

Fachgebiete

• Naturwissenschaften Biowissenschaften Biowissenschaften Evolutionsbiologie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter, pg. i
PREFACE, pg. vii
CONTENTS, pg. xiii
I. PERSPECTIVES, pg. 1
II. THE CHRONOLOGY OF EVOLUTION, pg. 8
III. THE ENERGETICS AND KINETICS OF CHEMICAL REACTION, pg. 14
IV. THE ORIGIN AND EARLY EVOLUTION OF THE EARTH, pg. 34
V. LATER HISTORY OF THE EARTH, pg. 44
VI. THE FITNESS OF THE ENVIRONMENT, pg. 60
VII. THE ENERGETICS AND KINETICS OF LIVING SYSTEMS, pg. 87
VIII. STRUCTURE AND ITS REPRODUCTION, pg. 120
IX. STABILITY AND VARIABILITY, pg. 135
X. THE ORIGIN OF LIFE, pg. 151
XI. IRREVERSIBILITY AND DIRECTION IN EVOLUTION, pg. 173
XII. SOME IMPLICATIONS, pg. 189
XIII. ORDER, NEGENTROPY, AND EVOLUTION, pg. 200
BIBLIOGRAPHY, pg. 221
INDEX, pg. 229