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Zusammenfassung Modern biology portrays living systems, from the amoeba to the human organism, as mechanical toys shaped by the brute logic of natural selection. This book challenges the dogmas that frame our understanding of living systems and presents an alternative that avoids the pitfalls of non-scientific perspectives such as Vitalism and Creationism.
Sommario
PART 1. HOW LOW CAN YOU GO? REDUCTIONISM AND ITS LIMITATIONS
Ch. 1: What is Reductionism?
Ch. 2: Who is Reading the Book of Life?
Ch. 3: Genetics: From Grammar to Meaning Making
Ch. 4: A Point for Thought: Why are Organisms Irreducible?
Ch. 5: A Point for Thought: Does the Genetic System Include a Meta-Language?
Ch. 6: Immunology: From Soldiers to Housewives?
Ch. 7: A Point for Thought: Immune Specificity and Brancusi's Kiss
Ch. 8: A Point for Thought: Reflections on the Immune Self
PART 2. WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS STORY?
Ch. 9: Meaning Making in Language and Biology
Ch. 10: God's Sacred Words
Ch. 11: It Means Nothing
Ch. 12: A Point for Thought: Meaning-Bridging the Gap Between Physics and Semantics
Ch. 13: The Rest is Silence
PART 3. ON THE WILD SIDE: FOUR LESSONS
Ch. 14: The Polysemy of the Sign: A Quantum Lesson
Ch. 15: Recursive-Hierarchy: A Lesson From the Tardigrade
Ch. 16: Context and Memory: A Lesson From Funes the Memorious
Ch. 17: Transgradience: A Lesson from Bakhtin
PART 4. FROM MECHANICS TO POIESIS
Ch. 18: The Poetry of Living
Relazione
"Neuman's approach is an ingenious way to introduce an issue." "A compilation of highly interesting topic that will undoubtedly transform the way readers think about organisms". Angewandte Chemie International 2009.
"This enthusiastically written and thought-provoking book . challenges dogmas of received wisdom such as reductionism, both mechanical and genetic. Neuman's observations about the fallacy of sacrificing real-world properties in the interest of formal tractability are of great importance to systems thinkers, analysts, and modelers in various application areas, who wish to avoid serious failures in their work". Computing Reviews 2009 (an ACM Review Journal)
"Neuman presents a fascinating analysis of biological interactions that aims to transcend the sort of billiard-ball model of causation that seems to be presupposed by the reductionists who are his target. Neuman has put the issues into what seems to be a more appropriate context, and that is a splendid accomplishment". Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 2009.
