Ebook: Principles of Quantitative Living Systems Science

In 1978, when the book Living Systems was published, it contained the prediction that the sciences that were concerned with the biological and social sciences would, in the future, be stated as rigorously as the “hard sciences” that study such nonliving phenomena as temperature, distance, and the interaction of chemical elements. Principles of Quantitative Living Systems Science, the first of a planned series of three books, begins an attempt to fulfill that prediction. The view that living things are similar to other parts of the physical world, differing only in their complexity, was explicitly stated in the early years of the twentieth century by the biologist Ludwig von Bertalanffy. His ideas could not be published until the end of the war in Europe in the 1940s. Von Bertalanffy was strongly opposed to vitalism, the theory current among biologists at the time that life could only be explained by recourse to a “vital principle” or God. He c- sidered living things to be a part of the natural order, “systems” like atoms and molecules and planetary systems. Systems were described as being made up of a number of interrelated and interdependent parts, but because of the interrelations, the total system became more than the sum of those parts. These ideas led to the development of systems movements, in both Europe and the United States, that included not only biologists but scientists in other fields as well. Systems societies were formed on both continents.

---

The book documents the development of the fundamental principles and laws for living systems sciences. It identifies information (genetic, biochemical and neural) with the same precision as other fundamental concepts such as length, time, mass, temperature and energy. It establishes units of measure for information and establishes a formal relationship among behavior, structure, organization, information and energy. This is the first in a series of three books.

---

The book documents the development of the fundamental principles and laws for living systems sciences. It identifies information (genetic, biochemical and neural) with the same precision as other fundamental concepts such as length, time, mass, temperature and energy. It establishes units of measure for information and establishes a formal relationship among behavior, structure, organization, information and energy. This is the first in a series of three books.
Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-xv
Introduction....Pages 1-14
Quantification of Behavior....Pages 15-24
Capacity to Direct Energy....Pages 25-54
Behavioral Information....Pages 55-86
Fundamental Equations for the Behaviors of Animals....Pages 87-101
Living Systems Science Evolution....Pages 103-125
Autonomous Animal Behavior....Pages 127-167
Nonvolitional Behaviors....Pages 169-192
Volitional Behavior....Pages 193-229
Total Behavior of Individuals....Pages 231-256
Summary And Findings....Pages 257-266
Back Matter....Pages 267-280

---

The book documents the development of the fundamental principles and laws for living systems sciences. It identifies information (genetic, biochemical and neural) with the same precision as other fundamental concepts such as length, time, mass, temperature and energy. It establishes units of measure for information and establishes a formal relationship among behavior, structure, organization, information and energy. This is the first in a series of three books.
Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-xv
Introduction....Pages 1-14
Quantification of Behavior....Pages 15-24
Capacity to Direct Energy....Pages 25-54
Behavioral Information....Pages 55-86
Fundamental Equations for the Behaviors of Animals....Pages 87-101
Living Systems Science Evolution....Pages 103-125
Autonomous Animal Behavior....Pages 127-167
Nonvolitional Behaviors....Pages 169-192
Volitional Behavior....Pages 193-229
Total Behavior of Individuals....Pages 231-256
Summary And Findings....Pages 257-266
Back Matter....Pages 267-280
....