This highly interdisciplinary book discusses the phenomenon of life, including its origin and evolution, against the background of thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, and information theory. Among the central themes is the seeming contradiction between the second law of thermodynamics and the high degree of order and complexity produced by living systems. As the author shows, this paradox has its resolution in the information content of the Gibbs free energy that enters the biosphere from outside sources. Another focus of the book is the role of information in human cultural evolution, which is also discussed with the origin of human linguistic abilities. One of the final chapters addresses the merging of information technology and biotechnology into a new discipline — bioinformation technology.This third edition has been updated to reflect the latest scientific and technological advances. Professor Avery makes use of the perspectives of famous scholars such as Professor Noam Chomsky and Nobel Laureates John O'Keefe, May-Britt Moser and Edward Moser to cast light on the evolution of human languages. The mechanism of cell differentiation, and the rapid acceleration of information technology in the 21st century are also discussed.With various research disciplines becoming increasingly interrelated today, Information Theory and Evolution provides nuance to the conversation between bioinformatics, information technology, and pertinent social-political issues. This book is a welcome voice in working on the future challenges that humanity will face as a result of scientific and technological progress.
Contents:
- Pioneers of Evolutionary Thought
- Charles Darwin's Life and Work
- Molecular Biology and Evolution
- Statistical Mechanics and Information
- Information Flow in Biology
- Cultural Evolution and Information
- Information Technology
- Pathfinding
- The Evolution of Human Languages
- The Mechanism of Cell Differentiation
- Bio-Information Technology
- Looking Towards the Future
- Appendix A: Entropy And Information
- Appendix B: Biosemiotics
- Appendix C: Entropy And Economics
- Index
Readership: General readers interested in the intersection between information theory and evolution, undergraduates of physics and biology, researchers in bioinformatics.
Key Features:
- The author, John Scales Avery, is a prolific writer who also wrote the popular first and second editions. He writes from the perspective of an academic well-versed in physics and theoretical chemistry (being his graduate degrees), commenting on the history of science and social issues in the 21st century
- The book uniquely unites many fields of knowledge to converse with each other: evolutionary theory, molecular biology, information technology and even thermodynamics
- The book contributes to dispel the many objections to evolutionary theory still present in some circles
- Provides important perspectives, and also summarizes, developments in the history of science, especially about evolutionary theory and biology
- Comments on current issues, giving an interesting take since it comes from an interdisciplinary author
