Abstract
This can be extended to apply to all of biological systems. The maintenance of biological order is in fact conditional on the existence of “durable equipment.” In some approximation this principle is also implied by Watson’s assertion that “Life itself emerged when primitive nucleic acid and protein became spontaneously encapsulated in lipid-containing membranous sacs that provided an environment where organized growth could occur.”2
Recall Keynes’s aphorism, to the effect that
it is by reason of the existence of durable equipment that the economic future is linked to the present.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
M. Eigen, “Self-organization of Matter and the Evolution of Biological Macromolecules,” Die Naturwissenshaften, 58, 1971: 465-532.
B. Köppers, “Towards an Experimental Analysis of Molecular Self-Organization,” Die Naturwissenschaften, 66, 1979: 228-243.
B. Köppers, Molecular Theory of Evolution, Springer and MIT Press, 1990.
H. Judson, The Eighth Day of Creation; Makers of the Revolution in Biology, Simon and Schuster, 1979: 23.
A.C.T. North and J.E. Lydon, “The evolution of biological macromolecules,” Contemp. Phys. 25, 4, 1984: 381-393.
N. Elredge, “Information, Economics, and Evolution,” Ann. Rev. Ecol. Syst, 17, 1986:351-369.
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1997 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Macrakis, M.S. (1997). Biology. In: Scarcity’s Ways: The Origins of Capital. Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science, vol 176. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-8861-4_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-8861-4_3
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-90-481-4919-3
Online ISBN: 978-94-015-8861-4
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive