| Author/Contributor(s): | Rosen, Robert |
| Publisher: | Columbia University Press |
| Date: | 07/13/2005 |
| Binding: | Paperback |
| Condition: | NEW |
What is life? For four centuries, it has been believed that the only possible scientific approach to this question proceeds from the Cartesian metaphor--organism as machine. Therefore, organisms are to be studied and characterized the same way "machines" are; the same way any inorganic system is. Robert Rosen argues that such a view is neither necessary nor sufficient to answer the question. He asserts that life is not a specialization of mechanism, but rather a sweeping generalization of it. Above all, Rosen argues that renouncing mechanism does not mean abandoning science. A radical alternative is proposed, drawn equally from experience in biology, physics, and mathematics; an alternative which draws attention to a new class of complex systems, which are radically different from mechanism.