Information and the Origin of Life

Bernd-Olaf Küppers9780262111423, 026211142X

“This is an essential contribution toward the solution of one of the fundamental problems of biology.” — Sir John Kendrew
One of the most important issues in modern science is the question of the history of nature. Are we as a species akin not only to apes, grasses, and amoebas but also to molecules, stones, and stars? Bernd-Olaf Küppers explores here a very important phase of the evolutionary process, the origin of life from inorganic matter.
We now know from molecular biology that many of the complex phenomena involved in the material structure and organization of living systems are traceable to the laws of physics and chemistry. During the past few years it has thus been possible to transfer the Darwinian concept of evolution to populations of nonliving molecules and on this basis to develop a testable physicochemical theory of the origin of life.
Information and the Origin of Life
takes up the question of the degree of interplay between chance and natural law in the evolution of life from the standpoint of the philosophy of science, emphasizing the contribution made by information theory. The results could have far-reaching consequences for such fields as the philosophy of the mind and artificial intelligence.
The book assumes only basic knowledge of mathematics and includes a short introduction to modern evolutionary theory.