From Complexity to Life: On The Emergence of Life and Meaning
| Date: 15 April 2011, 14:40
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This book is a set of 10 essays (plus introduction by Paul Davies) on the "emergence" of complexity from simpler consituents, and on the significatnce of "emergence" for the relationship between science and religion. I expect that at least five essays could be of interest even to atheists.
Ian Stewart provides an exceptionally clear discussion of the Second Law of Thermodynamics and the limited context in which it operates. Usually this law is expressed as the evolution of (closed) systems from a state of order and structure to a state of homogeneity. The problem is that the Universe has been making a transition from homogeneity to clumpy order. Stewart describes how this is due to the nature of gravity, and its differences from Boltzmann's model of statistical mechanics. Along the way, he makes many illuminating points about the distinction between (negative) entropy and information, the compatibility of time-reversible dynamics with the "arrow of time" and many similar matters. If you're interested in physics, this essay is sufficient justification for getting the book.
The other essay that impressed me most was by the editor, N.H. Gregersen, a philosopher and theologian. He nicely distinguishes many possible implications of self-organization and the anthropic principle for both science and religion. His essay, along with that of Arthur Peacocke, also makes some interesting critiques of "intelligent design" (ID) from a religious point of view. Both authors are Christians, though apparently not in the narrow sense of that word so current in the US. However, I can't claim to have followed the brief bits of explicitly Christian theological speculation near the end of each of their essays.
An essay by a leading ID advocate makes for an interesting bit of rhetoric. Most of it is an attack on a straw-man premise, as even the author reveals in his final couple of pages. I understand he has a Ph. D. in math, but much of his jargon-slinging seemed to be more sparkle than substance. Some of his comments (e.g., "[T]hat's why mathematicians refer to topology as 'point-set topology'", p. 106) seem quite bizarre coming from a professional.
Two other essays, by H. Morowitz and W. Loewenstein, were disappointing. Morowitz provides a compressed re-telling of the evolution of the universe and life, with some Christian theology at the end. Loewenstein writes in a cloying, "poetic" style reminiscent of a scientist's talk to a ladies' club luncheon sometime in the 1950s. His penchant for equating energy and information is also quite irritating.
Good contributions from G. Chaitin, C. Bennett and S. Kaufmann were all published previously (or nearly so). Kauffman's essay on the "Fourth Law" of thermodynamics (based on his book "Investigations") is particularly stimulating. His prose is often marred by his excessive vanity, but there's a lot of substance, and it's never as irritating as Loewenstein's. Paul Davies also contributes a nice essay on the Second Law and emergence in his usual level-headed style.
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