Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 14.5 A summary of the consequences of the
macro-to-micro transitions
in physics and
chemistry
A
B
C
X
~10
10
cm/s
Physics
(spacetime)
Space
Time
Speed
of moving
objects
10
3
~10
15
atoms
a
Information
Energy
Mass
of
machines
a
These numbers were estimated on the basis of the assumption that gnergy in the form of
compared to the diameter of the hydrogen atom, 10
10
m) and cells (10
5
m in diameter),
respectively
One possible difference between the macro- to microtransitions in physics and
biology (Table
14.4
) may be as follows:
Just as
space
and
time
are separable for objects moving with speeds slow relative to the
speed of light and fuse for objects moving with speeds approaching that of light, so
information
and
energy
are separable for macroscopic machines but become Inseparable
and fuse into gnergy for molecular machines.
(14.2)
Statement 14.2 may be referred to as the
symmetry principle of physics and
biology
in the sense that the parameter-dependent relational transition specified by
14.3 and 14.4 remains
invariant
when physics is replaced by biology (see
Table
14.5
). We may represent this idea symbolically thus:
A
j
B when C
<<
X
(14.3)
A
^
B when C
X
(14.4)
where A and B are two physical entities whose
relation
undergoes a transition (from
j
to ^, or vice versa) when the numerical value of the parameter C approaches the
critical threshold X, and the symbols,
j
and ^, denote the
orthogonality
and the
complementarity
, respectively. (For the definition of the
complementary relation
,
turns out to be valid, biology may be endowed with the concept of
gnergy
, the
the concept of
spacetime
in physics.
14.1 Darwin's Theory of Evolution
Darwin's theory of evolution is a
macroscopic
theory formulated one and a half
centuries ago in order to account for the then available
macroscopic
data about
organisms (see Row h in Table
14.3
) (Darwin 1859). Consequently, the key
elements of Darwin's theory (see below) may be remote from, and shed little
