Evolutionary essays : a thermodynamic interpretation of the evolution / Sven E. Jorgensen.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. An introduction to thermodynamics and information theory.
2. Thermodynamic and the evolutionary process.
3. The evolutionary mechanisms.
4. Extreme Environment.
5. The evolution of the Universe.
6. From Inorganic to Poly-organic Compounds.
7. From Poly-organic Compounds to Eukaryote Cells.
8. Pluricellular Organization and the Cambrian Explosion.
9. From the Ordovician Period to the Jurassic Period.
10. The Evolution from Dinosaurs to Birds and Mammals.
11. From Primates to Human.
12. The three growth forms and the evolution.
13. The evolution of diversity.
14. Eco-exergy and ascendency.
15. The evolution of ecological networks.
16. Summary of the Evolution of Eco-exergy and Discussion of the Evolutionary Possibilities in the Future.

The author presents in this book a completely new thermodynamic and holistic interpretation of the evolution. The thermodynamic interpretation makes it possible to quantify the different steps of the evolution. Both the vertical and horizontal evolution can be described as an exponentially increase of the distance from the thermodynamic equilibrium. The vertical evolution towards more and more complex organisms shows that both the genetic information embodied in the organisms and the distance from thermodynamic equilibrium or expressed differently the work capacity per g of biomass have increased 400 times from the first primitive cells to homo sapiens. The utilization rate of free energy - the rate at which the organisms can influence and utilize the environment - has increased more than 400 000 times in the same period. The species richness has also increased exponentially the last 500 million years, which is a prerequisite for the horizontal evolution.