Abstract

HERRERO URIBE, Libia. Del mecanicismo a la complejidad en la biología. Rev. biol. trop [online]. 2008, vol.56, n.1, pp.399-407. ISSN 0034-7744.

From the mechanical complexity in biology. Through history, each century has brought new discoveries and beliefs that have resulted in different perspectives to study life organisms. In this essay, I define three periods: in the first, organisms were studied in the context of their environment, in the second, on the basis of physical and chemical laws, and on the third, systemically. My analysis starts with primitive humans, continues to Aristoteles and Newton, Lamarck and Darwin, the DNA doble helix discovery, and the beginnings of reduccionism in science. I propose that life is paradigmatical, that it obeys physical and chemical laws but cannot be explained by them I review the systemic theory, autopoiesis, discipative structures and non- linear dynamics. I propose that the deterministic, lineal and quantitative paradigm of nature are not the only way to study nature and invite the reader to explore the complexity paradigm. Rev. Biol. Trop. 56 (1): 399-407. Epub 2008 March 31.

Keywords : organisms; history; perspectives; mecanicism; complexity.

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