TY - BOOK ID - 46188978 TI - Emergence and Modularity in Life Sciences AU - Wegner, Lars H. AU - Lüttge, Ulrich. PY - 2019 SN - 3030061280 3030061272 PB - Cham : Springer International Publishing : Imprint: Springer, DB - UniCat KW - Systems biology. KW - Computational biology KW - Bioinformatics KW - Biological systems KW - Molecular biology KW - Biological models. KW - Science KW - Endangered ecosystems. KW - Botany. KW - Systems Biology. KW - Philosophy of Science. KW - Ecosystems. KW - Plant Sciences. KW - Philosophy. KW - Botanical science KW - Phytobiology KW - Phytography KW - Phytology KW - Plant biology KW - Plant science KW - Biology KW - Natural history KW - Plants KW - Threatened ecosystems KW - Biotic communities KW - Nature conservation KW - Normal science KW - Philosophy of science KW - Models, Biological KW - Philosophy and science. KW - Plant science. KW - Biocenoses KW - Biocoenoses KW - Biogeoecology KW - Biological communities KW - Biomes KW - Biotic community ecology KW - Communities, Biotic KW - Community ecology, Biotic KW - Ecological communities KW - Ecosystems KW - Natural communities KW - Ecology KW - Population biology KW - Science and philosophy KW - Floristic botany UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:46188978 AB - This book focuses on modules and emergence with self-organization in the life sciences. As Aristotle observed so long ago, the whole is more than the sum of its parts. However, contemporary science is dominated by reductionist concepts and tends to neglect the non-reproducible features of complex systems, which emerge from the interaction of the smaller units they are composed of. The book is divided into three major parts; the essays in part A highlight the conceptual basis of emergence, linking it to the philosophy of science, systems biology and sustainability. This is subsequently exemplified in part B by applying the concept of emergence to various biological disciplines, such as genetics, developmental biology, neurobiology, plant physiology and ecology. New aspects of emergence come into play when biology meets the technical sciences, as revealed in a chapter on bionics. In turn, part C adopts a broader view, revealing how the organization of life follows a hierarchical order in terms of scalar dimensions, ranging from the molecular level to the entire biosphere. The idea that life is primarily and exclusively shaped by processes at the molecular level (and, in particular, by the information encoded in the genome) is refuted; rather, there is no hierarchy with respect to the level of causation in the cross-talk between the levels. In the last two chapters, the evolutionary trend toward ever-increasing complexity in living systems is interpreted in terms of the Gaia hypothesis sensu Lovelock: the entire biosphere is viewed as a functional unit (or ‘holobiont-like system’) organized to develop and sustain life on Earth. ER -