Tempos in Science and Nature: Structures, Relations, and Complexity

by Claudio Rossi; Simone Bastianoni; Nadia Marchettini

• ISBN13: 9780801864339
• ISBN10: 080186433X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-03-01
• Publisher: New York Academy of Sciences

Summary

The complexity of nature has made it necessary to develop concepts and theories that have little in common with the reductionist and mechanical approach that has dominated scientific thought for two centuries. Science has so far not been able to unravel the molecular and macroscopic complexity of natural phenomena, with their nonlinear and irreversible patterns. The authors of Tempos in Science and Nature take this problem as a point of departure in a wide-ranging investigation that brings together experts from both the humanities and the sciences, interweaving the world of the arts with the world of natural laws and theories. The contributors include outstanding scientists in physics, physical chemistry, evolutionary biology, and mathematical ecology as well as scholars of philosophy, comparative literature, and cognitive science. Ranging from superstring theory to Biblical theology, from reflections on "the arrow of time" to the question of suspended life in biological systems, the authors focus on role of complexity theory in providing a new common ground between the sciences and humanities. They also discuss complex molecular behavior and structure, and ecological and environmental modeling.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Claudio Rossi
Enzo Tiezzi
Part I. Epistemological Concepts of Complexity
Fundamental Sources of Unpredictability	1	(7)
Murray Gell-Mann
Laws of Nature and Time Symmetry Breaking	8	(21)
I. Prigogine
I. Antoniou
Perspective and Metrics of time	29	(16)
Giuseppe Ardrizzo
Complexity, Complex Systems, and Adaptation	45	(18)
F. T. Arecchi
Complexity and the Unfinished Nature of Human Evolution	63	(12)
Gianluca Bocchi
Mauro Ceruti
Complexity VII: Composing Natural Science from Natural Numbers, Natural Kinds, and Natural Affinities	75	(12)
Jerry L. R. Chandler
The Paradox of the Visibly Irrelevant	87	(11)
Stephen Jay Gould
The Interplay of Cyclic and Linear Time in the Biological World	98	(12)
Pier Luigi Luisi
The Human Sciences and the Natural Sciences: Toward a New Asymmetry	110	(5)
Antonio Melis
Organization and Complexity	115	(7)
Edgar Morin
Complex Adaptive Theology: From Sinai to Santa Fe	122	(7)
Harold J. Morowitz
Complexity and Evolutionary Law for Natural Systems: A ``New Dialogue'' with Nature---In Looking for a Language as a Means of Intercourse with Nature	129	(14)
S. F. Timashev
A Dimly Perceived Horizon: The Complex Meeting Ground between Physical and Inner Time	143	(11)
Francisco J. Varela
Poster Paters
Analytical Setting: Time, Relation, and Complexity	154	(4)
Genovino Ferri
Giuseppe Cimini
The Consciousness of Time and the Conquest of Space: The Dawn of Civilization, Anthropology, and Archaeoastronomy	158	(6)
Lucia G. Gregori
Giovanni P. Gregori
Time Complexity and Learning	164	(4)
Elda Guala
Paolo Boero
Einstein's Twins	168	(4)
Enzo Tiezzi
Nadia Marchettini
Fractal Time and the Gift of Natural Constraints	172	(8)
Susie Vrobel
Part II. Complex Molecular and Biological Behavior
Alternating Oscillations and Chaos in a Model of Two Coupled Biochemical Oscillators Driving Successive Phases of the Cell Cycle	180	(14)
Pierre-Charles Romond
Mauro Rustici
Didier Gonze
Albert Goldbeter
Self Organization in Synthetic Polymetric Systems	194	(21)
John A. Pojman
Poster Papers
Relevance of the Protein--Lipid Interaction on the Functioning of the Bacterial Reaction Center	215	(5)
A. Agostiano
M. Della Monica
Time-Dependent Properties of Isotactic Polypropylene Fibers	220	(4)
G. Barra
C. D' Aniello
R. Russo
V. Vittoria
Suspended Life in Biological Systems: Fragility and Complexity	224	(4)
C. Branca
A. Faraone
S. Magazu
G. Maisano
P. Migliardo
V. Villari
Coupling of Erratic Belousov-Zhabotinsky Oscillators Observed by Spectrophotometric Measure	228	(7)
M. Branca
A. Brunetti
C. Caravati
M. Rustici
Complexity at the Molecular Level: A Dynamic View of Biomolecules Obtained by NMR	235	(6)
Alessandro Donati
Lydia Bellik
Maria Pia Picchi
Claudia Bonechi
Thermodynamics of Extremely Diluted Aqueous Solutions	241	(8)
Vittorio Elia
Marcella Niccoli
Linear and Nonlinear Properties of Heart Rate Variability: Influence of Obesity	249	(6)
A. Gastaldelli
R. Mammoliti
E. Muscelli
S. Camastra
L. Landini
E. Ferrannini
M. Emdin
Fractal Analysis in Human Pathology	255	(3)
P. Luzi
G. Bianciardi
C. Miracco
M. M. De Santi
M. T. Del Vecchio
L. Alia
P. Tosi
Recurrence Quantification Analysis in Molecular Dynamics	258	(9)
Cesare Manetti
Marc-Antoine Ceruso
Alessandro Giuliani
Charles L. Webber Jr.
Joseph P. Zbilut
Photodegradation of Organic Waste Coupling Hydrogenase and Titanium Dioxide	267	(9)
G. M. Mura
M. L. Ganadu
G. Lubinu
V. Maida
Complex Rotational Dynamics of the Cu(II)-Bleomycin System in Mobile and Viscous Media	276	(4)
Rebecca Pogni
Elena Busi
Giovanni Della Lunga
Riccardo Basosi
On Crystallization Kinetics of Polytrafluoroethylene	280	(4)
Rachele Pucciariello
Claudia Mancusi
Conformational Chaos of an Elastin-Related Peptide in Aqueous Solution	284	(4)
Vincenzo Villani
A. M. Tamburro
Vanadium Uptake by Yeasts	288	(4)
Maria Antonietta Zoroddu
Part III. Complexity: Ecological and Environmental Aspects
A Modeling Approach to the Understanding of Very Complex Dynamics in a Planktonic Community	292	(10)
Graciella Ana Canziani
Complexity and Emergence in Models of Chemically Stressed Populations	302	(10)
Thomas G. Hallam
Eric T. Funasaki
The Influence of Classic Sciences on Ecology and Evolution of Ecological Studies	312	(8)
Vincent Hull
Margherita Falcucci
A Tentative Fourth Law of Thermodynamics, Applied to a Description of Ecosystem Development	320	(24)
Sven E. Jorgensen
Energy Analyses as a Tool for Sustainability: Lessons from Complex System Theory	344	(24)
Mario Giampietro
Kozo Mayumi
Gianni Pastore
Virtual Biospheres: Complexity versus Simplicity	368	(15)
Yuri M. Svirezhev
Poster Papers
A Comprehensive Atmospheric Chemistry Model for the Description of Dynamics of Reactive Pollutants	383	(4)
G. Barone
P. D' Ambra
D. Di Serafino
G. Giunta
A. Riccio
Modeling the Complex Behavior of Microorganisms	387	(5)
S. Bastianoni
S. Martini
M. Porcelli
C. Rossi
The Effects of Vertical Mixing Parameterization on 3-D Models of a Pelagic Ecosystem	392	(4)
A. Bellucci
A. Crise
G. Crispi
C. Solidoro
Identification, Characterization, and Remediation of Contaminated Sites: A Case Study	396	(4)
Elena Collina
Marini Lasagni
Demetrio Pitea
Classical Thermodynamic-Statistical Approach of Open Systems Deviating from Maximum Entropy	400	(6)
C. Dejak
R. Pastres
G. Pecenik
I. Polenghi
Use of Exergy and Structural Exergy as Ecological Indicators for the Development State of Homogeneous Lake Ecosystems	406	(6)
A. Ludovisi
A. Poletti
Determination of the Italian Industrial Production Index from a Bayesian Point of View Using Electrical Consumption as Data	412	(4)
L. Magnoni
M. Mirolli
The Relational Project: A Goal for the Ecology of City Designing and Planning	416	(6)
Vasco Mancini
Rita Micarelli
Giorgio Pizziolo
Correlation between Greenhouse Effect and Exceptionally High Tides in Venice	422	(5)
N. Marchettini
C. Mocenni
V. Niccolucci
E. Tiezzi
Ecodepuration Performances of a Small-Scale Experimental Constructed Wetland System Treating and Recycling Intensive Aquaculture Waste-water	427	(5)
S. Panella
I. Cignini
M. Battilotti
M. Falcucci
V. Hull
N. Milone
M. Monfrinotti
G. A. Mulas
G. Pipornetti
L. Tancioni
S. Cataudella
Fish Exclusion and PCB Bioaccumulation in Bear Creek, East Tennessee	432	(3)
M. Panzieri
T. G. Hallam
Evolution as Computation	435	(5)
G. Michele Pinna
Elisa B. P. Tiezzi
Mathematical Modeling and Numerical Simulation of Space-Dependent Multispecies Interactions	440	(4)
R. C. Sossae
J. F. C. A. Meyer
S. Loiselle
C. Rossi
Relations between Energy Consumption and Air Quality in an Urban Environment: Spatial Scenarios of Emission Reduction	444	(5)
Laura Vannuccini
Miria Bracali
Riccardo Basosi
Index of Contributors	449