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Ayres (environment, management, and economics; INSEAD, the international school of management in Fontainebleau, France) applies the fundamental concepts of phylogenic evolution to the development of socioeconomic systems and technological progress. Beginning with thermodynamics and adding information gathering and self-organization, he argues that all evolutionary phenomena are examples of deterministic chaos and can be characterized by increasing diversity, complexity, and stability. The basic arguments are accessible to nonspecialists, though some of the chapters on specific applications assume knowledge of the field. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

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CONTENTS
Foreword / by R. Stephen Berry = ⅸ
Preface = xi
Introduction : Evolution as Accumulation of Useful Information = xiii
Chapter 1 : Concepts, Definitions, and Analogies = 1
 1.1. Irreversibility and Equilibrium in Mechanics and Thermodynamics = 1
 1.2. Entropy and the Second Law of Thermodynamics = 4
 1.3. Irreversibility in Economics = 6
 1.4. Thermodynamic Constraints in Economics = 8
 1.5. Equilibrium, Steady State, and Chaos = 9
 1.6. Order, Structure, and Organization = 11
 1.7. Diversity and Complexity = 13
 1.8. Biological Change : Development versus Evolution = 15
 1.9. Ecosystem, Biosphere, and Gaia = 17
 1.10. Myopia vs. Presbyopia; Selfishness vs. Altruism = 20
 References = 23
Chapter 2 : Information and Thermodynamics = 27
 2.1. Theoretical Framework : What Is Information? = 27
 2.2. Joint and Conditional Probabilities = 31
 2.3. Information and Entropy = 35
 2.4. Thermodynamic Information = 37
 2.5. Survival-Relevant Information = 42
 2.6. Summary = 44
 References = 48
Chapter 3 : Physical Evolution : From the Universe to the Earth = 51
 3.1. The Evolution of Matter = 51
 3.2. From the First Pico second to the Next Three Minutes = 54
 3.3. From 3 Minutes to I Million Years = 56
 3.4. Since the First Million Years = 58
 3.5. Physical Evolution : Diversity, Complexity and Stability = 64
 3.6. Physical Evolution and Information = 66
 References = 71
Chapter 4 : Geological and Biochemical Evolution = 73
 4.1. Geological Evolution of the Earth = 73
 4.2. Chemical Precursors to Organic Synthesis = 81
 4.3. Digression : Other Unsolved Mysteries = 87
 4.4. Self-Organization at the Chemical Level = 89
 4.5. Self-Replication = 90
 4.6. Genetic Reproduction as an Information Process = 93
 References = 98
Chapter 5 : Biological Evolution = 101
 5.1. Primitive Organisms = 101
 5.2. The Invention of Sexual Reproduction = 104
 5.3. Evolutionary Mechanisms and Discontinuities = 106
 5.4. Information and the Evolutionary Mechanism = 109
 5.5. The Direction of Phylogenic Evolution = 115
 5.6. A Digression on the Evolution of Consciousness = 117
 5.7. Summary = 119
 References = 122
Chapter 6 : Evolution in Human Social Systems = 124
 6.1. The Evolution of Cooperative Behavior = 124
 6.2. Games and Rational Choice in Social Systems = 126
 6.3. Static Equilibrium in Economics : The Free Market = 131
 6.4. Quasi-Static (Homothetic) Growth in Economics = 135
 6.5. Ontological Theories of Development = 138
 References = 147
Chapter 7 : Evolution in Economic Systems = 151
  7.1. Evolution and Growth = 151
  7.2. The Problem of Economic Growth Revisited = 152
  7.3. Schumpeter's Contribution : Radical Innovation = 155
  7.4. Post-Schumpeterian Evolutionary Theories = 156
  7.5. "Technological Breakthroughs" and Non-linear Dynamics = 159
  7.6. Progress Functions (with K. Martins) = 163
  7.6a. Micro-Foundations = 165
  7.6b. A Progress-Function for Firms = 169
  7.6c. Interpretation = 173
  7.6d. Concluding Remarks = 174
  References = 180
Chapter 8 : The Economy as a Self-Organizing Information-Processing System = 186
 8.1. The Analogy with Living Systems = 186
 8.2. The Economy as an Information-Transformation System = 190
 8.3. Information Transformation and Value Added = 193
 8.4. The Role of Labor = 196
 8.5. The Role of Capital = 197
 8.6. The Role of Money = 200
 8.7. The Role of Technology = 203
 8.8. The Role of Structure and Organization = 207
 References = 213
Chapter 9 : Information Added by Materials Processing = 215
 9.1. Introduction = 215
 9.2. Energy Conversion = 216
 9.3. Cost of Refining = 220
 9.4. Thermodynamic Analysis of Alternative Processes = 222
 References = 224
Chapter 10 : Morphological Information = 225
 10.1. Surface Information : General Considerations = 225
 10.2. Morphological Information Embodied in Manufactured Shapes = 227
 10.3. Information of Orientation and Assembly = 235
 10.4. The Relative Prices of Metabolic and Morphological Information = 238
 10.5. The Principle of Minimum Morphological Information = 244
 References = 247
Chapter 11 : Labor as an Information Process = 249
 11.1. Ergonomic Background : The Worker as Information Processor = 249
 11.2. Examples : Theory and Experiment = 252
 11.3. Output of a Worker : Time and Motion = 254
 11.4. Output of a Worker : Time and Information = 256
 11.5. Output of a Worker : Motion and Information = 259
 11.6. The Effort / Defect Problem = 261
 11.7. Efforts and Information Overload = 263
 11.8. Optimum Work Pace = 265
 11.9. Value of Information Added by Labor = 268
 References = 270
Chapter 12 : Evolution, Economics, and Environmental Imperatives = 273
 12.1. Recapitulation : Ideas of Equilibrium in Economics = 273
 12.2. Brownian Motion or Gravitational Attraction? = 276
 12.3. The Economic System and the Physical Environment = 278
 12.4. Technological and Economic Evolution in Long-Term Perspective = 282
 12.5. Concluding Thoughts and Speculations = 286
 References = 290
After word by Allen V. Kneese = 293
Index = 296