Nature's Holism

by Laurence Evans

Overview

In the association of the bee and the flower is a very advanced reflection of the process of evolution through natural selection. Nature's Holism explores the coevolution of long associated species arriving at a holistic view of nature where the compatibility between species is significant. In nature there are two interacting forces. There is the numerical increase in numbers of a species, termed a force of "perpetuity". Increasing numbers of a single species have an inevitable impact on the environment. However, as each species survives within an ecological context, there is a feedback from the ecosystem as numbers increase, requiring a necessary compatibility with the ecosystem. "Fitness" is therefore defined, not only by quantitative representation of genes in the next generation (perpetuity), but also the qualitative condition of compatibility with the habitat or ecosystem that provided the conditions and resources for this success.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781462091379
Publisher:	iUniverse, Incorporated
Publication date:	08/10/1999
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	508
File size:	2 MB

Table of Contents

	Introduction	1
	Background	1
	What is Nature's Holism about?	2
	Perpetuity	2
	Compatibility	3
	Ecotechnology in brief	3
	Biodiversity Studies?	4
	Perpetuity and Compatibility	7
	Mutual dependence	7
	Yin & Yang	10
	Holism	11
1.	Ecotechnology	11
2.	Niche	13
3.	Atomic Nature	15
4.	Paradigms	17
	Background Ideas	25
	Context	25
	Patterns & Models	26
	Teleology	29
	Expressions of holism	30
	Personal note	35
	A synopsis of Nature's Holism	39
	Evolution	45
	A Brief History of Life As "The Book of Time"	45
	Time & evolution	47
	Evolution: A Quick Overview	49
	Table of The Geological Time Scale	58
	Gems	65
	A Brief Introduction	65
1.	Thomas Hobbes	65
2.	General J.C. Smuts	66
3.	Charles Darwin	67
4.	Immanuel Kant	67
1.	Thomas Hobbes	68
	Hobbes's Derivation of Natural Law And Thus Moral Philosophy	72
2.	General J.C. Smuts	76
A.	Science	76
B.	Reality & Rationality	82
3.	Charles Darwin	91
4.	Immanuel Kant	107
4.1	Gaia Hijacked by New Agers	107
4.2	Kant's Teleology Versus Goldsmith's Teleology	109
4.3	Kantist Teleology & Ecology	116
5.	Creationism	122
6.	Interaction of Lovelock's Gaia and Holism	127
7.	Law, Rules, & Regularities	131
8.	Theories	136
9.	Paradigm Traps	143
10.	Prisoner's Dilemma	149
	Chaos, Complexity & Ecosystems	153
A.	Summary	154
B.	Approximations of Reality	156
C.	Chaos	158
	x(next) = rx(1-x)	160
	Edge of Chaos	165
	Chaos in nature	168
	Table X: Factors affecting carrying capacities	169
	Chaos in business	171
D.	Complexity	172
	The Concept, once bitten, twice shy	181
A.	Summary	182
A.	Paradigms	183
(1)	Dominion	183
(2)	Reductionist Infinity	183
(3)	Laboratory Experimentation & Generalisations From Specialisations	184
(4)	The Domination of Concepts Or Modern Paradigms	184
(A)	Competition	184
(B)	Game Theory	185
(5)	Emphasis Upon Applied Science and Technology	185
	Argument	188
	Logistic Model	188
	The "Window of Opportunity" in the Melv Model	190
	Interpretation of the Paleontological Record in the Light of Compatibility	192
B.	Introduction	193
C.	Ecology and Ecosystems	194
D.	The Coin: the Theory of Co-operation	200
E.	Genetics & Inheritance	201
F.	Genetics, Ecology & Evolution	209
G.	Paradigms of Biological Science	214
1.	Dominion & Exploitation	216
2.	Reductionist Infinity	218
3.	Laboratory Experimentation & Generalisations From Specialisations	223
4.	The Domination of Concepts Or Modern Paradigms	226
A.	Competition	226
B.	Game Theory	234
5.	Anthropomorphism and Gaian Purpose	239
6.	Emphasis Upon Applied Science and Technology	239
H.	Argument	241
1.	Ecological Interactions: Modelling Compatibility	271
2.	Logistic Model	273
3.	Group Selection	280
I.	The "Window of Opportunity" in Nature	282
J.	Further Model Development	286
1.	Theoretical Development	286
2.	Examples of Standard Models	298
K.	Interpretation of the Paleontological Record in the Light of the Modified Energetic Lotka Volterre Model	306
L.	Positive Holism	310
	Human Evolution	311
A.	Summary	312
B.	Sources	318
C.	Dating Tools	322
D.	Human Evolution	325
E.	Behaviour and Morality	328
F.	Primate Evolution	331
1.	Australopithecus	337
2.	Homo Hablis and Homo Erectus	349
3.	Neanderthals	360
4.	Homo Sapiens	363
G.	The Road to Civilisation	371
1.	Modern Cultures	371
[1.1]	Hunter gatherers	372
[1.2]	Agriculture	377
[1.3]	Civilisation	379
2.	Technological and Industrial Society	387
3.	Modern Society	392
	Religion	393
1.	Islam	394
2.	Rise & Demise of Natural Christian Theology	395
	Glossary	399
	References	441
	Index	457