This book provides an outline of theoretical concepts and their
experimental verification in studies of self-organization phenomena in
chemical systems, as they emerged in the mid-20th century and have
evolved since. Presenting essays on selected topics, it was prepared by
authors who have made profound contributions to the field.
Traditionally, physical chemistry has been concerned with interactions
between atoms and molecules that produce a variety of equilibrium
structures - or the 'dead' order - in a stationary state. But biological
cells exhibit a different 'living' kind of order, prompting E.
Schrödinger to pose his famous question "What is life?" in 1943. Through
an unprecedented theoretical and experimental development, it was later
revealed that biological self-organization phenomena are in complete
agreement with the laws of physics, once they are applied to a special
class of thermodynamically open systems and non-equilibrium states. This
knowledge has in turn led to the design and synthesis of simple
inorganic systems capable of self-organization effects. These artificial
'living organisms' are able to operate on macroscopic to microscopic
scales, even down to single-molecule machines.
In the future, such research could provide a basis for a technological
breakthrough, comparable in its impact with the invention of lasers and
semiconductors. Its results can be used to control natural chemical
processes, and to design artificial complex chemical processes with
various functionalities. The book offers an extensive discussion of the
history of research on complex chemical systems and its future
prospects.
