Information Theory and Evolution discusses the phenomenon of life,
including its origin and evolution (and also human cultural evolution),
against the background of thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, and
information theory. Among the central themes is the seeming
contradiction between the second law of thermodynamics and the high
degree of order and complexity produced by living systems. This paradox
has its resolution in the information content of the Gibbs free energy
that enters the biosphere from outside sources, as the author will show.
The role of information in human cultural evolution is another focus of
the book.The first edition of Information Theory and Evolution made a
strong impact on thought in the field by bringing together results from
many disciplines. The new second edition offers updated results based on
reports of important new research in several areas, including exciting
new studies of the human mitochondrial and Y-chromosomal DNA. Another
extensive discussion featured in the second edition is contained in a
new appendix devoted to the relationship of entropy and Gibbs free
energy to economics. This appendix includes a review of the ideas of
Alfred Lotka, Frederick Soddy, Nicholas Georgiescu-Roegen and Herman E.
Daly, and discusses the relevance of these ideas to the current economic
crisis.The new edition discusses current research on the origin of life,
the distinction between thermodynamic information and cybernetic
information, new DNA research and human prehistory, developments in
current information technology, and the relationship between entropy and
economics.
