Abstract
The patterns of evolutionary diversification and the distribution of biodiversity result from complex interactions between ecological components of evolution, explaining maintenance of biological systems, and genealogical components, explaining their origins. Evolutionary theory is under-developed with respect to questions of origin, and of integration among processes derived from “intrinsic” and “extrinsic” factors operating on different temporal and spatial scales. Biology has also resisted efforts to reconcile its general principles with basic natural laws of physics and chemistry, despite persistent indications that thermodynamics and statistical mechanics might provide the key (e.g. Boltzmann, 1877; Lotka, 1913, 1925; Lindeman, 1942; Prigogine & Wiame, 1946; Newman, 1970; Brooks & Wiley, 1986, 1988; Wicken, 1987; Demetrius, 1992; Salthe, 1993). The unified theory of evolution (Wiley & Brooks, 1982; Brooks & Wiley, 1986, 1988; Brooks et al., 1989; Brooks & McLennan, 1990; Maurer & Brooks, 1991; Brooks, 1992) asserts that 1. orderliness and organization in biological systems result from the interaction of historical uniqueness, cohesive tendencies among subunits of biological systems, and functional integration of those subunits, in addition to natural (environmental) and sexual selection; 2. current evolutionary theory lacks general explanations for the existence and expected effects of these three elements; and 3. finding such explanations requires extending some principles from general physico-chemical laws to complex biological systems.
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Brooks, D.R. (1998). The Unified Theory and Selection Processes. In: van de Vijver, G., Salthe, S.N., Delpos, M. (eds) Evolutionary Systems. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-1510-2_10
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