Summary
Because of the important role which the ‘autocatalytic’ or ‘logistic’ equation has played in determining the direction of a good deal of research both in demography and in the study of individual growth phenomena, a critical and comparative evaluation of those leading ideas inRobertson's (1923) book which pertain to this equation and of some of the criticisms levelled against it seemed to be of interest. The present paper shows that, contrary to common belief,Robertson did not really assume that the autocatalytic reactions to which he compared growth processes, took place in closed systems (viz., cells). On the other hand, he does not seem to have found a satisfactory representation of how the growth phenomena of the individual cells in an organism might interact to yield the overall growth of the organism as a whole. Nor is the manner in which he made his equation account for the openness of the individual cells free from possible criticism. An alternative equation is here proposed, which will be discussed in another paper. The properties of the solutions of this equation are such that the autocatalytic theory might never have gained a foothold if this, more realistic, equation would have been the object of the initial studies.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Booy, H. L. andH. R. Wolvekamp (1944), Catenary processes, master reactions and limiting factors.- Bibliotheca Biotheoretica, Vol. 1, pars 4, pp. 145–224, with folded table; Leiden, Brill.
Bray, H. G. andK. White (1966), Kinetics and thermodynamics in biochemistry. - London, J. & A. Churchill; New York, Academic Press; xi + 418 pp.
Crozier, W. J. (1926), On curves of growth, especially in relation to temperature. - The Journal of General Physiology 10, pp. 53–73.
Moore, M. J. (1949), Kinetics of open reaction systems; chains of simple autocatalytic reactions.- Transactions of the Faraday Society 45, pp. 1098–1109.
Needham, A. E. (1964), The growth process in animals.- Princeton, Van Nostrand, xiv + 522 pp.
Pearl, R. andL. J. Reed (1920), On the rate of growth of the population of the United States since 1790 and its mathematical representation.- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States 6, pp. 275–288.
Perret, C. J. andH. C. Levey (1961), The theory of uncatalysed linear expanding systems.- Journal of Theoretical Biology 1, pp. 542–550.
Robertson, T. B. (1908), On the normal rate of growth of an individual and its biochemical significance.- Arch. f. Entwicklungsmech. der Organismen 25, pp. 581–614.
— (1908), Further remarks on the normal rate of growth of an individual, and its biochemical significance.- Arch. f. Entwicklungsmech. der Organismen 26, pp. 108–118.
— (1923), The chemical basis of growth and senescence.- Philadelphia & London, J. B. Lippincott, viii + 389 pp.
Snell, G. D. (1929), An inherent defect in the theory that growth rate is controlled by an autocatalytic process.- Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. U.S. 15, pp. 274–281.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This research was in part supported by NIH training grant GM-678.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
van der Vaart, H.R. The autocatalytic growth model. Acta Biotheor 18, 133–142 (1968). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01556724
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01556724