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Information, Entropy, and Progress [Hardcover]

Robert U. Ayres (Author)

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Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1997

This text presents a challenging look at evolution on several scales, from the earth and its geology and chemistry, to living organisms, to social and economic systems, the manufacturing process, and the labour structure. Applying the principles of thermodynamics and the concepts of information gathering and self-organization, the author characterizes the direction of evolution in each case as an accumulation of "distinguishability" information - a type of universal knowledge. The book concludes with some speculations on the development of socio-economic systems and technological progress. Readers in many branches of science and economics, especially thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, cybernetics, information theory, resource use, and evolutionary economic behaviour and organization should find this book interesting.

#outer_postBodyPS { display: none; } #psGradient { display: none; } #psPlaceHolder { display: none; } #psExpand { display: none; } This text presents a challenging look at evolution on several scales, from the earth and its geology and chemistry, to living organisms, to social and economic systems, the manufacturing process, and the labour structure. Applying the principles of thermodynamics and the concepts of information gathering and self-organization, the author characterizes the direction of evolution in each case as an accumulation of "distinguishability" information - a type of universal knowledge. The book concludes with some speculations on the development of socio-economic systems and technological progress. Readers in many branches of science and economics, especially thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, cybernetics, information theory, resource use, and evolutionary economic behaviour and organization should find this book interesting.

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Product Details

Hardcover: 324 pages
Publisher: Springer (October 1, 1997)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0883189119
ISBN-13: 978-0883189115
Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.1 x 1 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,126,982 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Inside This Book (learn more)

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
pairwise transactions, phylogenic evolution, internal worth, available useful work, total utility function, real economic system, information embodied, directional constraint, technological distance, global entropy, embodied information, small comets

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Big Bang, Cambridge University Press, Scientific American, American Economic Review, Research Report, Technical Report, Princeton University Press, United States, Unity of the Sciences, Oxford University Press, Santa Fe Institute Studies, University of Texas, Evolving Complex System, Harvard University Press, International Conference, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Redwood City, Review of Economic Studies, Group Technology, Ilya Prigogine, Origin of Life, Working Paper, Herbert Simon, Information Processes

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Citations (learn more)

This book cites 100 books:

The Economy As An Evolving Complex System (Santa Fe Institute Series) by Philip W. Anderson on 5 pages
Evolution As Entropy (Science and Its Conceptual Foundations series) by Daniel R. Brooks on 4 pages
Thermodynamic Theory of Structure, Stability and Fluctuations by P. Glansdorff on page 99, page 122, and page 183
Living Systems by James Grier Miller on page 48, page 214, and page 271
Models of Bounded Rationality: Economic Analysis and Public Policy (Volume 1) by Herbert A. Simon on page 26, page 150, and page 185

See all 100 books this book cites

2 books cite this book:

Construction Ecology: Nature as a Basis for Green Buildings by Charles J. Kibert in Front Matter
Non-equilibrium Thermodynamics and the Production of Entropy: Life, Earth, and Beyond (Understanding Complex Systems) by Axel Kleidon in Back Matter

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