Worked examples or Exercises; 1 Tables, black and white; 9 Halftones, black and white
Publishing Details
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Imprint
Cambridge University Press
Publication Date
26 March 2020
Publication Country
United Kingdom
Description
In this Element, we extend our earlier treatment of biology's first law. The law says that in any evolutionary system in which there is variation and heredity, there is a tendency for diversity and complexity to increase. The law plays the same role in biology that Newton's first law plays in physics, explaining what biological systems are expected to do when no forces act, in other words, what happens when nothing happens. Here we offer a deeper explanation of certain features of the law, develop a quantitative version of it, and explore its consequences for our understanding of diversity and complexity.
