Event



Condensed Matter Seminar: "The physical chemistry of natural selection: How can we explain the high yields and high rates of biochemical reactions?"

Jean-Louis Sikorav (Ministère de l'Economie et des Finances)
- | David Rittenhouse Laboratory, A4

The goal of this seminar is to present the main findings of an ongoing inquiry of the foundations of biology (1). The purpose of this investigation is to describe the elements, the logic and the principles of biology, and to construct biological theories using the language and the methods employed in other disciplines. This work brings to the fore the existence of a unity of knowledge, also revealed through the study of the science of research shared by all disciplines (2). The theory of natural selection will be introduced in this perspective and its relevance for the understanding of general physical chemistry will be outlined. Lastly the significance of this work for education will be discussed.

(1) (a) arXiv:1401.3203v2 [q-bio.OT]; (b) arXiv:1404.3908 [q-bio.OT].

(2)(a) J.-L. Sikorav. The utility of scientific papers. Scientometrics. 1991, 21, 49-68. (b) J-L Sikorav. La valeur heuristique de la littérature scientifique. Preprint 1991. (c) J.-L. Sikorav The heuristic utility of knowledge. Preprint. 2006.