2018
Volume 18, Number 1, pp. 5–20
The thermodynamic forces driving natural selection and their evolutionary consequences
Stephen J. Palmer
Stantec, Dominion House, Warrington, UK
Recently, significant progress has been made in research into the origins and physical nature of life. Two of the leading researchers in this field have significantly advanced our understanding of living systems and how they developed during the history of life on Earth. Lane recently developed a hypothesis for how the origin and development of life was shaped by how it utilizes energy. Adami has advanced the field of bioinformatics and identified how significant information retention and use is for biological systems: it defines the difference between a biological system and an abiotic chemical system. This paper presents a thermodynamic description of living systems and natural selection, which brings both Lane’s and Adami’s pioneering work together. The thermodynamic model presented herein is used to demonstrate how intimately associated life and the environment are throughout the history of life on Earth and the challenges that presents to human development.
Keywords: exergy, evolution, natural selection, sustainability, thermodynamics