Ebook: A Unifying Theory of Evolution Generated by Means of Information Modelling

The present study is primarily aimed at an audience of evolutionary biologists in the broad sense for Parts 1–3, as well as at scientists from other professional disciplines looking for new approaches to explore phenomena in nature. However, the content is in general not written as technical text or filled with equations that make it utterly incomprehensible for ‘normal’ people, although they would have to skip strictly professional biochemical and biological terms that are a constituent part of the evidence in a scientific sense. Therefore, large parts of Part 2 may also be enjoyed by a broader audience with little prior insight into evolutionary biology or science, when in search of explanations for the phenomena that we see in nature.

Finally, Part 4 – with a view into Parts 1–3 – is meant for systems analysts and researchers striving to find a general systems theory. Parts 3 and 4 are the only parts that are not relevant for a general audience.

A Note for the Reader

Extensive use of references in scientific literature is generally perceived as evidence in favour of an author's statement when synthesizing findings in the literature on a given topic. At the same time, when applying citations of such literature one has to copy the text literally including printing errors, references and everything relevant, unless otherwise explicitly stated. Including such references in cited text often a) creates confusion because such references are not included in the reference list even if they appear in the text; and furthermore b) they tend to add an unnecessary cognitive burden on the reader. Therefore, references with cited text in the present publication have been replaced by the Italicized text ‘ref’ or ‘refs’, i.e. single or plural, depending on the number of references omitted in a given place.

About the Author/Contributors

The authorJBMcNis the initiatorsole contributor to the present study. JBMcN and her husband, Dr. Peter McNair, in close cooperation developed the ATCG model described in [1] (‘Applied Theory accounting for human moleCular Genetics’), which constitutes a solid foundation for the present work. The author has a master degree in biochemistry, a master degree in computer science (systems development, informatics) and a European Doctorate and PhD in health informatics. The author has had a full-time research position for about 35 years, divided on a university hospital, the software industry and a university, while cross-fertilising the two professions; the time in the industry and the university mainly was dedicated to participation in large and advanced EU R&D Research projects. This combination of professional experience has enabled the present study.

The present study was performed outside of any job or grant affiliation, while the author had an emeritus position at the Aalborg University. The author has since the year 2000 been a member of the scientific team describing the Mereon Matrix (for this, see [2]), went on early retirement in 2011 to work full time on the Mereon Matrix, and is independently continuing such scientific investigations on the matrix.

Contact information: jytte@brender.dk and jbr@hst.aau.dk.

Acknowledgements

The author is deeply grateful for her position as Emeritus Assoc. Professor at her former university affiliation at Aalborg University, Dept. of Health Science and Technology, as this enabled a full and free access to most of the original scientific literature. Without this, the present study would have been critically hampered.

The author is deeply grateful for continuous brainstorming and constructive feedback on and in the process with her husband, Dr. Peter McNair, retired director of the Medical Genetics Laboratory, KennedyCenter (DK-2600 Glostrup, Denmark).

Conflicting Interests

The author declares that there was and is no conflicting interests, financial or otherwise, that would or could have influenced the outcome of the study.

The author's work on the Mereon Matrix was not financially supported by any external source of funds, except for 1) a couple of travels in 2012, funded by The Mereon Legacy CIC

CIC is an acronym for ‘Community Interest Company’, a non-profit organisation located in the United Kingdom.

Stringent ways of thinking, ‘conceptual frameworks’, are necessary in science. The drawback is that the associated assumptions, concepts, rules and practice may become so deeply entrenched that they turn into tacit knowledge and hence give rise to constraints in scientific thought and practice – that is, a new kind of plethora that seriously blinds and thereby hampers scientific progress.

This book, 'A Unifying Theory of Evolution Generated by Means of Information Modelling', presents a methodology for describing complex knowledge domains. It applies a template information model based on a dynamic structure of interrelated functions, called the Mereon Matrix. Application of this template model to the field of evolutionary theories enabled the unification of the sometimes chaotic and competing field of evolutionary theories, large and small, seamlessly in a shared framework. The author has Masters degrees in both biochemistry and computer science, as well as a European Doctorate and PhD in health informatics and has spent 35 years in full-time research. It is her particular combination of professional experience and expertise together with the template information model which has enabled her to write this book.

Whilst primarily aimed at a scientific audience, and evolutionary biologists in particular, the book will be of interest to all those looking for new approaches to exploring and explaining phenomena in nature, and because the text is largely non-technical in nature, much of the content will also be accessible to a wider readership.