Georgi Pavlovich Gladyshev

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Georgi P. Gladyshev - Russian physical chemist and thermodynamicist known for his 1978 "thermodynamic theory of evolution".
Georgi P. Gladyshev - Russian physical chemist and thermodynamicist known for his 1978 "thermodynamic theory of evolution".

Georgi Pavlovich Gladyshev (born September 19, 1936 in Alma-Ata) is a Russian physical chemist and thermodynamicist known for his Gibbs free energy thermodynamic theory of evolution and for his anti-aging theories of foodstuffs. He is the author of more than five hundred scientific papers. His seminal article is the 1978 "On the Thermodynamics of Biological Evolution" published in the Journal of Theoretical Biology.[1] Interestingly, at the time of publication this theory was considered rather controversial.[2] In recent years, however, many authors have begun to utilize a Gibbs free energy perspective of evolution.[3]

His 1997 book Thermodynamic Theory of the Evolution of Living Beings, argues that evolution of living beings is governed by the tendency for quasi-equilibrium, semi-closed, hierarchical living systems to evolve in the direction that tends to minimize the Gibbs free energy of formation of each structure.[4] In 2006, he was one of key speakers at the 14th annual International Anti-Aging Congress and Exposition in Chicago.

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[edit] Overview

In 1959, Gladyshev received his B.S. in chemistry from the State University in Alma-Ata and in 1966 received his Ph.D. in polymer chemistry. In 1969, Gladyshev became professor of physical chemistry and in 1970 became the chief of the laboratory at the Institute of Chemical Physics Academy of Sciences in Moscow, a position that he held till 2005. In the 1970s and 80s, Gladyshev published a number of papers on the physical chemistry of biological evolution and on the evolution of planetary systems.[5]

He presently holds the following titles:

His present research is in the areas of the thermodynamics of anti-aging and the thermodynamic aspects of human evolution.

[edit] Law of temporal hierarchies

A central feature of Gladyshev’s work is his original Gibbsian thermodynamic theory of evolution, i.e. thermochemical evolution, as based on what Gladyshev calls the "Law of Temporal Hierarchies", which states:

“ In any living system of any temporal hierarchical level in a normal state has a thermostat - a surrounding medium that is characterized by slightly changing average values of thermodynamic parameter. ”

Gladyshev divides evolving hierarchies within the earth system according to similar structural size and lifespan (temporal) groupings. Each such hierarchy is approximated to be surrounding by a "thermostat", i.e. a medium constant temperature and constant pressure composition. In this manner, this law, as well as what Gladyshev calls the principle of substance stability, which establishes a predominant direction of stable and unstable atomic and molecular movements between hierarchies, is argued to justify the application of free energy functions of state thermodynamics, i.e. constant temperature constant pressure states, to biospheric processes in which structures (per unit volume) tend to evolve in a direction that will minimize the Gibbs free energy of formation for that three-dimensional molecular structure.

[edit] Evolution

The central statement of Gladyshev’s thermodynamic evolution principle is as follows:

“ Under the action of the sun’s energy, substances which are thermodynamically stable in the early conditions of the earth are transformed into the various products of photosynthesis, those transformations being regulated by thermodynamic principles. During this process, from the resulting products only those stable suprastructures are selected which correspond to minimum states of the free energy of a biosystem. ”

In short, based on Gladyshev's "theory of temporal hierarchies", in combination with what he calls the principle of substance stability, which he defines as follows:

During the formation or self-assembly of the most thermodynamically stable structures at the highest hierarchical level (j), e.g., the supramolecular level, Nature, in accordance with the second law, spontaneously uses predominantly the least thermodynamically stable structures available from a given local part of the biological system, belonging to a lower level, i.e. molecular level (j-1), and incorporates these unstable structures into next higher level, i.e. supramolecular level (j).

argues that each subsystem of the biosphere evolves according to its thermodynamic tendency to seek a free energy minimum during each evolution cycle.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Gladyshev, G.P (1978). “On the thermodynamics of biological evolution.” Journal of Theoretical Biology, Volume 75, Issue 4, 21 December 1978, Pages 425-441.
  2. ^ Preface comments in Gladyshev's 1997 book.
  3. ^ Avery, John (2003). Information Theory and Evolution. World Scientific. ISBN 981-238-399-9. 
  4. ^ Gladyshev, Georgi (1997). Thermodynamic Theory of the Evolution of Living Beings. Nova Science Publishers. ISBN 1-56072-457-9. 
  5. ^ Physical Chemistry of Evolution of Planetary Systems - page overview with links to related articles.

[edit] Publications

[edit] External links

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