In science, Francisco Varela (1946-2001) was a Chilean neurologist-philosopher noted for his 1974 implementation, together with is mentor Humberto Maturana, of cellular automata computer simulations to make what they called autopoietic networks, consisting of a production, bonding, and disintegration model of computer simulated growth, framed on the notions of catalyst and substrate elements; upon which they derived their later 1980 autopoiesis theory. [1]
Varela is classified as “follower” of Prigogine. [2]
References
1. Capra, Fritjof. (1996). The Web of Life: A New Scientific Understanding of Living Systems (pgs. 196-97). Anchor books.
2. Rabinovitz, Lauren and Geil, Abraham. (2004). Memory Bytes: History, Technology and Digital Culture (pgs. 58, 59, 74). Duke University Press.
Further reading
● Juarrero, Alicia. (1999). Dynamics in Action: Intentional Behavior as a Complex System (Varela, pg. 263). MIT Press.
● Deacon, Terrence W. (2011). Incomplete Nature: How Mind Emerged from Matter (Varela, 9+ pgs.). W.W. Norton & Co.
External links
● Francisco Varela – Wikipedia.
