Thermodynamic self-organization as a mechanism of hierarchical structure formation of biological matter

In the past few years, it has proved possible to build a noncontradictory thermodynamic theory of biological evolution, the origin of life, and the aging of living beings resting on a firm foundation of classical thermodynamics. The law of temporal hierarchies makes it possible to identify quasi-closed systems in open biological systems and to use the approaches of hierarchical quasi-equilibrium thermodynamics to establish the direction of ontogenesis and the evolutionary processes. A short review of the achievements of thermodynamics of biological evolution and aging is now presented. The application of the principle of stability of matter to the structures of adjacent hierarchies constitutes additional proof that quasi-equilibrium thermodynamics can be applied to, the biological systems in the real world. This theory is corroborated by known. fact and experimental outcomes obtained during the study of living and synthetic systems using the methods of macrothermodynamics and macrokinetics. (C) 2003 Science Reviews.