In human thermodynamics, Georgi and Thims refers to the synergy of ideas exchanged and developed between Russian physical chemist Georgi Gladyshev and American chemical engineer Libb Thims, beginning in 2005, on the nature of the use of Gibbsian thermodynamics in the study of biological evolution and in human society.
Overview
Of significant influence to Thims, was the work of Russian physical chemist Georgi Gladyshev, with whom he first made contact with in 2005. [1] In particular, sometime between 2002 to 2004, during which Thims began to undertake the project of writing a short book on the subject of "human thermodynamics", Thims had come across a number of individuals who seemed to be using a similar logic, in certain respects, to his own, including: Ilya Prigogine, John Avery, Jing Chin, David Hwang, and Gladyshev, among others. In this group, Gladyshev seemed to be the closest competion in that he was using a fully-rigorous Gibbs free energy based thermodynamic approach to the evolution of life.
The exact link through which Thims became acquainted with the work of Gladyshev was a short two-page (English) book review of Gladyshev's 1996 100-page (Russian) book Thermodynamic Theory of the Evolution of Life Forms by Russian physical chemist Yuri Lipatov that Thims had come across on May 10, 2004. [2] To cite an excellent excerpt from this review:
“The author's thesis is that under the action of the sun's energy, substances which are thermodynamically stable in the early conditions of the earth are transformed into various products of photosynthesis, those transforms 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. These structures are formed into micro- and macrovolumes of the system.”
As the book was printed in Russian with only 100-copies, however, Thims abandoned his short-term efforts to find the works of Gladyshev. By 2005, however, Thims had stumbled upon the 142-page 1997 English version of Gladyshev's work among a other papers of his. Thims was very impressed and stimulated by Gladyshev's work, particularly his use of a "thermostat" criterion to define evolving microvolumes within volumes in relation to biospheric hierarchies, as well as his use of the integral value of the specific Gibbs function corresponding to the formation of averaged local “evolved” conformation of aggregated supramolecular structures per unit volume, and in particular his appendix section on "Differential Equations of Macrothermodynamics: Systems and Processes", wherein he outlines the use of the the combined law of thermodynamics:
in complex hierarchic natural evolving systems. In this expression, T denotes temperature, S the entropy, U the internal energy, p pressure, V volume, Xk any generalized force except pressure, xk any generalized coordinate except volume, ηk chemical potential, mk the mass of the k-th substance, which can be replaced by the number of moles. [3] Prior to this, Thims had never spent much time considering the effects and understanding of "volumes" or "generalized forces" in relation to human molecules interacting in human thermodynamic systems. This new perspective convinced him that a complete mastery of Gibbs On the Equilibrium of Heterogeneous Substances would be essential to the necessary development of a rigorous differential form of human thermodynamics.
In 2005, Thims contacted Gladyshev via email and over the next two-years, on a weekly basis, they exchanged ideas and built theory together. Gladyshev twice flew out from Moscow to meet with Thims, once in June of 2006 and second time on December 12 of 2007. This visits coincided with Gladyshev’s lectures at the 14th annual International Anti-Aging Congress and Exposition in Chicago and at the 2007 Exposition in Las Vegas, wherein Gladyshev’s anti-
aging hierarchical thermodynamics and Thims’ human thermodynamics, human chemistry, and human molecules were discussed. [4]
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Fallout
In 2009, Thims wrote a letter to Gladyshev stating that he was now under the view that life was a defunct scientific theory.
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In 2011, Gladyshev started the debate tread "defunct theory of life" (
ΡΊ), at the end of which Gladyshev retreated into a non-communication state with Thims, and they never communicated again, Gladyshev siding with an
emergence view of life, Thims with
abioism and the nonexistence of life.
References
1. (a) Gladyshev, Georgi, P. (1978). "On the Thermodynamics of Biological Evolution", Journal of Theoretical Biology, Vol. 75, Issue 4, Dec 21, pp. 425-441.
(b) Gladyshev, Georgi, P. (1997). Thermodynamic Theory of the Evolution of Living Beings. Commack, New York: Nova Science Publishers.
2. Lipatov, Yuri S. (1997). "Book Review: Thermodynamic Theory of the Evolution of Life Forms", Journal of Biological Physics, 23: 129-31.
3. Gladyshev, G. P. (2000). Differential Expressions for Macrothermodynamics Systems and Processes, International Academy of Creative Endeavors [Moscow, Russia].
4. Gladyshev, Georgi, P. (2007). The invited and guest speakers. The lecture: "Hierarchical thermodynamics – general theory of existence and living world development: model of aging and anti-aging quality of foods and medicines." The 15th Annual World Congress on Anti-Aging Medicine & Regenerative Biomedical Technologies, held at The Venetian Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada, on December 12-15, 2007. American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine.
