This paper was written by Enrico Sciubba and published in 2011. It critically analyzes the maximum power principle, focusing primarily on Alfred Lotka’s formulation of the principle. Sciubba concludes that the weakness of Lotka’s view of evolution appears to be his insistence on the validity of a maximum principle. Sciubba suggests that contemporary scientists are more inclined to believe that two principles are needed to explain the development of natural systems: systems near equilibrium tend to evolve with maximum efficiency, while those far from equilibrium tend to dissipate energy the fastest way possible (Sciubba, 2011, p. 1352). Sciubba’s argument also applies to Odum’s MPP.
In my recent book, Maximum Power and its Philosophical Roots, I take issue with Sciubba’s conclusion. Both of the principles that Sciubba describes contemporary scientists adopting can be considered consistent with the relation between power, efficiency, speed, and exergy Odum and Pinkerton describe in their formulation of the maximum power principle (MPP) (1955); they are also consistent with Lotka’s formulation of what he actually refers to as the principle of maximum energy flux (1922). As discussed in section 4.3 of my book, Odum stated that when systems approach equilibrium and the available energy decreases, the optimum efficiency needed to maximize useful power output increases. For this reason, Odum argues that the minimum entropy production principle developed by Prigogine and Wiame is not an exception to the MPP; it is consistent with it, a special case of it: when the exergy is limited, systems that are more efficient and minimize entropy production will maximize the power that is “available” under these conditions (1982, p. 35; 1983a, p. 7; 1983b, p. 79). In his critical assessment of the MPP, Sciubba does not realize that the two principles he describes contemporary scientists adopting are both consistent with the MPP when it is understood as applying in a manner that is compatible with the constraints on systems (2011, p. 1352).
Sciubba, E. 2011. What did Lotka really say? A critical reassessment of the “maximum power principle.” Ecological Modeling 222: 1347-1353.