The Science and Philosophy of the "Thermodynamic School" of Evolution
This paper was written by Motoyosi Sugita and published in 1951. Odum writes that Sugita “uses examples such as stream capture in land drainage” to suggest that “systems tend to maximize power in their organizational work” (Odum, 1983, p. 118). Sugita was one of the top theoretical physicists in Japan before, during, and after World…
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This paper was written by L. M. Martyushev and V. D. Seleznev and published in 2006. The abstract states: “The tendency of the entropy to a maximum as an isolated system is relaxed to the equilibrium (the second law of thermodynamics) has been known since the mid-19th century. However, independent theoretical and applied studies, which…
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This essay was written by Charles A. S. Hall and published in 2004. Hall worked with H. T. Odum as a graduate student and wrote this article just after Odum passed away in 2002. Hall, C.A.S. 2004. The continuing importance of maximum power. Ecological Modeling 178: 107-113.
This book was written by H. T. Odum and Elisabeth C. Odum and published in 2001. In it they argue that when societies pass the peek of their ability to use fossil fuels, there will be evolutionary selection for societies that develop more efficient ways of living. They describe how this transition can be handled…
This paper was written by H. T. Odum, W. E. Odum, E. P. Odum and published in 1995. Odum, W. E., Odum, E. P., Odum, H. T. 1995. Nature’s Pulsing Paradigm. Estuaries and Coasts 18: 547-555.
This paper was written by H. T. Odum and published in 1995. In it he discusses his maximum empower principle and, among many other things, he mentions how Martinez-Alier (1987) discusses how a number of writers in the mid-19th century were working on similar ideas, and he describes the relation between the maximum power principle…
This paper was written by H. T. Odum and published in 1983. It replies to a paper written by William Silvert in 1981 that criticized Odum and Pinkerton’s 1955 paper. Odum in this paper clarifies that “The Atwood’s machine was not the basis for our general derivation but was a special case used as an…
This book was written by H. T. Odum and published in 1983. It provides a comprehensive introduction to Odum’s unique view of systems ecology. He provides a definition of the maximum power principle developed by Lotka: “systems prevail that develop designs that maximize the flow of useful energy” (p. 6). He describes how there is…
This paper was written by H. T. Odum and published in 1982. It describes the relation between the maximum power principle and pulsing paradigm, and, among other things, explains how the maximum power principle is consistent with the minimum entropy production principle developed by Prigogine and Wiame. Their principle applies to systems near equilibrium where…
This paper was written by H. T. Odum and John Regnald Richardson and published in 1981. Odum, H. T., Richardson, J. R. 1981. “Power and a Pulsing Production Model.” In W. J. Mitsch, R. W. Bosserman, and J. M. Klopatek (eds), Energy and Ecological Modelling: Developments in Environmental Modeling 1. New York, NY: Elsevier Scientific…