| New Cambridge Center Emerges |
|
29 April 2005, for Science "Emergence"—the idea that things are more than the sum of their parts—is "one of the most compelling new concepts in science," according to the John Templeton Foundation in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania. It's used to explain everything from the coalescence of dust into stars to the rise of intelligent organisms. So the foundation is supporting a new group at Cambridge University, the Cambridge Templeton Consortium, which starting this summer plans to hand out $3 million in grants for research on the emergence of complex systems in three areas: biochemistry, evolution, and cognition. Inspired by the idea that the universe would have been a nonstarter if fundamental physical constants were slightly different, the consortium wants to look for similar fine-tuning in biology. "I am convinced that there are deep structures in biology, and evolution navigates over them," says paleontologist Simon Conway Morris, the consortium's director. If such structures exist, he holds, humans might still emerge if evolution had to start over again on Earth, and life on other planets could be much like ours. Molecular biologist Steven Benner of the University of Florida, Gainesville, applauds the initiative. "There is a strong need in the biomolecular sciences" to address questions such as "Why is life the way that it is?" he says. Others are skeptical. "I don't think that a scientific-theological-philosophical mélange is going to make a significant contribution" to scientific knowledge, says paleobiologist Doug Erwin of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. It's worth a shot, though, argues Conway Morris: "This is very much an experiment." |