>Also, is John Minger's latest book on Autopoiesis good?
Yes, for anyone uncertain about what autopoiesis is and wish to obtain a rock
steady perspective on it then this is the book for you. Minger has an extremely
inflexible view of autopoiesis (a little too flexible in my opinion) which
serves the purpose of ridding the field of many confusions and misconceptions.
The only thing I really miss in his book, though, is a thorough examination of
dissipative systems. He avoids this topic completely - unfortunately. But I
guess that is a general problem. The two fields have not yet successfully been
intertwined in detail. Autopoiesis cannot currently be defined in terms of
the formalism of dissipative systems. This may be the largest remaining obsticle
for autopoiesis.
Onar.