In his seminal and pioneering work on the social context of science, Ludwick Fleck [2] argues that ideas acquire “magical power” simply by being used. “Information” is a concept that has acquired magical power despite the fact that its specific context of use—Shannon's theory of communication—was far removed from various fields in which it has been applied, such as biology. In retrospect, one cannot separate the magical power information has acquired from the revolutionary success of information technology and its widespread use. Nevertheless, the meaning of information and its relevance as an organizing concept for other fields of inquiry, such as biology, is far from clear. In this context, examining the meaning and role of information in living systems is a welcomed venture.
The current book has 13 chapters organized around (1) the definition of life, (2) information and biological organization, and (3) information and the biology of...