Understanding the complex world around us is a difficult task and simple principles that
capture essential features of complex natural systems are always welcome. One such …

This article reviews the growing body of scientific work in artificial chemistry. First, common
motivations and fundamental concepts are introduced. Second, current research activities …

This article argues that the agent‐based computational model permits a distinctive approach
to social science for which the term “generative” is suitable. In defending this terminology …

So, aside from precisely defining what emergence is, any philosophical defense of
emergence should aim to explain-ideally, explain away-its apparently illegitimate …

The continuity of abiotically formed bilayer membraneswith similar structures in
contemporary cellular life, and the requirement for microenvironments in whichlarge and …

Assembling non-biological materials (geomaterials) into a proto-organism constitutes a
bridge between nonliving and living matter. In this article we present a simple step-by-step …

The formal structure of evolutionary theory is based upon the dynamics of alleles, individuals
and populations. As such, the theory must assume the prior existence of these entities. This …

Mutually catalytic sets of simple organic molecules have been suggested to be capable of
self-replication and rudimentary chemical evolution. Previous models for the behavior of …

Autocatalysis is essential for the origin of life and chemical evolution. However, the lack of a
unified framework so far prevents a systematic study of autocatalysis. Here, we derive, from …

Organisms have disappeared as fundamental entities from modern biology, replaced by
genes and their products as the primary determinants of selected characters. This is a …