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Daniel J Nicholson

@djnicholson.bsky.social

1.6K followers 280 following 18 posts

Integrating the History, Philosophy, & Theory of Biology

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Daniel J Nicholson @djnicholson.bsky.social · 2d

My little book on Schrödinger's famous classic 'What Is Life?' is out! Offering the most comprehensive analysis ever undertaken of the book's origins, reception, impact, and legacy, it uncovers Schrödinger's motivations in writing it, and shows how it has shaped our current understanding of the cell

What Is Life? Revisited

Cambridge Core - Philosophy: General Interest - What Is Life? Revisited

www.cambridge.org

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Daniel J Nicholson @djnicholson.bsky.social · 8h

The flip side is that because Schrödinger's ideas lent themselves to numerous (often contradictory) interpretations, their influence was magnified as a result. Readers of WIL have found in it whatever they happened to be looking for, which is why the book means different things to different people.

Daniel J Nicholson @djnicholson.bsky.social · 11h

But the importance of negative entropy for Schrödinger's view of life has been overstated and misconstrued. Schrödinger is not the apostle of self-organization that proponents of non-equilibrium thermodynamics have made him out to be. In fact he is saying the opposite of what they think he's saying.

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Daniel J Nicholson @djnicholson.bsky.social · 11h

As I show in my book, Schrödinger's idea of 'negative entropy' has been interpreted in a variety of different ways. Proponents of cybernetics and information theory on the one hand and of non-equilibrium thermodynamics on the other have drawn on it for different purposes.

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Daniel J Nicholson @djnicholson.bsky.social · 11h

Thanks Christian! Monod's C&N builds on many of the themes in WIL. In fact, in my book I argue that the former represents the realization of the biological vision of the latter. And you're right that Monod articulates it more explicitly. Life is based on OFO according to Schrödinger hence my focus

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Daniel J Nicholson @djnicholson.bsky.social · 1d

Nice! That sounds quite close to my interpretation. Would love to read your analysis; did you publish it?

Daniel J Nicholson @djnicholson.bsky.social · 2d

¡Gracias, Alejandro! Este proyecto ha sido toda una odisea, pero me alegra mucho poder compartirlo por fin con el mundo. Verás que te agradezco explícitamente en un pie de página los datos que encontrastes en los archivos de CUP, y también al final, por supuesto :) Un abrazo

Daniel J Nicholson @djnicholson.bsky.social · 2d

Thanks Kevin!

Daniel J Nicholson @djnicholson.bsky.social · 2d

Thanks Ehud! I'm curious to hear what you make of it!

Daniel J Nicholson @djnicholson.bsky.social · 2d

Thanks Chris. And hope the conference today goes well! I wil try to catch some of it online.

Daniel J Nicholson @djnicholson.bsky.social · 2d

What Is Life? Revisited

Cambridge Core - Philosophy: General Interest - What Is Life? Revisited

www.cambridge.org

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Daniel J Nicholson @djnicholson.bsky.social · Aug 25

¡¡Enhorabuena, Alejandro!! 🎉🎉🎉

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Daniel J Nicholson @djnicholson.bsky.social · Aug 22

I think the reasons are not just institutional. Historians of science should have the freedom to do whatever they want, but they should not be terribly surprised when scientists ignore them. In any case they don't own history. The history of science is far too important to be left only to historians

Daniel J Nicholson @djnicholson.bsky.social · Aug 21

Historians tend to write for other historians, not for scientists (or philosophers, for that matter)

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Reposted by Daniel J Nicholson

Philippe huneman @philippehune.bsky.social · Aug 2

If you missed that great Cognizing life conference in Tubingen organized by Christoph Hueck two weeks ago, here are the videos of the presentations. Talks by Denis Walsh, Joan Steigerwald, Dan Nicholson and many others.
www.clc2025.de/videos

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Reposted by Daniel J Nicholson

Jim Lowe @jwelowe.bsky.social · Jul 22

Weds 14:30/16:30 #ISHPSSB2025 - Biological Variation: Theory and Practice

With @djnicholson.bsky.social, Marlene van den Bos, Alan C. Love, Staffan Müller-Wille, Greg Radick, @rosetrappes.bsky.social, Cristina Villegas

Explore variation across distinct epistemic & ontological frameworks with us!

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Daniel J Nicholson @djnicholson.bsky.social · Jul 17

Really looking forward to this, Phil! (And to finally meeting you in person)

Reposted by Daniel J Nicholson

Vera Straetmanns @yavannakemi.bsky.social · Jul 15

Looking forward to the "Cognizing Life Conference 2025", 16.-19. July! With talks by @djnicholson.bsky.social, @dalianassar.bsky.social, @gregoryrupik.bsky.social, @philippehune.bsky.social and many more! You can participate online, all info here: www.clc2025.de
#HPBio #PhilSci #HistSci

Screenshot of the website for the Cognizing Life Conference 2025.

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Daniel J Nicholson @djnicholson.bsky.social · Jun 16

Every biological entity is unique; no two are exactly alike. Is this a trivial observation, or a profound metaphysical claim about the living world? Read my new paper & find out! It deals with Mayr's "Population Thinking"; one of the most familiar yet tragically misunderstood ideas in all of biology

Population Thinking and the Uniqueness of Biological Entities - Acta Biotheoretica

Acta Biotheoretica - The concept of ‘population thinking’ was introduced by Ernst Mayr in the mid-twentieth century and it has since become one of the most pervasive notions in the...

link.springer.com

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Reposted by Daniel J Nicholson

Ehud @duhe.bsky.social · Jan 24

This is a very NEAT piece about biomolecular condensates from @philipcball.bsky.social chronicling fascinating discoveries. On the philosophical implications of a lot of this you should read @djnicholson.bsky.social.
A brief ego thread on how this relates to my work on genomes follows. 1/4

Mysterious Blobs in Cells Are Changing the Way We Understand Life

Tiny specks called biomolecular condensates are leading to a new understanding of the cell

www.scientificamerican.com

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Daniel J Nicholson @djnicholson.bsky.social · Jan 26

Thanks for the kind shout-out Ehud. Phil's article is great. And interesting to read how your work intersects with some of these issues. I'm planning to write much more about this when time allows

Daniel J Nicholson @djnicholson.bsky.social · Jan 8

Here's another prominent example of a Phil Sci book written in dialogue form

Daniel J Nicholson @djnicholson.bsky.social · Oct 1

So glad you enjoyed it, Greg!

Reposted by Daniel J Nicholson

Gregory Kohn @kohngregory.bsky.social · Sep 29

Just came across @djnicholson.bsky.social's wonderful biography of one of my favorite biologists,E. S. Russell. philpapers.org/archive/NICE...

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