TEST
by discipline concepts of modern natural science
Topic No. 9
"Structural levels of organization of matter"
Plan:
Introduction………………………………………………………… ….……………..2
- The role of systemic representations in the analysis of the structural levels of the organization of matter……………….………………………………………2
Structural levels of living……………………………………………..6
The essence of the macrocosm, microcosm and megacosm………………………….7
- Microworld……………………………………………………………..… …………..8
- Macroworld……………………………………………………………..… …………11
- Megaworld…………………………………………………………… ……12
- Analysis of the classical and modern understanding of the concept of the macroworld……………………………………………………………….…13
Introduction.
All objects of nature (living and inanimate nature) can be represented as a system with features that characterize their levels of organization. The concept of structural levels of living matter includes representations of systemicity and the organization of the integrity of living organisms associated with it. Living matter is discrete, i.e. is divided into constituent parts of a lower organization that have certain functions.
Structural levels differ not only in complexity classes, but also in the patterns of functioning. The hierarchical structure is such that each higher level does not control, but includes the lower one. Taking into account the level of organization, it is possible to consider the hierarchy of the organization structures of material objects of animate and inanimate nature. Such a hierarchy of structures begins with elementary particles and ends with living communities. The concept of structural levels was first proposed in the 20s of our century. In accordance with it, the structural levels differ not only in classes of complexity, but in the patterns of functioning. The concept includes a hierarchy of structural levels, in which each subsequent level is included in the previous one.
- The role of system concepts in the analysis of structural levels of the organization of matter.
Matter (lat. Materia - substance), “...a philosophical category to designate objective reality, which is given to a person in his senses, which is copied, photographed, displayed by our senses, existing independently of us.”
Matter is an infinite set of all objects and systems existing in the world, the substrate of any properties, connections, relationships and forms of movement. Matter includes not only all directly observable objects and bodies of nature, but also all those that, in principle, can be known in the future on the basis of improving the means of observation and experiment.
IN modern science The ideas about the structure of the material world are based on a systematic approach, according to which any object of the material world (atom, organism, galaxy and the Universe itself) can be considered as a complex formation, including component parts organized into integrity.
Basic principles of the systems approach:
- Integrity, which allows us to simultaneously consider the system as a single whole and at the same time as a subsystem for higher levels.
Hierarchy of the structure, that is, the presence of many (at least two) elements located on the basis of the subordination of lower-level elements to higher-level elements. The implementation of this principle is clearly visible in the example of any specific organization. As you know, any organization is an interaction of two subsystems: the managing and the managed. One is subordinate to the other.
Structuring, which allows you to analyze the elements of the system and their relationships within a specific organizational structure. As a rule, the process of functioning of a system is determined not so much by the properties of its individual elements as by the properties of the structure itself.
Multiplicity, allowing the use of many cybernetic, economic and mathematical models to describe individual elements and the system as a whole.
To denote the integrity of objects in science, the concept of “system” was developed.
A system is a complex of elements that interact. Translated from Greek, it is a whole made up of parts, a connection.
The concept of “element” means a minimal, then indivisible component within a given system. A system can consist not only of homogeneous objects, but also heterogeneous ones. It can be simple or complex in structure. A complex system consists of elements, which in turn form subsystems of different levels of complexity and hierarchy.
Each system is characterized not only by the presence of connections and relationships between its constituent elements, but also by its inextricable unity with the environment.
Various types of systems can be distinguished:
- by the nature of the connection between the parts and the whole - inorganic and organic;
by forms of motion of matter - mechanical, physical, chemical, physico-chemical;
in relation to movement - statistical and dynamic;
by type of change - non-functional, functional, developing;
by the nature of exchange with the environment - open and closed;
by degree of organization - simple and complex;
by level of development - lower and higher;
by nature of origin - natural, artificial, mixed;
in the direction of development - progressive and regressive.
Stable connections between elements determine the orderliness of the system. There are two types of connections between system elements - horizontally and vertically.
“Horizontal” connections are coordination connections between same-order elements. They are correlated in nature: no part of the system can change without other parts changing.
“Vertical” connections are connections of subordination, that is, subordination of elements. They express the complex internal structure of the system, where some parts may be inferior in importance to others and be subordinate to them. The vertical structure includes levels of system organization, as well as their hierarchy.
Consequently, the starting point of any systemic research is the idea of the integrity of the system being studied.
The integrity of the system means that all its component parts, interacting and connecting together, form a unique whole that has new system properties.
The properties of a system are not just the sum of the properties of its elements, but something new, inherent only to the system as a whole.
So, according to modern scientific views on nature, all natural objects are ordered, structured, hierarchically organized systems.
In the natural sciences, two large classes of material systems are distinguished: systems of inanimate nature and systems of living nature.
Systems of inanimate nature include elementary particles and fields, physical vacuum, atoms, molecules, macroscopic bodies, planets and planetary systems, stars, galaxies and the system of galaxies - the Metagalaxy.
Systems of living nature include biopolymers (information molecules), cells, multicellular organisms, populations, biocenoses and the biosphere as the totality of all living organisms.
In nature, everything is interconnected, so we can distinguish systems that include elements of both living and inanimate nature – biogeocenoses and the Earth’s biosphere.
- Structural levels of living things.
Biosphere – including the entire totality of living organisms on Earth along with their natural environment. At this level, biological science solves such a problem as changes in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Using this approach, scientists have found that recently the concentration of carbon dioxide has increased annually by 0.4%, creating the danger of a global increase in temperature, the emergence of the so-called “greenhouse effect.”
Level of biocenoses expresses the next stage of the structure of living things, consisting of sections of the Earth with a certain composition of living and non-living components, representing a single natural complex, an ecosystem. Rational use of nature is impossible without knowledge of the structure and functioning of biogeocenoses, or ecosystems.
Population-species level is formed by freely interbreeding individuals of the same species. Its study is important for identifying factors influencing population sizes.
Organismal and organ-tissue levels reflect the characteristics of individual individuals, their structure, physiology, behavior, as well as the structure and functions of organs and tissues of living beings.
Cellular and subcellular levels reflect the processes of cell specialization, as well as various intracellular inclusions.
Molecular level is the subject of molecular biology, one of the most important problems of which is the study of the mechanisms of transmission of genetic information and the development of genetic engineering and biotechnology.
The division of living matter into levels is, of course, very conditional. The solution to specific biological problems, such as the regulation of species numbers, is based on data on all levels of living things. But all biologists agree that in the living world there are stepped levels, a kind of hierarchy. The idea of them clearly reflects a systematic approach to the study of nature, which helps to better understand it.
The fundamental basis of the living world is the cell. Her research helps to understand the specifics of all living things.
- The essence of the macrocosm, microcosm and megacosm.
The criteria for identifying different structural levels are the following:
- spatiotemporal scales;
a set of essential properties;
specific laws of motion;
the degree of relative complexity arising in the process of historical development of matter in a given area of the world;
some other signs.
Microworld.
The prefix "micro" refers to very small sizes. Thus, we can say that a microcosm is something small.
The microworld is molecules, atoms, elementary particles - the world of extremely small, not directly observable micro-objects, the spatial dimension of which is calculated from 10 -8 to 10 -16 cm, and the lifetime is from infinity to 10 -24 seconds.
In philosophy, man is studied as a microcosm, and in physics, the concepts of modern natural science, molecules are studied as a microcosm.
The microworld has its own characteristics, which can be expressed as follows:
1) the units of distance (m, km, etc.) used by humans are simply pointless to use;
2) it is also pointless to use units of measurement of human weight (g, kg, pounds, etc.).
In antiquity, Democritus put forward the Atomistic hypothesis of the structure of matter; later, in the 18th century, it was revived by the chemist J. Dalton, who took the atomic weight of hydrogen as one and compared the atomic weights of other gases with it.
Thanks to the works of J. Dalton, the physical and chemical properties of the atom began to be studied. In the 19th century, D.I. Mendeleev built a system of chemical elements based on their atomic weight.
In physics, the concept of atoms as the last indivisible structural elements of matter came from chemistry. Actually, physical studies of the atom begin at the end of the 19th century, when the French physicist A. A. Becquerel discovered the phenomenon of radioactivity, which consisted in the spontaneous transformation of atoms of some elements into atoms of other elements.
The history of research into the structure of the atom began in 1895 thanks to the discovery by J. Thomson of the electron, a negatively charged particle that is part of all atoms.
Since electrons have a negative charge, and the atom as a whole is electrically neutral, it was assumed that in addition to the electron there is a positively charged particle. The mass of the electron was calculated to be 1/1836 of the mass of a positively charged particle.
There were several models of the structure of the atom.
In 1902, the English physicist W. Thomson (Lord Kelvin) proposed the first model of the atom - a positive charge is distributed over a fairly large area, and electrons are interspersed with it, like “raisins in pudding.”
In 1911, E. Rutherford proposed a model of the atom that resembled the solar system: in the center there is an atomic nucleus, and electrons move around it in their orbits.
The nucleus has a positive charge and the electrons have a negative charge. Instead of the gravitational forces acting in the solar system, electrical forces act in the atom. The electric charge of the nucleus of an atom, numerically equal to the serial number in the periodic system of Mendeleev, is balanced by the sum of the charges of the electrons - the atom is electrically neutral.
Both of these models turned out to be contradictory.
In 1913, the great Danish physicist N. Bohr applied the principle of quantization to solve the problem of the structure of the atom and the characteristics of atomic spectra.
N. Bohr's model of the atom was based on the planetary model of E. Rutherford and on the quantum theory of atomic structure developed by him. N. Bohr put forward a hypothesis about the structure of the atom, based on two postulates that are completely incompatible with classical physics:
1) in each atom there are several stationary states.
2) when an electron transitions from one stationary state to another, the atom emits or absorbs a portion of energy.
Ultimately, it is fundamentally impossible to accurately describe the structure of an atom based on the idea of the orbits of point electrons, since such orbits do not actually exist.
N. Bohr's theory represents, as it were, the borderline of the first stage in the development of modern physics. This is the latest effort to describe the structure of the atom based on classical physics, supplementing it with only a small number of new assumptions.
It seemed that N. Bohr's postulates reflected some new, unknown properties of matter, but only partially. Answers to these questions were obtained as a result of the development of quantum mechanics. It turned out that N. Bohr's atomic model should not be taken literally, as it was at the beginning. Processes in the atom, in principle, cannot be visually represented in the form of mechanical models by analogy with events in the macrocosm. Even the concepts of space and time in the form existing in the macroworld turned out to be unsuitable for describing microphysical phenomena. The theoretical physicists' atom increasingly became an abstract, unobservable sum of equations.
Macroworld.
Naturally, there are objects that are much larger in size than objects in the microworld. These objects make up the macrocosm. The macroworld is “inhabited” only by those objects that are comparable in size to the size of a person. Man himself can also be considered an object of the macrocosm.
The macrocosm has a rather complex organization. Its smallest element is the atom, and its largest system is the planet Earth. It includes both non-living systems and living systems of various levels. Each level of organization of the macroworld contains both microstructures and macrostructures. For example, molecules seem to belong to the microcosm, since they are not directly observed by us. But, on the one hand, the largest structure of the microcosm is the atom. And we now have the opportunity to see even part of a hydrogen atom using the latest generation microscopes. On the other hand, there are huge molecules that are extremely complex in their structure, for example, the DNA of the nucleus can be almost one centimeter long. This value is already quite comparable with our experience, and if the molecule were thicker, we would see it with the naked eye.
All substances, whether solid or liquid, are made up of molecules. Molecules form crystal lattices, ores, rocks, and other objects, i.e. what we can feel, see, etc. However, despite such huge formations as mountains and oceans, these are all molecules connected to each other. Molecules are a new level of organization; they all consist of atoms, which in these systems are considered indivisible, i.e. elements of the system.
Both the physical level of organization of the macrocosm and the chemical level deal with molecules and various states of matter. However, the chemical level is much more complex. It is not reduced to the physical, which considers the structure of substances, their physical properties, movement (all this was studied within the framework of classical physics), at least in terms of the complexity of chemical processes and the reactivity of substances.
At the biological level of organization of the macrocosm, in addition to molecules, we usually cannot see cells without a microscope. But there are cells that reach enormous sizes, for example, the axons of octopus neurons are one meter long or even more. At the same time, all cells have certain similar features: they consist of membranes, microtubules, many have nuclei and organelles. All membranes and organelles, in turn, consist of giant molecules (proteins, lipids, etc.), and these molecules consist of atoms. Therefore, both giant information molecules (DNA, RNA, enzymes) and cells are micro-levels of the biological level of organization of matter, which includes such huge formations as biocenoses and the biosphere.
Megaworld.
The Megaworld is a world of objects that are disproportionately larger than humans.
Our entire Universe is a megaworld. Its size is enormous, it is limitless and constantly expanding. The Universe is filled with objects that are much larger than our planet Earth and our Sun. It often happens that the difference between any star outside the solar system is tens of times greater than the Earth.
Modern science considers the megaworld, or space, as an interacting and developing system of all celestial bodies. The megaworld has a systemic organization in the form of planets and planetary systems that arise around stars, stars and stellar systems - galaxies; systems of galaxies - Metagalaxies.
The study of the megaworld is closely related to cosmology and cosmogony.
Cosmogony is a branch of the science of astronomy that studies the origin of galaxies, stars, planets, and other objects. Today cosmogony can be divided into two parts:
1) cosmogony of the Solar system. This part (or type) of cosmogony is otherwise called planetary;
2) stellar cosmogony.
And although all these levels have their own specific laws, the microworld, macroworld and megaworld are closely interconnected.
- Analysis of the classical and modern understanding of the concept of the macrocosm.
The most significant for the subsequent development of natural sciences was the concept of the discrete structure of matter - atomism, according to which all bodies consist of atoms - the smallest particles in the world.
The starting principles in atomism were atoms and emptiness. The essence of natural processes was explained on the basis of the mechanical interaction of atoms, their attraction and repulsion.
Since modern scientific ideas about the structural levels of the organization of matter were developed in the course of a critical rethinking of the ideas of classical science, applicable only to macro-level objects, the study must begin with the concepts of classical physics.
I. Newton, relying on the works of Galileo, developed a strict scientific theory of mechanics, which describes both the movement of celestial bodies and the movement of earthly objects by the same laws. Nature was viewed as a complex mechanical system. Matter was considered as a material substance consisting of individual particles of atoms or corpuscles. Atoms are absolutely strong, indivisible, impenetrable, characterized by the presence of mass and weight.
Movement was considered as movement in space along continuous trajectories in accordance with the laws of mechanics. It was believed that all physical processes can be reduced to the movement of material points under the influence of gravity, which is long-range
Following Newtonian mechanics, hydrodynamics, the theory of elasticity, the mechanical theory of heat, molecular kinetic theory and a number of others were created, in line with which physics has achieved enormous success. However, there were two areas - optical and electromagnetic phenomena that could not be fully explained within the framework of the mechanistic picture of the world.
While developing optics, I. Newton, following the logic of his teaching, considered light to be a flow of material particles - corpuscles. In I. Newton's corpuscular theory of light, it was argued that luminous bodies emit tiny particles that move in accordance with the laws of mechanics and cause a sensation of light when entering the eye. On the basis of this theory, I. Newton explained the laws of reflection and refraction of light.
Along with the mechanical corpuscular theory, attempts were made to explain optical phenomena in a fundamentally different way, namely, on the basis of the wave theory formulated by H. Huygens. H. Huygens considered the main argument in favor of his theory to be the fact that two rays of light, intersecting, penetrate each other without any interference, exactly like two rows of waves on water.
According to the corpuscular theory, between beams of emitted particles, such as light, collisions or at least some kind of disturbance would occur. Based on the wave theory, H. Huygens successfully explained the reflection and refraction of light.
However, there was one important objection to it. As you know, waves flow around obstacles. But a ray of light, propagating in a straight line, cannot flow around obstacles. If an opaque body with a sharp edge is placed in the path of a light ray, then its shadow will have a sharp edge. However, this objection was soon removed thanks to the experiments of Grimaldi. With more subtle observation using magnifying lenses, it was discovered that at the boundaries of sharp shadows one could see weak areas of illumination in the form of alternating light and dark stripes or halos. This phenomenon was called diffraction of light.
The wave theory of light was again put forward in the first decades of the 19th century by the English physicist T. Young and the French naturalist O. J. Fresnel. T. Jung gave an explanation for the phenomenon of interference, i.e. the appearance of dark stripes when light is applied to light. Its essence can be described using a paradoxical statement: light added to light does not necessarily produce stronger light, but can produce weaker light and even darkness. The reason for this is that, according to the wave theory, light is not a flow of material particles, but vibrations of an elastic medium, or wave motion. When chains of waves in opposite phases overlap each other, where the crest of one wave coincides with the trough of another, they destroy each other, resulting in dark stripes.
Another area of physics where mechanical models proved inadequate was the area of electromagnetic phenomena. The experiments of the English naturalist M. Faraday and the theoretical works of the English physicist J. C. Maxwell finally destroyed the ideas of Newtonian physics about discrete matter as the only type of matter and laid the foundation for the electromagnetic picture of the world. The phenomenon of electromagnetism was discovered by the Danish naturalist H.K. Oersted, who first noticed the magnetic effect of electric currents.
Later, M. Faraday came to the conclusion that the study of electricity and optics are interconnected and form a single field. His works became the starting point for the research of J.C. Maxwell, whose merit lies in the mathematical development of M. Faraday's ideas about magnetism and electricity.
Having generalized the laws of electromagnetic phenomena previously established experimentally (Coulomb, Ampere) and the phenomenon of electromagnetic induction discovered by M. Faraday, Maxwell found a system of differential equations describing the electromagnetic field in a purely mathematical way. This system of equations provides, within the limits of its applicability, a complete description of electromagnetic phenomena and is as perfect and logically coherent a theory as the system of Newtonian mechanics.
From the equations followed the most important conclusion about the possibility of independent existence of a field not “tied” to electric charges. IN
etc................. Introduction 2
1.What is matter. History of the emergence of the view of matter 3
2. Structural levels of organization of matter:
2.1 microworld 6
2.2 macroworld 7
2.3 megaworlds 13
Conclusion 24
References 25
- Introduction
- What is matter? The history of the emergence of the view of matter
Matter is an infinite set of all objects and systems existing in the world, the substrate of any properties, connections, relationships and forms of movement. Matter includes not only all directly observable objects and bodies of nature, but also all those that, in principle, can be known in the future on the basis of improving the means of observation and experiment. From the point of view of the Marxist-Leninist understanding of matter, it is organically connected with the dialectical-materialist solution to the main question of philosophy; it proceeds from the principle of the material unity of the world, the primacy of matter in relation to human consciousness and the principle of the knowability of the world on the basis of a consistent study of specific properties, connections and forms of movement of matter.
The basis of ideas about the structure of the material world is a systems approach, according to which any object of the material world, be it an atom, planet, organism or galaxy, can be considered as a complex formation, including component parts organized into integrity. To denote the integrity of objects in science, the concept of a system was developed.
Matter as an objective reality includes not only matter in its four states of aggregation (solid, liquid, gaseous, plasma), but also physical fields (electromagnetic, gravitational, nuclear, etc.), as well as their properties, relationships, products interactions. It also includes antimatter (a set of antiparticles: positron, or antielectron, antiproton, antineutron), recently discovered by science. Antimatter is by no means antimatter. Antimatter cannot exist at all.
Movement and matter are organically and inextricably linked with each other: there is no movement without matter, just as there is no matter without movement. In other words, there are no unchanging things, properties and relationships in the world. “Everything flows”, everything changes. Some forms or types are replaced by others, transform into others - movement is constant. Peace is a dialectically disappearing moment in the continuous process of change and becoming. Absolute peace is tantamount to death, or rather, non-existence. One can understand in this regard A. Bergson, who considered all reality as an indivisible moving continuity. Or A.N. Whitehead, for whom “reality is a process.” Both motion and rest are definitely fixed only in relation to some frame of reference. Thus, the table at which these lines are written is at rest relative to the given room, which, in turn, is at rest relative to the given house, and the house itself is at rest relative to the Earth. But together with the Earth, the table, room and house move around the earth’s axis and around the Sun.
Moving matter exists in two main forms - in space and in time. The concept of space serves to express the properties of extension and order of coexistence of material systems and their states. It is objective, universal (universal form) and necessary. The concept of time fixes the duration and sequence of changes in the states of material systems. Time is objective, inevitable and irreversible. It is necessary to distinguish between philosophical and natural scientific ideas about space and time. The philosophical approach itself is represented here by four concepts of space and time: substantial and relational, static and dynamic.
The founder of the view of matter as consisting of discrete particles was Democritus.
Democritus denied the infinite divisibility of matter. Atoms differ from each other only in shape, order of mutual succession, and position in empty space, as well as in size and gravity, which depends on the size. They have infinitely varied shapes with depressions or bulges. Democritus also calls atoms “figures” or “figurines”, from which it follows that the atoms of Democritus are the smallest, further indivisible figures or figurines. In modern science there has been much debate about whether Democritus' atoms are physical or geometric bodies, but Democritus himself has not yet come to the distinction between physics and geometry. From these atoms moving in different directions, from their “vortex”, by natural necessity, through the bringing together of mutually similar atoms, both individual whole bodies and the whole world are formed; the movement of atoms is eternal, and the number of emerging worlds is infinite.
The world of objective reality accessible to humans is constantly expanding. The conceptual forms of expressing the idea of structural levels of matter are diverse.
Modern science identifies three structural levels in the world.
2 . Structural levels of matter organization
2.1 Microworld
Microworld– these are molecules, atoms, elementary particles - the world of extremely small, not directly observable micro-objects, the spatial diversity of which is calculated from 10 -8 to 10 -16 cm, and the lifetime is from infinity to 10 -24 s.
Democritus
in antiquity
was nominated
Atomistic hypothesis of the structure of matter ,
later, in the 18th century. was revived by the chemist J. Dalton, who took the atomic weight of hydrogen as one and compared the atomic weights of other gases with it. Thanks to the works of J. Dalton, the physical and chemical properties of the atom began to be studied. In the 19th century D.I. Mendeleev built a system of chemical elements based on their atomic weight.
In physics, the concept of atoms as the last indivisible structural elements of matter came from chemistry. Actually, physical studies of the atom begin at the end of the 19th century, when the French physicist A. A. Becquerel discovered the phenomenon of radioactivity, which consisted in the spontaneous transformation of atoms of some elements into atoms of other elements.
The history of research into the structure of the atom began in 1895 thanks to the discovery by J. Thomson of the electron, a negatively charged particle that is part of all atoms. Since electrons have a negative charge, and the atom as a whole is electrically neutral, it was assumed that in addition to the electron there is a positively charged particle. The mass of the electron was calculated to be 1/1836 of the mass of a positively charged particle.
There were several models of the structure of the atom.
In 1902, the English physicist W. Thomson (Lord Kelvin) proposed the first model of the atom - a positive charge is distributed over a fairly large area, and electrons are interspersed with it, like “raisins in pudding.”
In 1911, E. Rutherford proposed a model of the atom that resembled the solar system: in the center there is an atomic nucleus, and electrons move around it in their orbits.
The nucleus has a positive charge and the electrons have a negative charge. Instead of the gravitational forces acting in the solar system, electrical forces act in the atom. The electric charge of the nucleus of an atom, numerically equal to the serial number in the periodic system of Mendeleev, is balanced by the sum of the charges of the electrons - the atom is electrically neutral.
Both of these models turned out to be contradictory.
In 1913, the great Danish physicist N. Bohr applied the principle of quantization to solve the problem of the structure of the atom and the characteristics of atomic spectra.
N. Bohr's model of the atom was based on the planetary model of E. Rutherford and on the quantum theory of atomic structure developed by him. N. Bohr put forward a hypothesis about the structure of the atom, based on two postulates that are completely incompatible with classical physics:
1) in each atom there are several stationary states (in the language of the planetary model, several stationary orbits) of electrons, moving along which an electron can exist without emitting ;
2) when an electron transitions from one stationary state to another, the atom emits or absorbs a portion of energy.
Ultimately, it is fundamentally impossible to accurately describe the structure of an atom based on the idea of the orbits of point electrons, since such orbits do not actually exist.
N. Bohr's theory represents, as it were, the borderline of the first stage in the development of modern physics. This is the latest effort to describe the structure of the atom based on classical physics, supplemented with only a small number of new assumptions.
It seemed that N. Bohr's postulates reflected some new, unknown properties of matter, but only partially. Answers to these questions were obtained as a result of the development of quantum mechanics. It turned out that N. Bohr's atomic model should not be taken literally, as it was at the beginning. Processes in the atom, in principle, cannot be visually represented in the form of mechanical models by analogy with events in the macrocosm. Even the concepts of space and time in the form existing in the macroworld turned out to be unsuitable for describing microphysical phenomena. The theoretical physicists' atom increasingly became an abstract, unobservable sum of equations.
2.2 Macroworld
Macroworld- the world of stable forms and sizes commensurate with humans, as well as crystalline complexes of molecules, organisms, communities of organisms; the world of macro-objects, the dimension of which is correlated withscales of human experience: spatial quantities are expressed in millimeters, centimeters and kilometers, and time - in seconds, minutes, hours, years.
In the history of the study of nature, two stages can be distinguished: pre-scientific and scientific.
Pre-scientific, or natural-philosophical ,
covers the period from antiquity to the formation of experimental natural science in the 16th-17th centuries. Observed natural phenomena were explained on the basis of speculative philosophical principles.
The most significant for the subsequent development of natural sciences was the concept of the discrete structure of matter, atomism, according to which all bodies consist of atoms - the smallest particles in the world.
The scientific stage of studying nature begins with the formation of classical mechanics.
Since modern scientific ideas about the structural levels of the organization of matter were developed in the course of a critical rethinking of the ideas of classical science, applicable only to macro-level objects, we need to start with the concepts of classical physics.
The formation of scientific views on the structure of matter dates back to the 16th century, when G. Galileo laid the foundation for the first physical picture of the world in the history of science - a mechanical one. He not only substantiated the heliocentric system of N. Copernicus and discovered the law of inertia, but developed a methodology for a new way of describing nature - scientific and theoretical. Its essence was that only certain physical and geometric characteristics were identified and became the subject of scientific research. Galileo wrote: “I will never demand from external bodies anything other than size, figure, quantity and more or less rapid movement in order to explain the occurrence of taste, smell and sound.”
I. Newton, relying on the works of Galileo, developed a strict scientific theory of mechanics, describing both the movement of celestial bodies and the movement of terrestrialobjects by the same laws. Nature was viewed as a complex mechanical system.
Within the framework of the mechanical picture of the world developed by I. Newton and his followers, a discrete (corpuscular) model of reality emerged. Matter was considered as a material substance consisting of individual particles - atoms or corpuscles. Atoms are absolutely strong, indivisible, impenetrable, characterized by the presence of mass and weight.
An essential characteristic of the Newtonian world was the three-dimensional space of Euclidean geometry, which is absolutely constant and always at rest. Time was presented as a quantity independent of either space or matter.
Movement was considered as movement in space along continuous trajectories in accordance with the laws of mechanics.
The result of Newton's picture of the world was the image of the Universe as a gigantic and completely determined mechanism, where events and processes are a chain of interdependent causes and effects.
The mechanistic approach to describing nature has proven to be extremely fruitful. Following Newtonian mechanics, hydrodynamics, the theory of elasticity, the mechanical theory of heat, molecular kinetic theory and a number of others were created, in line with which physics has achieved enormous success. However, there were two areas - optical and electromagnetic phenomena that could not be fully explained within the framework of a mechanistic picture of the world.
Along with the mechanical corpuscular theory, attempts were made to explain optical phenomena in a fundamentally different way, namely, on the basis of the wave theory formulated by X. Huygens. The wave theory established an analogy between the propagation of light and the movement of waves on the surface of water or sound waves in the air. It assumed the presence of an elastic medium filling all space - a luminiferous ether. Based on the wave theory of X. Huygens successfully explained the reflection and refraction of light.
Another area of physics where mechanical models proved inadequate was the area of electromagnetic phenomena. The experiments of the English naturalist M. Faraday and the theoretical works of the English physicist J. C. Maxwell finally destroyed the ideas of Newtonian physics about discrete matter as the only type of matter and laid the foundation for the electromagnetic picture of the world.
The phenomenon of electromagnetism was discovered by the Danish naturalist H. K. Oersted, who first noticed the magnetic effect of electric currents. Continuing research in this direction, M. Faraday discovered that a temporary change in magnetic fields creates an electric current.
M. Faraday came to the conclusion that the study of electricity and optics are interconnected and form a single field. His works became the starting point for the research of J. C. Maxwell, whose merit lies in the mathematical development of M. Faraday's ideas about magnetism and electricity. Maxwell “translated” Faraday's model of field lines into a mathematical formula. The concept of “field of forces” was originally developed as an auxiliary mathematical concept. J.C. Maxwell gave it a physical meaning and began to consider the field as an independent physical reality: “An electromagnetic field is that part of space that contains and surrounds bodies that are in an electric or magnetic state.”
From his research, Maxwell was able to conclude that light waves are electromagnetic waves. The single essence of light and electricity, which M. Faraday suggested in 1845, and J. C. Maxwell theoretically substantiated in 1862, was experimentally confirmed by the German physicist G. Hertz in 1888.
After the experiments of G. Hertz, the concept of a field was finally established in physics, not as an auxiliary mathematical construct, but as an objectively existing physical reality. A qualitatively new, unique type of matter was discovered.
So, by the end of the 19th century. physics has come to the conclusion that matter exists intwo types: discrete matter and continuous field.
As a result of subsequent revolutionary discoveries in physics at the end of the last and beginning of this century, the ideas of classical physics about matter and field as two qualitatively unique types of matter were destroyed.
2.3 Megaworlds
Megaworld- these are planets, star complexes, galaxies, metagalaxies - a world of enormous cosmic scales and speeds, the distance in which is measured in light years, and the lifetime of space objects is measured in millions and billions of years.
And although these levels have their own specific laws, the micro-, macro- and mega-worlds are closely interconnected.
At the microscopic level, physics today is studying processes that take place at lengths of the order of 10 to the minus eighteenth power of cm, over a time of the order of 10 to the minus twenty-second power of s. In the megaworld, scientists use instruments to record objects distant from us at a distance of about 9-12 billion light years.
Modern science views the megaworld or space as an interacting and developing system of all celestial bodies.
All existing galaxies are included in the system of the highest order- Metagalaxy .
The dimensions of the Metagalaxy are very large: the radius of the cosmological horizon is 15-20 billion light years.
The concepts “Universe” and “Metagalaxy” are very close concepts: they characterize the same object, but in different aspects. The concept “Universe” means the entire existing material world; the concept of “Metagalaxy” is the same world, but from the point of view of its structure - as an ordered system of galaxies.
The structure and evolution of the Universe are studied by cosmology .
Cosmology as a branch of natural science is located at a unique intersection of science, religion and philosophy. Cosmological models of the Universe are based on certain ideological premises, and these models themselves have great ideological significance.
In classical science there was the so-called steady state theory of the Universe, according to which the Universe has always been almost the same as it is now. Astronomy was static: the movements of planets and comets were studied, stars were described, their classifications were created, which was, of course, very important. But the question of the evolution of the Universe was not raised.
Modern cosmological models of the Universe are based on general theory relativity of A. Einstein, according to which the metricspace and time is determined by the distribution of gravitational masses in the Universe. Its properties as a whole are determined by the average density of matter and other specific physical factors.
Einstein's equation of gravity has not one, but many solutions,which explains the existence of many cosmological models of the Universe. The first model was developed by A. Einstein himself in 1917. He rejected the postulates of Newtonian cosmology about the absoluteness and infinity of space and time. In accordance with A. Einstein's cosmological model of the Universe, world space is homogeneous and isotropic, matter is distributed evenly in it on average, and the gravitational attraction of masses is compensated by the universal cosmological repulsion.
The existence of the Universe is infinite, i.e. has no beginning or end, and space is limitless, but finite.
The universe in A. Einstein’s cosmological model is stationary, infinite in time and limitless in space.
In 1922 Russian mathematician and geophysicist A.A Friedman rejected the postulate of classical cosmology about the stationary nature of the Universe and obtained a solution to the Einstein equation, which describes the Universe with “expanding” space.
Since the average density of matter in the Universe is unknown, today we do not know in which of these spaces of the Universe we live.
In 1927, the Belgian abbot and scientist J. Lemaitre associated the “expansion”spaces with astronomical observation data. Lemaitre introduced the concept of the beginning of the Universe as a singularity (i.e., a superdense state) and the birth of the Universe as the Big Bang.
In 1929, American astronomer E.P. Hubble discovered the existence of a strange relationship between the distance and speed of galaxies: all galaxies are moving away from us, and with a speed that increases in proportion to the distance - the galaxy system is expanding.
The expansion of the Universe is considered a scientifically established fact. According to the theoretical calculations of J. Lemaître, the radius of the Universe in its original state was 10 -12 cm, which is close in size to the radius of an electron, and its density was 10 96 g/cm 3 . In a singular state, the Universe was a micro-object of negligible size. From the initial singular state, the Universe moved to expansion as a result of the Big Bang.
Retrospective calculations determine the age of the Universe at 13-20 billion years. G.A. Gamow suggested that the temperature of the substance was high and fell with the expansion of the Universe. His calculations showed that the Universe in its evolution goes through certain stages, during which the formation of chemical elements and structures occurs. In modern cosmology, for clarity, the initial stage of the evolution of the Universe is divided into “eras”.
Hadron era. Heavy particles that enter into strong interactions.
The era of leptons. Light particles entering into electromagnetic interaction.
Photon era. Duration 1 million years. The bulk of the mass - the energy of the Universe - comes from photons.
Star era. Occurs 1 million years after the birth of the Universe. During the stellar era, the process of formation of protostars and protogalaxies begins.
Then a grandiose picture of the formation of the structure of the Metagalaxy unfolds.
In modern cosmology, along with the Big Bang hypothesis, the inflationary model of the Universe, which considers the creation of the Universe, is very popular. The idea of creation has a very complex justification and is associated with quantum cosmology. This model describes the evolution of the Universe starting from the moment 10 -45 s after the start of expansion.
Proponents of the inflationary model see a correspondence between the stages of cosmic evolution and the stages of the creation of the world described in the book of Genesis in the Bible.
In accordance with the inflation hypothesis, cosmic evolution in the early Universe goes through a number of stages.
The beginning of the Universe is defined by theoretical physicists as a state of quantum supergravity with a radius of the Universe of 10 -50 cm
Inflation stage. As a result of a quantum leap, the Universe passed into a state of excited vacuum and, in the absence of matter and radiation in it, intensively expanded according to an exponential law. During this period, the space and time of the Universe itself was created. During the inflationary stage lasting 10 -34. The Universe inflated from an unimaginably small quantum size of 10 -33 to an unimaginably large 10 1000000 cm, which is many orders of magnitude greater than the size of the observable Universe - 10 28 cm. During this entire initial period there was no matter or radiation in the Universe.
Transition from the inflationary stage to the photon stage. The state of false vacuum disintegrated, the released energy went to the birth of heavy particles and antiparticles, which, having annihilated, gave a powerful flash of radiation (light) that illuminated space.
The stage of separation of matter from radiation: the matter remaining after annihilation has become transparent to radiation, contact between matter andradiation disappeared. The radiation separated from matter constitutes the modern relict background, theoretically predicted by G. A. Gamov and experimentally discovered in 1965.
Subsequently, the development of the Universe went in the direction from the simplest homogeneous state to the creation of increasingly complex structures - atoms (initially hydrogen atoms), galaxies, stars, planets, the synthesis of heavy elements in the bowels of stars, including those necessary for the creation of life, the emergence of life and as the crown of creation - man.
The difference between the stages of the evolution of the Universe in the inflationary model and the Big Bang model concerns only the initial stage of the order of 10 -30 s, then there are no fundamental differences between these models in understanding the stages of cosmic evolution.
In the meantime, these models can be calculated on a computer with the help of knowledge and imagination, but the question remains open.
The greatest difficulty for scientists arises in explaining the causes of cosmic evolution. If we put aside the particulars, we can distinguish two main concepts that explain the evolution of the Universe: the concept of self-organization and the concept of creationism.
For the concept of self-organization, the material Universe is the only reality, and no other reality exists besides it. The evolution of the Universe is described in terms of self-organization: there is a spontaneous ordering of systems in the direction of the formation of increasingly complex structures. Dynamic chaos creates order.
Within the framework of the concept of creationism, i.e. creation, the evolution of the Universe is associated with the implementation of the program ,
etc.................
Moscow Open Social Academy
Department of Mathematical and General Natural Sciences
Academic discipline:
Concepts of modern natural science.
Abstract topic:
Structural levels of organization of matter.
Faculty of Correspondence Education
group number: FEB-3.6
Supervisor:
Moscow 2009
INTRODUCTION
I. Structural levels of organization of matter: micro-, macro-, mega-worlds
1.1 Modern view of the structural organization of matter
II. Structure and its role in the organization of living systems
2.1 System and whole
2.2 Part and element
2.3 Interaction of part and whole
III. Atom, man, Universe - a long chain of complications
CONCLUSION REFERENCES
Introduction
All objects of nature (living and inanimate nature) can be represented as a system that has features that characterize their levels of organization. The concept of structural levels of living matter includes representations of systemicity and the organization of the integrity of living organisms associated with it. Living matter is discrete, i.e. is divided into constituent parts of a lower organization that have certain functions. Structural levels differ not only in complexity classes, but also in the patterns of functioning. The hierarchical structure is such that each higher level does not control, but includes the lower one. The diagram most accurately reflects the holistic picture of nature and the level of development of natural science as a whole. Taking into account the level of organization, it is possible to consider the hierarchy of the organization structures of material objects of animate and inanimate nature. Such a hierarchy of structures begins with elementary particles and ends with living communities. The concept of structural levels was first proposed in the 1920s. of our century. In accordance with it, the structural levels differ not only in classes of complexity, but in the patterns of functioning. The concept includes a hierarchy of structural levels, in which each subsequent level is included in the previous one.
The purpose of this work is to study the concept of the structural organization of matter.
I. Structural levels of matter organization: micro-, macro-, megaworlds
In modern science, the basis for ideas about the structure of the material world is a systems approach, according to which any object of the material world, be it an atom, a planet, etc. can be considered as a system - a complex formation that includes components, elements and connections between them. An element in this case means a minimal, further indivisible part of a given system.
The set of connections between elements forms the structure of the system; stable connections determine the orderliness of the system. Horizontal connections are coordinating and ensure correlation (consistency) of the system; no part of the system can change without changing other parts. Vertical connections are connections of subordination; some elements of the system are subordinate to others. The system has a sign of integrity - this means that all its component parts, when combined into a whole, form a quality that cannot be reduced to the qualities of individual elements. According to modern scientific views, all natural objects are ordered, structured, hierarchically organized systems.
In the most general sense of the word “system” means any object or any phenomenon of the world around us and represents the interconnection and interaction of parts (elements) within the whole. Structure is the internal organization of a system, which contributes to the connection of its elements into a single whole and gives it unique features. Structure determines the ordering of the elements of an object. Elements are any phenomena, processes, as well as any properties and relationships that are in any kind of mutual connection and correlation with each other.
In understanding the structural organization of matter, the concept of “development” plays an important role. The concept of development of inanimate and living nature is considered as an irreversible directed change in the structure of natural objects, since the structure expresses the level of organization of matter. The most important property of a structure is its relative stability. Structure is a general, qualitatively defined and relatively stable order of internal relations between the subsystems of a particular system. The concept of “organization level”, in contrast to the concept of “structure”, includes the idea of a change in structures and its sequence during historical development system from the moment of its inception. While change in structure may be random and not always directed, change at the level of organization occurs in a necessary manner.
Systems that have reached the appropriate level of organization and have a certain structure acquire the ability to use information in order, through management, to maintain unchanged (or increase) their level of organization and contribute to the constancy (or decrease) of their entropy (entropy is a measure of disorder). Until recently, natural science and other sciences could do without a holistic, systematic approach to their objects of study, without taking into account the study of the processes of formation of stable structures and self-organization.
Currently, the problems of self-organization, studied in synergetics, are becoming relevant in many sciences, ranging from physics to ecology.
The task of synergetics is to clarify the laws of organizing an organization and the emergence of order. Unlike cybernetics, the emphasis here is not on the processes of managing and exchanging information, but on the principles of building an organization, its emergence, development and self-complication (G. Haken). The question of optimal ordering and organization is especially acute when studying global problems - energy, environmental, and many others that require the involvement of enormous resources.
1.1 MODERN VIEWS ON THE STRUCTURAL ORGANIZATION OF MATTER
In classical natural science, the doctrine of the principles of the structural organization of matter was represented by classical atomism. The ideas of atomism served as the foundation for the synthesis of all knowledge about nature. In the 20th century, classical atomism underwent radical transformations.
Modern principles structural organization of matter are associated with the development of system concepts and include some conceptual knowledge about the system and its features that characterize the state of the system, its behavior, organization and self-organization, interaction with the environment, purposefulness and predictability of behavior, and other properties.
The simplest classification of systems is to divide them into static and dynamic, which, despite its convenience, is still conditional, because everything in the world is in constant change. Dynamic systems are divided into deterministic and stochastic (probabilistic). This classification is based on the nature of predicting the dynamics of system behavior. Such systems are studied in mechanics and astronomy. In contrast, stochastic systems, which are usually called probabilistic-statistical, deal with massive or repeating random events and phenomena. Therefore, the predictions in them are not reliable, but only probabilistic.
By the nature of interaction with environment a distinction is made between open and closed (isolated) systems, and sometimes partially open systems are also distinguished. This classification is mainly conditional, because the idea of closed systems arose in classical thermodynamics as a certain abstraction. The vast majority, if not all, systems are open source.
Many complex systems found in the social world are goal-directed, i.e. focused on achieving one or several goals, and in different subsystems and at different levels of the organization these goals can be different and even come into conflict with each other.
The classification and study of systems made it possible to develop a new method of cognition, which was called the systems approach. The application of systems ideas to the analysis of economic and social processes contributed to the emergence of game theory and decision theory. The most significant step in the development of the systems method was the emergence of cybernetics as a general theory of control in technical systems, living organisms and society. Although individual control theories existed before cybernetics, the creation of a unified interdisciplinary approach made it possible to reveal deeper and more general patterns of control as a process of accumulation, transmission and transformation of information. The control itself is carried out using algorithms, which are processed by computers.
The universal theory of systems, which determined the fundamental role of the system method, expresses, on the one hand, the unity of the material world, and on the other hand, the unity scientific knowledge. An important consequence of this consideration of material processes was the limitation of the role of reduction in the knowledge of systems. It became clear that the more some processes differ from others, the more qualitatively heterogeneous they are, the more difficult it is to reduce. Therefore, the laws of more complex systems cannot be completely reduced to the laws of lower forms or simpler systems. As an antipode to the reductionist approach, a holistic approach arises (from the Greek holos - whole), according to which the whole always precedes the parts and is always more important than the parts.
Every system is a whole formed by its interconnected and interacting parts. Therefore, the process of cognition of natural and social systems can be successful only when their parts and the whole are studied not in opposition, but in interaction with each other.
Modern science views systems as complex, open, with many possibilities for new ways of development. The processes of development and functioning of a complex system have the nature of self-organization, i.e. the emergence of internally consistent functioning due to internal connections and connections with the external environment. Self-organization is a natural scientific expression of the process of self-motion of matter. Systems of living and inanimate nature, as well as artificial systems, have the ability to self-organize.
In the modern scientifically based concept of the systemic organization of matter, three structural levels of matter are usually distinguished:
microworld - the world of atoms and elementary particles - extremely small directly unobservable objects, dimension from 10-8 cm to 10-16 cm, and lifetime - from infinity to 10-24 s.
the macrocosm is the world of stable forms and quantities commensurate with humans: earthly distances and velocities, masses and volumes; the dimension of macro-objects is comparable to the scale of human experience - spatial dimensions from fractions of a millimeter to kilometers and time dimensions from fractions of a second to years.
megaworld – the world of space (planets, star complexes, galaxies, metagalaxies); a world of enormous cosmic scales and speeds, distance is measured in light years, and time is measured in millions and billions of years;
The study of the hierarchy of structural levels of nature is associated with solving the complex problem of determining the boundaries of this hierarchy both in the megaworld and in the microworld. Objects of each subsequent stage arise and develop as a result of the combination and differentiation of certain sets of objects of the previous stage. Systems are becoming more and more multi-level. The complexity of the system increases not only because the number of levels increases. The development of new relationships between levels and with the environment common to such objects and their associations becomes essential.
The microworld, being a sublevel of the macroworlds and megaworlds, has completely unique features and therefore cannot be described by theories related to other levels of nature. In particular, this world is inherently paradoxical. The principle “consists of” does not apply to him. Thus, when two elementary particles collide, no smaller particles are formed. After the collision of two protons, many other elementary particles arise - including protons, mesons, and hyperons. The phenomenon of “multiple birth” of particles was explained by Heisenberg: during a collision, large kinetic energy is converted into matter, and we observe multiple birth of particles. The microworld is being actively studied. If 50 years ago only 3 types of elementary particles were known (electron and proton as the smallest particles of matter and photon as the minimum portion of energy), now about 400 particles have been discovered. The second paradoxical property of the microcosm is associated with the dual nature of the microparticle, which is both a wave and a corpuscle. Therefore, it cannot be strictly unambiguously localized in space and time. This feature is reflected in the Heisenberg uncertainty relation principle.
The levels of organization of matter observed by humans are mastered taking into account natural conditions human habitation, i.e. taking into account our earthly laws. However, this does not exclude the assumption that at levels sufficiently distant from us there may exist forms and states of matter characterized by completely different properties. In this regard, scientists began to distinguish geocentric and non-geocentric material systems.
The geocentric world is the reference and basic world of Newtonian time and Euclidean space, described by a set of theories related to objects on an earthly scale. Non-geocentric systems - a special type objective reality, characterized by other types of attributes, other space, time, movement than earthly ones. There is an assumption that the microworld and megaworld are windows into non-geocentric worlds, which means that their patterns, at least to a remote extent, make it possible to imagine a different type of interaction than in the macroworld or geocentric type of reality.
There is no strict boundary between the megaworld and the macroworld. It is usually believed that he
starts with distances of about 107 and masses of 1020 kg. The reference point for the beginning of the megaworld can be the Earth (diameter 1.28 × 10 + 7 m, mass 6 × 1021 kg). Since the megaworld deals with large distances, special units are introduced to measure them: astronomical unit, light year and parsec.
Astronomical unit (a.e.) – the average distance from the Earth to the Sun is 1.5 × 1011 m.
Light year – the distance that light travels in one year, namely 9.46 × 1015 m.
Parsec (parallax second) – the distance at which the annual parallax of the earth's orbit (i.e., the angle at which the semi-major axis of the earth's orbit is visible, located perpendicular to the line of sight) is equal to one second. This distance is equal to 206265 AU. = 3.08×1016 m = 3.26 St. G.
Celestial bodies in the Universe form systems of varying complexity. So the Sun and 9 planets moving around it form Solar system. The bulk of the stars in our galaxy are concentrated in a disk visible from the Earth “from the side” in the form of a foggy strip crossing the celestial sphere - the Milky Way.
All celestial bodies have their own history of development. The age of the Universe is 14 billion years. The age of the Solar System is estimated at 5 billion years, the Earth - 4.5 billion years.
Another typology of material systems is quite widespread today. This is the division of nature into inorganic and organic, in which a special place is occupied social form matter. Inorganic matter is elementary particles and fields, atomic nuclei, atoms, molecules, macroscopic bodies, geological formations. Organic matter also has a multi-level structure: precellular level - DNA, RNA, nucleic acids; cellular level – independently existing single-celled organisms; multicellular level – tissues, organs, functional systems (nervous, circulatory, etc.), organisms (plants, animals); supraorganismal structures – populations, biocenoses, biosphere. Social matter exists only thanks to the activities of people and includes special substructures: individual, family, group, collective, state, nation, etc.
II. STRUCTURE AND ITS ROLE IN THE ORGANIZATION OF LIVING SYSTEMS
2.1 SYSTEM AND WHOLE
A system is a complex of elements that interact. Translated from Greek, it is a whole made up of parts, a connection.
Having undergone a long historical evolution, the concept of system from the middle of the 20th century. becomes one of the key scientific concepts.
Primary ideas about the system arose in ancient philosophy as orderliness and value of being. The concept of a system now has an extremely wide scope of application: almost every object can be considered as a system.
Each system is characterized not only by the presence of connections and relationships between its constituent elements, but also by its inextricable unity with the environment.
Various types of systems can be distinguished:
According to the nature of the connection between the parts and the whole - inorganic and organic;
According to the forms of motion of matter - mechanical, physical, chemical, physico-chemical;
In relation to movement - statistical and dynamic;
By type of change - non-functional, functional, developing;
By the nature of exchange with the environment - open and closed;
By degree of organization - simple and complex;
By level of development - lower and higher;
By nature of origin - natural, artificial, mixed;
According to the direction of development - progressive and regressive.
According to one of the definitions, a whole is something that does not lack any of the parts, consisting of which it is called a whole. The whole necessarily presupposes the systematic organization of its components.
The concept of the whole reflects the harmonious unity and interaction of parts according to a certain ordered system.
The similarity of the concepts of the whole and the system served as the basis for their complete identification, which is not entirely correct. In the case of a system, we are not dealing with a single object, but with a group of interacting objects that mutually influence each other. As the system continues to improve towards the orderliness of its components, it can become integral. The concept of the whole characterizes not only the multiplicity of its constituent components, but also the fact that the connection and interaction of the parts are natural, arising from the internal needs of the development of the parts and the whole.
Therefore, the whole is a special kind of system. The concept of the whole is a reflection of the internally necessary, organic nature of the relationship between the components of the system, and sometimes a change in one of the components inevitably causes one or another change in the other, and often in the entire system.
The properties and mechanism of the whole as a higher level of organization compared to the parts that organize it cannot be explained only through the summation of the properties and moments of action of these parts, considered in isolation from each other. New properties of the whole arise as a result of the interaction of its parts, therefore, in order to know the whole, it is necessary, along with knowledge of the characteristics of the parts, to know the law of organization of the whole, i.e. the law of combining parts.
Since the whole as a qualitative certainty is the result of the interaction of its components, it is necessary to dwell on their characteristics. Being components of a system or a whole, the components enter into various relationships with each other. The relationships between elements can be divided into "element - structure" and "part - whole". In the system of the whole, the subordination of the parts to the whole is observed. The system of the whole is characterized by the fact that it can create the organs it lacks.
2.2 PART AND ELEMENT
An element is a component of an object that may be indifferent to the specifics of the object. In a category of structure one can find connections and relationships between elements that are indifferent to its specificity.
A part is also an integral component of an object, but, unlike an element, a part is a component that is not indifferent to the specifics of the object as a whole (for example, a table consists of parts - a lid and legs, as well as elements - screws, bolts, which can be used for fastening other objects: cabinets, cabinets, etc.)
A living organism as a whole consists of many components. Some of them will be simply elements, others at the same time parts. Parts are only those components that are inherent in the functions of life (metabolism, etc.): extracellular living matter; cell; textile; organ; organ system.
All of them have inherent functions of living things, they all perform their specific functions in the system of organization of the whole. Therefore, a part is a component of the whole, the functioning of which is determined by nature, the essence of the whole itself.
In addition to parts, the body also contains other components that do not themselves possess the functions of life, i.e. are nonliving components. These are the elements. Nonliving elements are present at all levels of the systemic organization of living matter:
In the protoplasm of the cell there are grains of starch, drops of fat, crystals;
In a multicellular organism, nonliving components that do not have their own metabolism and the ability to reproduce themselves include hair, claws, horns, hooves, and feathers.
Thus, part and element constitute necessary components of the organization of living things as an integral system. Without elements (nonliving components), the functioning of parts (living components) is impossible. Therefore, only the total unity of both elements and parts, i.e. inanimate and living components, constitutes the systemic organization of life, its integrity.
2.2.1 RELATIONSHIP OF CATEGORIES PART AND ELEMENT
The relationship between the categories part and element is very contradictory. The content of the category part differs from the category element: elements are all the constituent components of the whole, regardless of whether the specificity of the whole is expressed in them or not, and parts are only those elements in which the specificity of the object as a whole is directly expressed, therefore the category of part is narrower than the category of element. On the other hand, the content of the category of part is wider than the category of element, since only a certain set of elements constitutes a part. And this can be shown in relation to any whole.
This means that there are certain levels or boundaries in the structural organization of the whole that separate elements from parts. At the same time, the difference between the categories part and element is very relative, since they can be mutually transformed, for example, organs or cells, while functioning, are subject to destruction, which means that from parts they turn into elements and vice versa, they are again built from inanimate, i.e. . elements and become parts. Elements that are not excreted from the body can turn into salt deposits, which are already part of the body, and a rather undesirable one at that.
2.3 INTERACTION OF PART AND WHOLE
The interaction of the part and the whole is that one presupposes the other, they are united and cannot exist without each other. There is no whole without a part and vice versa: there are no parts outside the whole. A part becomes a part only in the system of the whole. A part acquires its meaning only through the whole, just as the whole is the interaction of parts.
In the interaction of a part and the whole, the leading, determining role belongs to the whole. Parts of an organism cannot exist independently. Representing private adaptive structures of the organism, parts arise during the development of evolution for the sake of the whole organism.
The determining role of the whole in relation to the parts in organic nature is best confirmed by the phenomena of autotomy and regeneration. A lizard caught by the tail runs away, leaving the tip of the tail behind. The same thing happens with the claws of crabs and crayfish. Autotomy, i.e. self-cutting of the tail in a lizard, claws in crabs and crayfish, is a protective function that contributes to the adaptation of the organism, developed in the evolutionary process. The body sacrifices its part in the interests of saving and preserving the whole.
The phenomenon of autotomy is observed in cases where the body is able to restore the lost part. The missing part of the lizard's tail grows back (but only once). Crabs and crayfish also often grow broken off claws. This means that the body is capable of first losing a part in order to save the whole, in order to then restore this part.
The phenomenon of regeneration further demonstrates the subordination of the parts to the whole: the whole necessarily requires the fulfillment, to one degree or another, of the lost parts. Modern biology found that not only lowly organized creatures (plants and protozoa), but also mammals have the regenerative ability.
There are several types of regeneration: not only individual organs are restored, but also entire organisms from individual parts of it (hydra from a ring cut from the middle of its body, protozoa, coral polyps, annelids, starfish, etc.). In Russian folklore, we know the Serpent-Gorynych, whose heads were cut off by good fellows, which immediately grew again... In general biological terms, regeneration can be considered as the ability of an adult organism to develop.
However, the determining role of the whole in relation to the parts does not mean that the parts are deprived of their specificity. The determining role of the whole presupposes not a passive, but an active role of the parts, aimed at ensuring the normal life of the organism as a whole. Submitting to general system the whole, the parts retain relative independence and autonomy. On the one hand, the parts act as components of the whole, and on the other, they themselves are unique integral structures, systems with their own specific functions and structures. In a multicellular organism, of all the parts, it is the cells that represent the highest level of integrity and individuality.
The fact that the parts retain their relative independence and autonomy allows for relative independence in the study of individual organ systems: the spinal cord, the autonomic nervous system, the digestive systems, etc., which is of great importance for practice. An example of this is the study and disclosure of the internal causes and mechanisms of the relative independence of malignant tumors.
The relative independence of parts, to a greater extent than animals, is inherent in plants. They are characterized by the formation of some parts from others - vegetative reproduction. Everyone has probably seen cuttings of other plants grafted onto, for example, an apple tree in their life.
3..ATOM, MAN, UNIVERSE - A LONG CHAIN OF COMPLICATIONS
In modern science, the method of structural analysis is widely used, which takes into account the systematic nature of the object under study. After all, structure is the internal dismemberment of material existence, the way of existence of matter. Structural levels of matter are formed from a certain set of objects of any kind and are characterized by a special way of interaction between their constituent elements; in relation to the three main spheres of objective reality, these levels look like this.
| STRUCTURAL LEVELS OF MATTER | |||
Inorganic | Society | ||
| 1 | Submicroelementary | Biological macromolecular | Individual |
| 2 | Microelementary | Cellular | Family |
| 3 | Nuclear | Microorganic | Teams |
| 4 | Atomic | Organs and tissues | Large social groups (classes, nations) |
| 5 | Molecular | Body as a whole | State (civil society) |
| 6 | Macro level | Population | State systems |
| 7 | Mega level (planets, star-planetary systems, galaxies) | Biocenosis | Humanity |
| 8 | Meta level (metagalaxies) | Biosphere | Noosphere |
Each of the spheres of objective reality includes a number of interconnected structural levels. Within these levels, coordination relationships are dominant, and between levels, subordination ones are dominant.
A systematic study of material objects involves not only establishing ways to describe the relationships, connections and structure of many elements, but also identifying those of them that are system-forming, that is, they ensure the separate functioning and development of the system. A systematic approach to material formations presupposes the possibility of understanding the system in question at a higher level. The system is usually characterized by a hierarchical structure, that is, the sequential inclusion of a lower-level system into a higher-level system. Thus, the structure of matter at the level of inanimate nature (inorganic) includes elementary particles, atoms, molecules (objects of the microworld, macrobodies and objects of the megaworld: planets, galaxies, metagalaxy systems, etc.). A metagalaxy is often identified with the entire Universe, but the Universe is understood in the extremely broad sense of the word; it is identical to the entire material world and moving matter, which can include many metagalaxies and other cosmic systems.
Wildlife is also structured. It distinguishes the biological level and the social level. The biological level includes sublevels:
Macromolecules (nucleic acids, DNA, RNA, proteins);
Cellular level;
Microorganic (single-celled organisms);
Organs and tissues of the body as a whole;
Population;
Biocenotic;
Biosphere.
The main concepts of this level at the last three sublevels are the concepts of biotope, biocenosis, biosphere, which require explanation.
Biotope is a collection (community) of the same species (for example, a pack of wolves), which can interbreed and produce their own kind (populations).
Biocenosis is a collection of populations of organisms in which the waste products of some are the conditions for the existence of other organisms inhabiting an area of land or water.
The biosphere is a global system of life, that part of the geographic environment (lower part of the atmosphere, upper part of the lithosphere and hydrosphere), which is the habitat of living organisms, providing the conditions necessary for their survival (temperature, soil, etc.), formed as a result of interaction biocenoses.
The general basis of life at the biological level - organic metabolism (exchange of matter, energy and information with the environment) manifests itself at any of the identified sublevels:
At the level of organisms, metabolism means assimilation and dissimilation through intracellular transformations;
At the level of ecosystems (biocenosis), it consists of a chain of transformation of a substance initially assimilated by producer organisms through consumer organisms and destroyer organisms belonging to different types;
At the level of the biosphere, a global circulation of matter and energy occurs with the direct participation of factors on a cosmic scale.
At a certain stage of development of the biosphere, special populations of living beings arise, which, thanks to their ability to work, have formed a unique level - social. Social activity in the structural aspect is divided into sublevels: individuals, families, various teams (industrial), social groups, etc.
The structural level of social activity is in ambiguous linear relationships with each other (for example, the level of nations and the level of states). Weave different levels within society, it gives rise to the idea of the dominance of chance and chaos in social activity. But a careful analysis reveals the presence of fundamental structures in it - the main spheres of social life, which are the material and production, social, political, spiritual spheres, which have their own laws and structures. All of them are, in a certain sense, subordinated within the socio-economic formation, deeply structured and determine the genetic unity of social development as a whole. Thus, any of the three areas of material reality is formed from a number of specific structural levels, which are in strict order within a particular area of reality. The transition from one area to another is associated with the complication and increase in the number of formed factors that ensure the integrity of systems. Within each of the structural levels there are relationships of subordination (the molecular level includes the atomic level, and not vice versa). The patterns of new levels are irreducible to the patterns of the levels on the basis of which they arose, and are leading for a given level of organization of matter. Structural organization, i.e. systematicity is the way of existence of matter.
Conclusion
In modern science, the method of structural analysis is widely used, which takes into account the systematic nature of the objects under study. After all, structure is the internal dismemberment of material existence, the way of existence of matter.
The structural levels of the organization of matter are built according to the principle of a pyramid: the highest levels consist of a large number of lower levels. The lower levels are the basis of the existence of matter. Without these levels, further construction of the "pyramid of matter" is impossible. Higher (complex) levels are formed through evolution - gradually moving from simple to complex. Structural levels of matter are formed from a certain set of objects of any kind and are characterized by a special way of interaction between their constituent elements.
All objects of living and inanimate nature can be represented in the form of certain systems that have specific features and properties that characterize their level of organization. Taking into account the level of organization, it is possible to consider the hierarchy of the organization structures of material objects of animate and inanimate nature. Such a hierarchy of structures begins with elementary particles, which represent the initial level of organization of matter, and ends with living organizations and communities - the highest levels of organization.
The concept of structural levels of living matter includes ideas of systematicity and the associated organic integrity of living organisms. However, the history of systems theory began with a mechanistic understanding of the organization of living matter, according to which everything higher was reduced to the lower: life processes - to a set of physical and chemical reactions, and the organization of the body - to the interaction of molecules, cells, tissues, organs, etc.
Bibliography
1. Danilova V.S. Basic concepts of modern natural science: Proc. manual for universities. – M., 2000. – 256 p.
2. Naydysh V.M. Concepts of modern natural science: Textbook.. Ed. 2nd, revised and additional – M.; Alpha-M; INFRA-M, 2004. – 622 p.
3. Ruzavin G.I. Concepts of modern natural science: Textbook for universities. – M., 2003. – 287 p.
4. The concept of modern natural science: Ed. Professor S.I. Samygina, Series “Textbooks and teaching aids” - 4th ed., revised. and additional – Rostov n/a: “Phoenix”.2003 -448c.
5. Dubnischeva T.Ya. The concept of modern natural science: a textbook for students. universities / 6th ed., corrected. and additional –M; Publishing center "Academy", -20006.-608c.
The concept of matter (hyle) was first found in Plato. Matter in his understanding is a certain substrate (material) devoid of qualities, from which bodies of various sizes and shapes are formed; it is formless, indefinite, passive. Subsequently, matter, as a rule, was identified with a specific substance or atoms. As science and philosophy develop, the concept of matter gradually loses its sensually concrete features and becomes more and more abstract. It is intended to embrace the infinite variety of everything that really exists and is not reducible to consciousness.
In dialectical-materialist philosophy, matter is defined as an objective reality, given to us in sensations, existing independently of human consciousness and reflected by it. This definition is the most accepted in modern Russian philosophical literature. Matter is the only substance that exists. It is eternal and infinite, uncreated and indestructible, inexhaustible and in constant motion, capable of self-organization and reflection. It exists - causa sui, the cause of itself (B. Spinoza). All these properties (substantiality, inexhaustibility, indestructibility, movement, eternity) are inseparable from matter and therefore are called its attributes. Inseparable from matter are its forms - space and time.
Matter is a complex system organization. According to modern scientific data, two large basic levels can be distinguished in the structure of matter (the principle of division is the presence of life): inorganic matter (inanimate nature) and organic matter (living nature).
Inorganic nature includes the following structural levels:
1. Elementary particles are the smallest particles of physical matter (photons, protons, neutrinos, etc.), each of which has its own antiparticle. Currently, more than 300 elementary particles (including antiparticles) are known, including the so-called “virtual particles” that exist in intermediate states for a very short time. A characteristic feature of elementary particles
- ability for mutual transformations.
2. An atom is the smallest particle of a chemical element that retains its properties. It consists of a core and an electron shell. The nucleus of an atom is made up of protons and neutrons.
3. A chemical element is a collection of atoms with the same nuclear charge. There are 107 known chemical elements (19 obtained artificially), from which all substances of inanimate and living nature are composed.
4. Molecule - the smallest particle of a substance that has all its chemical properties. Consists of atoms connected by chemical bonds.
5. Planets are the most massive bodies in the Solar System, moving in elliptical orbits around the Sun.
6. Planetary systems.
7. Stars are luminous gas (plasma) balls, similar to the Sun: they contain most of the matter of the Universe. They are formed from a gas-dust environment (mainly from hydrogen and helium).
8. Galaxies are giant star systems, up to hundreds of billions of stars, in particular our Galaxy (Milky Way), which contains more than 100 billion stars.
9. System of galaxies.
Organic nature (biosphere, life) has the following levels (types of self-organization):
1. Precellular level - desonucleic acids, ribonucleic acids, proteins. The latter - high-molecular organic substances, built from 20 amino acids, constitute (along with nucleic acids) the basis of the life activity of all organisms.
2. The cell is an elementary living system, the basis of the structure and vital activity of all plants and animals.
3. Multicellular organisms of flora and fauna
- individuals or their aggregate.
4. Population - a collection of individuals of the same species that occupies a certain space for a long time and reproduces itself over a large number of generations.
5. Biocenosis - a collection of plants, animals and microorganisms inhabiting a given area of land or body of water.
6. Biogeocenosis (ecosystem) - a homogeneous area of the earth's surface, a single natural complex formed by living organisms and their habitat.
Based on size, matter is divided into three levels:
1. Macroworld - a set of objects whose dimensions are comparable to the scale of human experience: spatial quantities are expressed in millimeters, centimeters, kilometers, and time - in seconds, minutes, hours, years.
2. Microworld - the world of extremely small, not directly observable micro-objects, the spatial dimension of which is calculated up to 10 (-8) - up to 16 (-16) cm, and the lifetime from infinity to 10 (-24) seconds.
3. Megaworld is a world of enormous cosmic scales and speeds, the distance in which is measured in light years (and the speed of light is 3,000,000 km/s), and the lifetime of space objects is measured in millions and billions of years.
This is the point of view of materialism. Unlike materialists, idealists deny matter as an objective reality. For subjective idealists (Berkeley, Mach), matter is a “complex of sensations”; for objective idealists (Plato, Hegel) it is a product of the spirit, the “other being” of an idea.
3. Movement and its main forms. Space and time.
In the broadest sense, motion as applied to matter is “change in general”; it includes all changes occurring in the world. Ideas about movement as change originated in ancient philosophy and developed along two main lines - materialistic and idealistic.
Idealists understand movement not as changes in objective reality, but as changes in sensory representations, ideas, and thoughts. Thus, an attempt is made to think of movement without matter. Materialism emphasizes the attributive nature of movement in relation to matter (its inseparability from it) and the primacy of the movement of matter in relation to changes in the spirit. Thus, F. Bacon defended the idea that matter is full of activity and is closely connected with motion as its innate property.
Movement is an attribute, an integral property of matter, they are closely related and do not exist without each other. However, in the history of knowledge there have been attempts to tear this attribute away from matter. Thus, supporters of "energyism" - a trend in philosophy and natural science that arose at the end of the 19th century. - early 20th century they tried to reduce all natural phenomena to modifications of energy, devoid of a material basis, i.e. to separate motion (and energy is a general quantitative measure of various forms of motion of matter) from matter. Energy was interpreted as a purely spiritual phenomenon, and this “spiritual substance” was proclaimed to be the basis of everything that exists.
This concept is incompatible with the law of conservation of energy transformation, according to which energy in nature does not arise from nothing and does not disappear; it can only change from one form to another. Therefore, movement is indestructible and inseparable from matter.
Matter is closely related to movement, and it exists in the form of its specific forms. The main ones are: mechanical, physical, chemical, biological and social. This classification was first proposed by F. Engels, but currently it has undergone a certain specification and clarification. Thus, today there are opinions that independent forms of movement are geological, environmental, planetary, computer, etc.
Modern science is developing the idea that mechanical motion is not associated with any particular structural level of the organization of matter. It is rather an aspect, a certain cross-section that characterizes the interaction of several such levels. It has also become necessary to distinguish between quantum mechanical motion, which characterizes the interaction of elementary particles and atoms, and the macromechanical motion of macrobodies.
The ideas about the biological form of the movement of matter have been significantly enriched. The ideas about its primary material carriers were clarified. In addition to protein molecules, DNA and RNA acids were isolated as the molecular carrier of life.
When characterizing the forms of motion of matter and their interrelation, it is necessary to keep in mind the following:
1. Each form is qualitatively specific, but they are all inextricably linked and, under appropriate conditions, can suddenly turn into rivals.
2. Simple (lower) forms are the basis of higher and more complex forms.
3. Higher forms of movement include lower forms in a transformed form. The latter are secondary in relation to the higher form, which has its own laws.
4. It is unacceptable to reduce higher forms to lower ones. Thus, supporters of mechanism (XVII-XIX centuries) tried to explain all phenomena of nature and society only with the help of the laws of classical mechanics. Mechanism is a form of reductionism, according to which higher forms of organization (for example, biological and social) can be reduced to lower ones (for example, physical or chemical) and fully explained only by the laws of the latter (for example, social Darwinism).
Movement as “change in general” is divided not only by its main forms, but also by types. Quantity is the external certainty of an object (its size, volume, size, pace, etc.);
this is a change that occurs with an object without radically transforming it (for example, a walking person). Quality is a radical transformation of the internal structure of an object, its essence (for example, a butterfly doll, dough-bread). A special type of movement is development. Development is understood as an irreversible, progressive, quantitative and qualitative change in an object or phenomenon (for example, human life, the movement of history, the development of science). There may be a complication of the structure, an increase in the level of organization of an object or phenomenon, which is usually characterized as progress. If the movement occurs in the opposite direction - from more perfect forms to less perfect ones, then this is regression. The science of development in its full form is dialectics.
Space and time. Space is a form of existence of matter, which expresses the extent, structure, order of coexistence and juxtaposition of material objects.
Time is a form of existence of matter, which expresses the duration of existence of material objects and the sequence of changes occurring with objects.
Time and space are closely intertwined. What happens in space happens simultaneously in time, and what happens in time happens in space.
In the history of philosophy and science, two main concepts of space and time have emerged:
1. The substantial concept considers space and time as special independent entities that exist alongside and independently of material objects. Space was reduced to an infinite void (“a box without walls”) containing all bodies, time to “pure” duration. This idea, formulated in general form by Democritus, received its logical conclusion in Newton’s concept of absolute space and time, who believed that their properties do not depend on the nature of the material processes occurring in the world.
2. The relational concept considers space and time not as special entities independent of matter, but as forms of existence of things and without these things they do not exist in themselves (Aristotle, Leibniz, Hegel).
Substantial and relational concepts are not uniquely associated with a materialistic or idealistic interpretation of the world; both developed on one or the other basis. The dialectical materialist concept of space and time was
formulated within the framework of the relational approach.
Space and time, as forms of existence of matter, have both properties common to them and characteristics characteristic of each of these forms. Their universal properties include: objectivity and independence from human consciousness, their inextricable connection with each other and with moving matter, quantitative and qualitative infinity, eternity. Space characterizes the extent of matter, its structure, and the interaction of elements in material systems. It is an indispensable condition for the existence of any material object. The space of real existence is three-dimensional, homogeneous and isotropic. The homogeneity of space is associated with the absence of points “selected” in it in any way. The isotropy of space means the equality of any of the possible directions in it.
Time characterizes material existence as eternal and indestructible in its totality. Time is one-dimensional (from present to future), asymmetrical and irreversible.
The manifestation of time and space is different in various forms movements, therefore, recently biological, psychological, social and other spaces and times have been distinguished.
So, for example, psychological time is associated with his mental states, attitudes, etc. Time in a given situation can “slow down” or, conversely, “speed up”; it “flies” or “stretches”. This is a subjective sense of time.
Biological time is associated with the biorhythms of living organisms, with the cycle of day and night, with the seasons and cycles of solar activity. It is also believed that there are many biological spaces (for example, areas of distribution of certain organisms or their populations).
Social time, associated with the development of humanity, with history, can also speed up and slow down its pace. This acceleration is especially characteristic of the twentieth century in connection with scientific and technological progress. Scientific and technological revolution literally compressed social space and incredibly accelerated the passage of time, giving an explosive character to the development of socio-economic processes. The planet has become small and cramped for humanity as a whole, and the time of moving from one end to the other is now measured in hours, which was simply unthinkable even in the last century.
In the twentieth century, based on discoveries in the natural and exact sciences, the dispute between these two concepts was resolved. Relational wins. Thus, N. Lobachevsky came to the conclusion in his non-Euclidean geometry that the properties of space are not always and everywhere the same and unchanged, but they change depending on the most general properties of matter. According to the theory of relativity
A. Einstein, the spatiotemporal properties of bodies depend on the speed of their movement (i.e., on the indicators of matter). Spatial dimensions are reduced in the direction of motion as the speed of the body approaches the speed of light in vacuum (300,000 km/s), and time processes in fast-moving systems slow down. He also proved that time slows down near massive bodies, just as it does at the center of planets. This effect is more noticeable the greater the mass of celestial bodies.
Thus, A. Einstein’s theory of relativity showed an inextricable connection between matter, space and time.
In classical natural science, and, above all, in the natural science of the last century, the doctrine of the principles of the structural organization of matter was represented by classical atomism. It was on atomism that the theoretical generalizations originating in each of the sciences were closed. The ideas of atomism served as the basis for the synthesis of knowledge and its original fulcrum. Nowadays, under the influence of the rapid development of all areas of natural science, classical atomism is undergoing intensive transformations. The most significant and widely significant changes in our ideas about the principles of the structural organization of matter are those changes that are expressed in the current development of system concepts.
The general scheme of the hierarchical step structure of matter, associated with the recognition of the existence of relatively independent and stable levels, nodal points in a series of divisions of matter, retains its force and heuristic meaning. According to this scheme, discrete objects of a certain level of matter, entering into specific interactions, serve as initial ones in the formation and development of fundamentally new types of objects with different properties and forms of interaction. At the same time, the greater stability and independence of the original, relatively elementary objects determines the repeating and persisting properties, relationships and patterns of objects of a higher level. This position is the same for systems of different nature.
Structurality and systemic organization of matter are among its most important attributes, expressing the orderliness of the existence of matter and the specific forms in which it manifests itself.
The structure of matter is usually understood as its structure in the macrocosm, i.e. existence in the form of molecules, atoms, elementary particles, etc. This is due to the fact that man is a macroscopic being and macroscopic scales are familiar to him, therefore the concept of structure is usually associated with various micro-objects.
But if we consider matter as a whole, then the concept of the structure of matter will also cover macroscopic bodies, all cosmic systems of the megaworld, and on any arbitrarily large space-time scale. From this point of view, the concept of “structure” is manifested in the fact that it exists in the form of an infinite variety of integral systems, closely interconnected, as well as in the orderliness of the structure of each system. Such a structure is infinite in quantitative and qualitative terms.
Manifestations of the structural infinity of matter are:
– inexhaustibility of objects and processes of the microworld;
– infinity of space and time;
– infinity of changes and development of processes.
Of the entire variety of forms of objective reality, only the finite region of the material world always remains empirically accessible, which now extends on a scale from 10 -15 to 10 28 cm, and in time - up to 2 × 10 9 years.
Structurality and systemic organization of matter are among its most important attributes. They express the orderliness of the existence of matter and those specific forms in which it manifests itself.
The material world is one: we mean that all its parts - from inanimate objects to living beings, from celestial bodies to man as a member of society - are somehow connected.
A system is something that is interconnected in a certain way and is subject to relevant laws.
The orderliness of a set implies the presence of regular relationships between the elements of the system, which manifests itself in the form of laws of structural organization. All natural systems have internal order, arising as a result of the interaction of bodies and the natural self-development of matter. External is typical for artificial systems created by man: technical, production, conceptual, etc.
Structural levels of matter are formed from a certain set of objects of any class and are characterized by a special type of interaction between their constituent elements.
The criteria for identifying different structural levels are the following:
– spatiotemporal scales;
– a set of essential properties;
– specific laws of motion;
– the degree of relative complexity arising in the process of historical development of matter in a given area of the world;
- some other signs.
The currently known structural levels of matter can be classified according to the above characteristics into the following areas.
1. Microworld. These include:
– elementary particles and atomic nuclei - area of the order of 10 – 15 cm;
– atoms and molecules 10 –8 -10 –7 cm.
The microworld is molecules, atoms, elementary particles - the world of extremely small, not directly observable micro-objects, the spatial diversity of which is calculated from 10 -8 to 10 -16 cm, and the lifetime is from infinity to 10 -24 s.
2. Macroworld: macroscopic bodies 10 –6 -10 7 cm.
The macroworld is the world of stable forms and quantities commensurate with humans, as well as crystalline complexes of molecules, organisms, communities of organisms; the world of macro-objects, the dimension of which is comparable to the scale of human experience: spatial quantities are expressed in millimeters, centimeters and kilometers, and time - in seconds, minutes, hours, years.
The megaworld is planets, star complexes, galaxies, metagalaxies - a world of enormous cosmic scales and speeds, the distance in which is measured in light years, and the lifetime of space objects is measured in millions and billions of years.
And although these levels have their own specific laws, the micro-, macro- and mega-worlds are closely interconnected.
3. Megaworld: space systems and unlimited scales up to 1028 cm.
Different levels of matter are characterized by different types of connections.
On scales of 10–13 cm there are strong interactions, the integrity of the core is ensured by nuclear forces.
The integrity of atoms, molecules, and macrobodies is ensured by electromagnetic forces.
On a cosmic scale - gravitational forces.
As the size of objects increases, the energy of interaction decreases. If we accept the energy gravitational interaction per unit, then the electromagnetic interaction in an atom will be 1039 times greater, and the interaction between nucleons - the particles that make up the nucleus - will be 1041 times greater. The smaller the size of material systems, the more firmly their elements are interconnected.
The division of matter into structural levels is relative. On available space-time scales, the structure of matter is manifested in its systemic organization, existence in the form of a multitude of hierarchically interacting systems, ranging from elementary particles to the Metagalaxy.
Speaking about structurality - the internal dismemberment of material existence, it can be noted that no matter how wide the range of the worldview of science, it is closely related to the discovery of more and more new structural formations. For example, if earlier the view of the Universe was limited to the Galaxy, then expanded to a system of galaxies, now the Metagalaxy is being studied as a special system with specific laws, internal and external interactions.
In modern science, the method of structural analysis is widely used, which takes into account the systematic nature of the objects under study. After all, structure is the internal dismemberment of material existence, the way of existence of matter. Structural levels of matter are formed from a certain set of objects of any type and are characterized by a special way of interaction between their constituent elements; in relation to the three main spheres of objective reality, these levels look like this (Table 1).
Table 1 – Structural levels of matter
|
inorganic nature |
Live nature |
Society |
|
Submicroelementary |
Biological macromolecular |
Individual |
|
Microelementary |
Cellular |
Family |
|
Nuclear |
Microorganic |
Teams |
|
Atomic |
Organs and tissues |
Large social groups (classes, nations) |
|
Molecular |
Body as a whole |
State (civil society) |
|
Macro level |
Populations |
State systems |
|
Mega level (planets, star-planetary systems, galaxies) |
Biocenosis |
Humanity as a whole |
|
Mega level (metagalaxies) |
Biosphere |
Noosphere |
Each of the spheres of objective reality includes a number of interconnected structural levels. Within these levels, coordination relations are dominant, and between levels, subordination relations are dominant.
A systematic study of material objects involves not only establishing ways to describe the relationships, connections and structure of many elements, but also identifying those of them that are system-forming, i.e. ensure separate functioning and development of the system. A systematic approach to material formations presupposes the possibility of understanding the system in question at a higher level. The system is usually characterized by a hierarchical structure, i.e. sequential inclusion of a lower-level system into a higher-level system.
Thus, the structure of matter at the level of inanimate nature (inorganic) includes elementary particles, atoms, molecules (objects of the microworld, macrobodies and objects of the megaworld: planets, galaxies, metagalaxy systems, etc.). A metagalaxy is often identified with the entire Universe, but the Universe is understood in the extremely broad sense of the word; it is identical to the entire material world and moving matter, which can include many metagalaxies and other cosmic systems.
Wildlife is also structured. It distinguishes the biological level and the social level. The biological level includes sublevels:
– macromolecules (nucleic acids, DNA, RNA, proteins);
– cellular level;
– microorganic (single-celled organisms);
– organs and tissues of the body as a whole;
- population;
- biocenosis;
- biospheric.
The main concepts of this level at the last three sublevels are the concepts of biotope, biocenosis, biosphere, which require explanation.
Biotope is a collection (community) of individuals of the same species (for example, a pack of wolves) that can interbreed and reproduce their own kind (population).
Biocenosis is a collection of populations of organisms in which the waste products of some are the conditions for the existence of other organisms inhabiting an area of land or water.
Biosphere is a global system of life, that part of the geographical environment (lower part of the atmosphere, upper part of the lithosphere and hydrosphere), which is the habitat of living organisms, providing the conditions necessary for their survival (temperature, soil, etc.), formed as a result of interaction biocenoses.
The general basis of life at the biological level - organic metabolism (exchange of matter, energy and information with the environment) - manifests itself at any of the identified sublevels:
– at the level of organisms, metabolism means assimilation and dissimilation through intracellular transformations;
– at the level of ecosystems (biocenosis), it consists of a chain of transformations of a substance initially assimilated by producer organisms through consumer organisms and destroyer organisms belonging to different species;
– at the level of the biosphere, a global circulation of matter and energy occurs with the direct participation of factors on a cosmic scale.
At a certain stage of development of the biosphere, special populations of living beings arise, which, thanks to their ability to work, have formed a unique level - social. Social reality in the structural aspect is divided into sublevels: individuals, families, various teams (industrial), social groups, etc.
The structural level of social activity is in ambiguous linear relationships with each other (for example, the level of nations and the level of states). The interweaving of different levels within society gives rise to the idea of the dominance of chance and chaos in social activity. But a careful analysis reveals the presence of fundamental structures in it - the main spheres of social life, which are the material and production, social, political, spiritual spheres, which have their own laws and structures. All of them are, in a certain sense, subordinated within the socio-economic formation, deeply structured and determine the genetic unity of social development as a whole.
Thus, any of the three areas of material reality is formed from a number of specific structural levels, which are in strict order within a particular area of reality.
The transition from one area to another is associated with the complication and increase in the number of formed factors that ensure the integrity of systems. Within each of the structural levels there are relationships of subordination (the molecular level includes the atomic level, and not vice versa). The patterns of new levels are irreducible to the patterns of the levels on the basis of which they arose, and are leading for a given level of organization of matter. Structural organization, i.e. systematicity is the way of existence of matter.
2. THREE “IMAGES” OF BIOLOGY. TRADITIONAL OR NATURALISTIC BIOLOGY
We can also talk about three main directions of biology or, figuratively speaking, three images of biology:
1. Traditional or naturalistic biology. Its object of study is living nature in its natural state and undivided integrity - the “Temple of Nature,” as Erasmus Darwin called it. The origins of traditional biology go back to the Middle Ages, although it is quite natural to recall here the works of Aristotle, who considered issues of biology, biological progress, and tried to systematize living organisms (“the ladder of Nature”). The formation of biology into an independent science - naturalistic biology - dates back to the 18th and 19th centuries. The first stage of naturalistic biology was marked by the creation of classifications of animals and plants. These include the well-known classification of C. Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), which is a traditional systematization of the plant world, as well as the classification of J.-B. Lamarck, who applied an evolutionary approach to the classification of plants and animals. Traditional biology has not lost its importance even today. As evidence, they cite the position of ecology among the biological sciences, as well as throughout natural science. Its position and authority are currently extremely high, and it is primarily based on the principles of traditional biology, since it studies the relationships of organisms with each other (biotic factors) and with the environment (abiotic factors).
2. Functional-chemical biology, reflecting the convergence of biology with the exact physical and chemical sciences. A feature of physicochemical biology is the widespread use of experimental methods that make it possible to study living matter at the submicroscopic, supramolecular and molecular levels. One of the most important sections of physical and chemical biology is molecular biology - the science that studies the structure of macromolecules that underlie living matter. Biology is often called one of the leading sciences of the 21st century.
The most important experimental methods used in physicochemical biology include the method of labeled (radioactive) atoms, methods of X-ray diffraction analysis and electron microscopy, fractionation methods (for example, separation of various amino acids), the use of computers, etc.
3. Evolutionary biology. This branch of biology studies the patterns of historical development of organisms. Currently, the concept of evolutionism has become, in fact, a platform on which a synthesis of heterogeneous and specialized knowledge takes place. The basis of modern evolutionary biology is Darwin's theory. It is also interesting that Darwin in his time managed to identify such facts and patterns that have universal significance, i.e. the theory created by him is applicable to the explanation of phenomena occurring not only in living, but also inanimate nature. Currently, the evolutionary approach has been adopted by all natural sciences. At the same time, evolutionary biology is an independent field of knowledge, with its own problems, research methods and development prospects.
Currently, attempts are being made to synthesize these three directions (“images”) of biology and to form an independent discipline – theoretical biology.
4. Theoretical biology. The goal of theoretical biology is to understand the most fundamental and general principles, laws and properties underlying living matter. Here, different studies put forward different opinions on the question of what should become the foundation of theoretical biology. Let's consider some of them:
Axioms of biology. B.M. Mednikov, a prominent theorist and experimenter, derived 4 axioms that characterize life and distinguish it from “non-life.”
Axiom 1. All living organisms must consist of a phenotype and a program for its construction (genotype), which is inherited from generation to generation. It is not the structure that is inherited, but the description of the structure and instructions for its manufacture. Life based on only one genotype or one phenotype is impossible, because in this case, it is impossible to ensure either the self-reproduction of the structure or its self-maintenance. (D. Neumann, N. Wiener).
Axiom 2. Genetic programs do not arise anew, but are replicated in a matrix manner. The gene of the previous generation is used as a template on which the gene of the future generation is built. Life is a matrix copying followed by self-assembly of copies (N.K. Koltsov).
Axiom 3. In the process of transmission from generation to generation, genetic programs, as a result of many reasons, change randomly and undirectedly, and only by chance these changes turn out to be adaptive. The selection of random changes is not only the basis of the evolution of life, but also the reason for its formation, because without mutations selection does not operate.
Axiom 4.
In the process of phenotype formation, random changes in genetic programs are multiplied, which makes it possible for them to be selected by environmental factors. Due to the amplification of random changes in the phenotypes, the evolution of living nature is fundamentally unpredictable (N.V. Timofeev-Resovsky).
E.S. Bauer (1935) put forward the principle of stable non-equilibrium of living systems as the main characteristic of life.
L. Bertalanffy (1932) considered biological objects as open systems in a state of dynamic equilibrium.
E. Schrödinger (1945), B.P. Astaurov represented the creation of theoretical biology in the image of theoretical physics.
S. Lem (1968) put forward a cybernetic interpretation of life.
5. A.A. Malinovsky (1960) proposed mathematical and systemic methods as the basis of theoretical biology.