Is there a central scientific theory governing how human physiology interacts with the environment?
Our environment exerts a profound effect on our health and well-being. Yet, the rules guiding such interaction between individual human physiology and the environment remain elusive. While various disciplines have emerged studying components and base interactions of each system, no method has
successfully predicted the dynamic behavior between these complex systems in real time.
Environmental Biodynamics offers a daring new inquiry into our environment and its impact on human health. Moving beyond a reductionist view of human physiology and the environment, this volume proposes a fundamental shift in environmental health science from quantifying structural relationships,
such as static measures of environmental factors or momentary health indicators, to studying functional interdependencies in time. Across six chapters, the authors weave together the latest research from biology, environmental science, theoretical physics, mathematics, and philosophy to explore
their Biodynamic Interface Theory, which states that complex systems connect primarily through a dynamic, operationally independent interface that regulates the bidirectional interactions between systems over time. Later chapters compare the proposed theory against current practice and provide
suggestions for further methods of data collection and computational analysis. Supported by vivid full-color diagrams and a wealth of original data, Environmental Biodynamics is an accessible theoretical guide to this promising new field of environmental health
Author(s): Manish Arora, Paul Curtin
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Year: 2021
Language: English
Pages: 160
City: Oxford
Cover
Environmental Biodynamics
Copyright
Dedication
Contents
Foreword
Preface
1 Introduction to Environmental Biodynamics
Introduction
What to Expect from This Book
Aims and Scope of Environmental Biodynamics
Complexity and the Need for Precision Environmental Medicine
Contrasting Environmental Biodynamics and Other -Omic Sciences
Principles of Environmental Biodynamics
Chapter 1 Summary
2 The Lens of “Thingness”: Structuralism, Reductionism, and Simplicity
How Did We Arrive at the Current Worldview of Health?
Structuralism, Reductionism, and Simplicity
A Puzzle for You
Environmental Biodynamics: Rethinking the Role of Time in Environmental Health Research
Incorporating Biodynamics and the Shape of Change into Population Health
A Hard Lesson to Learn: Repeated Structural Analyses Do Not Equal a Functional Interpretation (Case Study)
Chapter 2 Summary
3 The Shape of Change: Complexity, Organization, and Chaos
Complexity and Organization
The Essentiality of Biodynamic Interfaces
The Organization of Interfaces: Determinism, Stochasticity, and Chaos
Attractor Reconstruction: The Shape of Change
Incorporating Biodynamics and the Shape of Change into Precision Medicine
Environmental Biodynamics and Environmental Medicine (Case Studies)
Chapter 3 Summary
4 The Process of Interdependence: Temporal Dynamics of Biodynamic Interfaces
Introduction
Models of Interdependence
Sensitive Dependence on Initial Conditions and the “n-Body Problem”
Incorporating Dynamic Interdependence in Environmental Medicine (Case Study)
Chapter 4 Summary
5 The Geometry of Health: Patterns, Structures, Forms, and Constraints
Dimensions of Health and Disease
Patterns, Structures, Forms, and Constraints in Biological Systems
Discrete and Integrated Assessments of Biological Dimensionality
Leveraging Patterns, Structures, Forms, and Constraints in Health Research (Case Study)
Chapter 5 Summary
6 The Layers of Life: Emergent Complexity and Self-Organization
General Systems Theory as a Unifying Framework
Emergent Complexity and Self-Organization
Emergence and Self-Organization in Environmental Medicine
How Does Environmental Biodynamics Fit into Systems Theory?
How Does This Perspective Relate to Traditional Structural Views?
Implications of Environmental Biodynamics for Environmental Health Sciences
Our Verse (Conclusion)
Appendix: Operationalizing Environmental Biodynamics
The Questions Defining an Environmental Biodynamics Approach
Set 1: On the Organization of Systems
Set 2: On Constraints and Interdependence
Set 3: On Emergence and Self-Organization
Empirical Methods to Study the Organization of Environmental Biodynamics
Computational Methods to Study the Organization of Environmental Biodynamics
Design and Theoretical Implications
Index
