A sincere thank you to all respondents to my question about bound water.
It will take some time to work through the answers and the suggested
literature. Allan Harvey and Don Wauchope asked for the connection with
creation and evolution issues. Here it is.
In the literature there is enormous confusion about the nature of parts
and wholes and this is what I am trying to clarify. The issue is
"integration". When two entities combine, they can continue to exist
without interaction, one can be absorbed into the other or some degree of
interaction occurs which leads to the "emergence" of a new entity into
which the other two are integrated. This is the connection with what is
known as evolutionary emergence. The question whether evolutionary
emergence is possible cannot be answered with any degree of clarity or
confidence unless the meaning of "part" and "whole" is understood.
Example: is a polynucleotide (DNA or RNA) a part or a whole? If it is a
part of a cell in the same sense as a tissue cell is a part of an
organism, it follows that the existence of the polynucleotide requires
that of the cell. In general, a genuine part-whole relation is
characterized by mutuality of dependence for existence. If DNA were a
whole, it should be capable of existence independent of a cell. In that
case one could, theoretically, imagine a scenario of emergent evolution
when DNA would combine with other DNA's and other molecules. Further,
DNA would have to be considered a freely diffusible entity like atoms in
a gas cloud. The relation between DNA and a cell containing it would be
one known as a microlevel-macrolevel relation, and this would open it up
for mathematical treatment using the theory of thermodynamics. This has
been proposed by E.O.Wilson and C.Lumsden as an approach to explain human
sociocultural behavior in terms of their genetic information (van der
Meer, 1996). So there is also a connection with sociobiology. I hope
this explanation is satisfactory even though it is brief and simplified.
The reference is: van der Meer, J.M. (1996) "Religious Belief in
Sociobiology: How a Physical Analogy Introduces Materialism in Human
Sociobiology" In: "Facets of Faith and Science. Volume 2. The Role of
Beliefs in Mathematics and the Natural Sciences: An Augustinian
Perspective." Lanham: The University Press of America / The Pascal
Centre for Advanced Studies in Faith and Science. Editor: J.M. van der
Meer. In print. (order form with prepublication discount available).
Dr. Jitse M. van der Meer jmvdm@redeemer.on.ca
Professor of Biology (905)648-2131
Director Pascal Centre fax: (905)648-2134
Redeemer College
777 Hwy 53 East
Ancaster, ON. Canada L9K 1J4