MACRON
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 1977 ▶ |
| Object type | General information, Methodology or model |
- “A multiple globally stable regime” (E. JANTSCH, 1976, p.72).
E. JANTSCH assimilates macrons to dissipative structures. According to R. ABRAHAM, such BÉNARD phenomena are macrons. A complex system may transit through different macrons, during macrodynamic processes, as explained by R. ABRAHAM (1976, p.134 — 148).
These transitions are “catastrophic” in THOM's sense.
ABRAHAM distinguishes (mainly for practical purposes) three basic types of macrons: physical, chemical and electrical. Biological systems present combinations of these three types, which constitutes the bases for morphogenesis. He states that “… the mathematical description of a macron is an attractor” and “It is actually the theory of transitions of attractors, or catastrophes, as developped by Ren+ THOM (1973), which is the basis for the geometry of macrons…” (p.140).
The subject is related to W.d'ARCY THOMPSON famous work “On Growth and Form” (1916), to C. LAVILLE's study of the “M+canismes biologiques de l'atome + l'-tre vivant” (1950 — A quite unknown masterwork on helixes and energetic whirls' role in morphogenesis) and to A. TURING's research on “A chemical basis for biological morphogenesis” (1952), itself related to the BRAVAIS brothers work on phyllotaxis (1837).
The — supposedly — static “objects” we do observe at our temporal scale of observation are, in fact, a snapshot of macrons. A good example are appearently immutable geographic features: oceans, mountain ridges, etc.