De maquinas y seres vivos. Autopoiesis: la organización de lo vivo

De máquinas y seres vivos: Autopoiesis, la organización de lo vivo is the short, foundational text in which Humberto Maturana and Francisco Varela first set out the concept of autopoiesis in book form. Its core proposal is that living systems should be defined not by a list of properties, such as reproduction or metabolism, but by a particular kind of organization: a network of processes that continuously produces the very components that make up the network, so that the system regenerates itself as a self-maintaining unity. The authors argue that this organizational definition applies to the simplest living cell and, by extension, has implications for understanding cognition, nervous systems and social organization. This edition reproduces the original 1970s text alongside prefaces the authors added years later, in which they look back on the circumstances in Chile under which the idea of autopoiesis first took shape. Credits: Maturana, H., & Varela, F. (1994). De maquinas y seres vivos. Autopoiesis: la organización de lo vivo. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Editorial Lumen.