ABSTRACT
A frequent conventional mischaracterization of biology is its presentation as a mere derivative, nothing more than the cumulative effect, of processes traditionally studied by physicists and believed to belong to either physics or chemistry. According to some opinions, this misrepresentation of life science finds support in the notion that von Neumann’s self-reproducing automaton provides an adequate paradigm for living processes. For instance Poundstone [1] writes:
“Not only can a machine manufacture itself, but von Neumann was able to show that a machine can build a machine more complex than itself. As it happens, these facts have been of almost no
use (thus far, at least) to the designers of machinery. von Neumann’s hypothetical automatons have probably had their greatest impact in biology.”
