Howard T. Odum’s contributions to evolutionary theory

Abstract

The famed systems ecologist Howard T. Odum rarely engaged directly with the activities of evolutionists or the advancement of evolutionary theory. The field of evolution does not claim Odum among their own, and he did not direct his scholarship to the topic or journals of evolution. But he undoubtedly saw his theorizing of system self-organizing as encompassing of evolutionary theory. To draw out that relationship, this paper will assemble a historical recounting of Odum’s writings that pertained to evolutionary theory. It will be documentary research of his prolific output of publications over 50 years with the aim of distilling the core of Odum’s thinking about evolution. For the systems ecologist Odum, self-organization is the evolutionary process of all systems in which designs develop and prevail that maximize power intake, energy transformation, and those uses that reinforce production and efficiency. This process Odum labels ‘maximum power’ and is the instrument of natural selection in systems. There is selection for maximum power in systems without life, in the origin of life, and in systems with life. The maximization of power is not human focused, it is not intentional, it is not a theory of group selection, and it may be continuous or particulate. Both natural selection and ecological succession are kinds of ‘system learning’, with different scales of time and space. System designs naturally form ‘hierarchy’, which contributes to maximum power by expanding system inputs in space and length. These topics are all addressed in the paper. Odum never felt constrained by academic disciplinary boundaries. He conceived of science as an integrated whole, with his writings intended for all the disciplines, including the evolutionists. While they may not have recognized his ideas, they need them.