The Tree of Knowledge: The Biological Roots of Human Understanding
The 1984 book that gave autopoiesis to a general readership, arguing that living and knowing are one activity. Quietly foundational for systems theory and cognitive science.
Maturana and Varela’s 1984 account of cognition as a biological process, the book that introduced autopoiesis to a general readership and argued that living and knowing are the same activity. Dense, diagrammatic, and quietly foundational for cybernetics, systems theory, and enactive cognitive science, it asks the reader to give up several certainties before it explains anything.
Recommended by 1 Person
Maria Popova
Chilean philosophers Humberto Maturana (September 14, 1928–May 6, 2021) and Francisco Varela (September 7, 1946–May 28, 2001) explore this with uncommon subtlety and rigor in their 1984 classic The Tree of Knowledge: The Biological Roots of Human Understanding (public library)
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