1 Walter Maurice Elsasser
(Born: 20 March 1904, in Mannheim, Germany; died 14 October 1991, in Baltimore) was a
physicist and is considered the “father” of the geodynamo theory. Long before he became
known for his geodynamo theory, while in GAttingen in the 1920s, he has suggested
the experiment to test the wave aspect of electrons. This suggestion of Elsasser was
later communicated by his senior colleague from GAttingen (Nobel Prize recipient Max
Born) to physicists in England. This explained the results of the Davisson–Germer and
Thomson experiments later awarded with the Nobel Prize in Physics. In 1935, while
working in Paris, Elsasser calculated the binding energies of protons and neutrons in
heavy radioactive nuclei. Wigner, Jensen and Meyer received the Nobel in 1963 for work
developing out of Elsasser’s initial formulation. Elsasser therefore came quite close to a
Nobel prize on two occasions. In 1946–1947, Elsasser published papers outlining the
theory that the Earth’s electromagnetic field is powered by eddy currents at the planet’s
liquid core. This had been developed from around 1941 onwards, partly in his spare time
during his scientific war service with the US Signal Corps. In his later years, Elsasser
became interested in what is now called systems biology and contributed a series of
articles to Journal of Theoretical Biology.[2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] The final version of his
thoughts on this subject can be found in his book “Reflections on a Theory of Organisms”,
published in 1987 and again posthumously with a new foreword by Harry Rubin in
1998.
1.0.1 Biotonic laws
A biotonic law, a phrase coined by Elsasser, is a law of nature which cannot be contained in the
laws of physics.[9] Elsasser’s biological work is still quite controversial, and in fact sits in an odd
relationship to the field of systems biology he helped to found. Central to Elsasser’s
biological thought is the notion of the astronomical complexity of the cell. Elsasser
deduced from this that any investigation of a causative chain of events in a biological
system will reach a ”terminal point”, where the number of possible inputs into the chain
will overwhelm the capacity of the scientist to make predictions, even with the most
powerful computers. This might seem like a counsel of despair, but in fact Elsasser was
not calling for the abandonment of biology as a worthwhile research arena, but rather
for a different kind of biology where molecular causal chains are no longer the main
focus of study. Correlation between supra-molecular events would become the main data
source.
1.1 Publications
Elsasser, W.M. “The Physical Foundation of Biology. An Analytical Study”, (1958), Pergamon
Press, London.
Elsasser, W.M. “Atom and Organism. A New Approach to Theoretical Biology”, (1966) Princeton
University Press.
Elsasser, W.M. “The Chief Abstractions of Biology”, (1975), North Holland, Amsterdam.
Elsasser, W.M. “Memoirs of a Physicist in the Atomic Age”, (1978)
Elsasser, W.M. “The role of individuality in biological theory”, (1970) in Towards a Theoretical
Biology vol.3 Edinburgh University Press
Elsasser, W.M. “Reflections on a Theory of Organisms. Holism in Biology”, (1998) Johns Hopkins
University Press (JHU).
The Olin Hall at the Johns Hopkins University has a Walter Elsasser Memorial in the
lobby.
Biographical Entry:
Beyler R & Gatherer D (2007) Walter Elsasser (biography). In: “Dictionary of Scientific
Biography”, new ed. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons Inc.
1.2 Web pages
Extensive biography at The National Academies Press [10]
Gatherer D: “Finite universe of discourse. The systems biology of Walter Elsasser.” The Open
Biology Journal 2: 4-15 [11].
1.3 External links
“Oral History interview transcript with Walter Elsasser”, 29 May 1962, American Institute of
Physics, Niels Bohr Library and Archives [12]
1.4 References
[1] http : ∕∕www.aip.org∕history∕ohilist∕images∕elsasser − walterb1.jpg
[2] Elsasser, WM (1983). “Biological application of the statistical concepts
used in the Second Law”. Journal of theoretical biology 105 (1): 103–16. doi:
10.1016;0022–5193(83)90427–7, (http : ∕∕dx.doi.org∕10.1016∕0022 − 5193(83)90427 − 7). PMID
6656269 (http : ∕∕www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov∕pubmed∕6656269).
[3] Elsasser, WM (1982). “The other side of molecular biology”. Journal of theoretical biology 96 (1):
67–76. doi: 10.1016; 0022–5193(82)90156–4 (http : ∕∕dx.doi.org∕10.1016∕0022 −−5193(82)90156 −−4).
PMID 7109657 (http : ∕∕www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov∕pubmed∕7109657).
[4] Elsasser, WM (1981). “Principles of a new biological theory: a summary”.
Journal of theoretical biology 89 (1): 131–50. doi:10.1016; 0022–5193(81)90182–X
(http : ∕∕dx.doi.org∕10.1016∕0022 −−5193(81)90182 −−X). PMID 7278305
(http : ∕www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov∕pubmed∕7278305).
1.5 Note
This entry is based in part, and has significant additions to, as well as changes from, a related web
entry.
