Work Classification Layer
Compare Works
Pick two or more works to set their attribute fingerprints, dimension-by-dimension passages, and shared school embodiments side by side. Especially useful for author-stage comparisons (Wittgenstein early vs late) and for setting a single tradition's foundational texts against each other.
The Chemical Basis of Morphogenesis
Turing's 1952 'Chemical Basis of Morphogenesis' — founding paper of mathematical biology of pattern formation
Attribute Fingerprint
Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.
| Attribute | The Chemical Basis of Morphogenesis (Late) |
|---|---|
| Time · Extent | Infinite |
| Time · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Time · Grain | Discrete |
| Time · Freedom | Deterministic |
| Time · Traversability | Linear |
| Time · Dimensionality | One |
| Time · Direction | Uni-directional |
| Space · Extent | Infinite |
| Space · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Space · Curvature | Flat |
| Space · Dimensionality | Three |
| Space · Locality | Local |
| Matter · Extent | Infinite |
| Matter · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Matter · Conservation | Conserved |
| Matter · Dimensionality | Three |
| Matter · Locality | Local |
| Observer · Time Instance | Single |
| Observer · Space Instance | Single |
| Observer · Knowledge Extent | Mediated |
| Observer · Knowledge Retainment | Partial |
| Observer · Physicality | Embodied |
| Observer · Agency | Active |
| Observer · Number | Plural |
| Observer · Metaphysical Agency | Impersonal |
| Observer · Moral Authority | Reason |
| Observer · Theological Method | — |
| Energy · Extent | Infinite |
| Energy · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Energy · Conservation | Conserved |
| Energy · Dispersibility | Irreversible |
| Information · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Information · Cosmic Conservation | Conserved |
| Information · Personal Conservation | Non-conserved |
| Information · Granularity | Discrete |
Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence
What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.
Time
The Chemical Basis of Morphogenesis
Composed late 1951; published 1952. Turing was 39 and at the height of his post-war scientific career at Manchester.
Space
The Chemical Basis of Morphogenesis
Manchester — Turing's institutional base after Bletchley Park and the National Physical Laboratory. The numerical computations were done by hand and on the Manchester Mark I computer.
Matter
The Chemical Basis of Morphogenesis
Single 36-page mathematical-biological paper. Form is technical-mathematical (extensive use of partial differential equations) with biological interpretation.
Observer
The Chemical Basis of Morphogenesis
Late Turing. The observer is the mathematical genius applying the rigorous mathematical methods of physics and computation to the biological problem of pattern formation.
Energy
The Chemical Basis of Morphogenesis
Mathematical-biological pattern-formation energies. The paper takes Turing into a new domain — biology — that he had not previously worked in formally, but which he had been thinking about for years.
Information
The Chemical Basis of Morphogenesis
Founding paper of mathematical-biological pattern formation. The 'Turing pattern' has become a standard biological-mathematical concept; the paper's predictions were largely confirmed in the 2000s after decades of speculation.
Internal Tensions
Where each work's argument pulls against itself.
Founding paper of mathematical-biological pattern formation; an extraordinary final scientific contribution from a thinker who is principally remembered for his foundational work in computability and code-breaking. The 1990s-2000s experimental confirmation of Turing patterns (Kondo on zebrafish, Sick et al. on hair-follicle spacing) vindicated the paper after a long wait.