KW: This was an effort to systematize thinking about the question,
hoew do we decide what methodology to use in seeking life on Mars.
That requires a definition of "life"; a survey of potential administration;
a comparable survey of possible signatures, a review of existing information
and attention to the constraints of a prefigured, inflexible mission.
It was an early application of orthologic, close to what F Zwicky called
morphological analysis, and was certainly colored by my contemporary
preoccupation with DENDRAL, which embraced a forecasting generator
of all possible chemical isomers. (Cf P-300). As a vector to scan
analyte signatures, particle (atomic/molecular weight) was ventured,
and that came up short with the realization that negentropic local
concentrations of almost any target, even elemntal or molecular hydrogen
might end up as a sign of life, perhaps even of intelligence (consider
a metal cylinder containing H2 gas!); The only philosophical commentary
citing the article's method was Hao Wang', the formal and the intuitive in biology,
(1984); other citers were preoccupied with my advocacy of optical activity
(cf the Pasteur probe) as a signature.
more:
jl 3/27/00
