Many readers interested in the current economic boom and the development of the world economy will probably regard examining plants or animals as a pointless, rather roundabout way to come to serious conclusions in their field of interest. So far economists have totally ignored the first half of the developmental stage of the problems they have been dealing with.

We do not know – and probably will never – what development in detail led to the formation of the cells. From the fossils of multicellular organisms we can obtain some information about their complex development; protozoa on the other hand left only very few traces. In the foreseeable future we will probably be able to reconstruct the beginning of the entire development of life in detail and to demonstrate this in experiments: biochemists have already succeeded in artificially reproducing autoreproductive molecular structures¹. But the evolutionary process which led from these initial stages to the highly complex organised structure of the "cell" is likely to remain unknown.

Using the energon theory we are nevertheless able to draw some conclusions about each intermediate stage in this development. Each energon had to be so constituted that it achieved an active energy balance, otherwise the evolutionary cycle would have inevitably come to an end at this stage. As I would like to show, we can deduce a lot of information about the structure required for achieving such a balance – and thus about the structure of each of these links.
 
 

The relationship between each energon and its energy source is like that between a key and a lock. Just as the nature of the key has to be such that it can open a certain lock, the nature of each energon has to such that it can tap a certain energy source. That is the precondition for the following processes.

What does not exactly fit into this comparison is the fact that each key is a tool that needs to be operated. Keys do not open locks on their own initiative. The energons in comparison are all bodies that are active without the help of an agent. They are thus – to illustrate this example – keys which open locks on their own.

Let us nevertheless continue with this comparison. The shape of the key "bit" – the most important of all its units – is not determined by the manufacturer. he may produce the key but the shape which the bit needs is determined by the lock. According to the mechanism of the lock, the bit has to have a certain shape in order to open it. This is a significant causal connection which plays an important role in the energon theory. The lock does not produce the key – but it determines its shape. Though the manufacturer does the work necessary for its production he does not determine what the result of his work will be like. Only if he succeeds in copying the shape determined by the mechanism of the lock will the key fit. On the other hand, it may happen that a key opens a lock which it has not been produced for.

The same is true for the energons. Those which are responsible for tapping energy sources have to meet given requirements as to shape and arrangement. The energy source does not produce them but dictates their nature. How they are produced is only of minor importance; what matters is that they have the required properties. Thus if we are looking for the "origin" of these properties, we should not regard it as being the manufacturer. The necessary properties originate in the nature of the energy source.
 
 

The mysterious phenomenon "energy" which all energons seek takes the form of actual (kinetic) or potential (static) energy². It is only the actual energy the energons are interested in, only this form can do work. For so doing a "gradient" is required – just as in the case of a waterfall. The higher the point is located from which the water plunges down, the more energy these particles absorb – the more work can they do. Ostwald called this power "intensity".

a) The body M1 weighing 10 gram lies on a balance beam. Its potential energy within the gravitational field of the earth results from its weight and its distance from the earth’s centre (centre of gravity). Body M2 has a distance x from the earth’s centre: thus its potential energy is greater not only because of its greater weight but also because of its longer distance from the centre of gravity.

b) Body M2 (released) "falls": its potential energy is transformed into kinetic energy. Due to the impact the balance beam is pressed down and M1 is flung into the air. The distance from the centre of gravity (y) increases and is longer than that of M2 before the fall (x). Thus M1 is "raised to a higher energy level". Such an energy transformation forms the basis of the life process. All organisms are capable of "lifting" smaller amounts of energy to a higher energy level by using absorbed energy. This process does not counteract entropy. On the whole actual energy is lost – "destroyed" (due to the evolution of heat). The organism nevertheless increases its personal energy potential – which is later used for enlarging the structure causing this transformation process.
 

The sea, for example, has enough thermal energy to operate all the machines in the world. But this form of energy cannot be used because it is potential energy. If we could transfer the sea close to icy space, a gradient would emerge, an "intensity" evolve, and we could start making use of this energy source.

But not every form of actual energy is of use to every energon. If a flash of lightning strikes a rabbit, then the animal may be supplied with an enormous amount of energy but it will nevertheless die. Oswald called those forms of energy which a system absorbing energy makes use of the "raw energy" of the system. The amount absorbed net was called "utilised energy" and the proportion of raw and utilised energy the "quality balance". This is of great importance in competition since the " quality balance" has a decisive influence on the degree of effectiveness of the respective energon.

When energy is transformed from one form to another, a certain percentage of heat is produced , which the energon loses – unless it needs energy. This energy evaporates in the environment, the gradient is levelled out. All organisms (plants as well as animals) are such that by using greater amounts of raw energy they raise small quantities of utilised energy to a higher level – that is, they increase their intensity (Figure 6). This gives the impression that the organisms counteract the general levelling of the slope in nature. This is not true. On the whole actual energy is always lost in these processes, "entropy" increases³.

Where on our planet were those suitable energy sources for energons situated?
 
 

Some groups of "bacteria" demonstrate how energy can be produced out of inorganic compounds. Sulphur bacteria oxidise hydrogen sulphide, nitrous bacteria oxidise ammonia, iron bacteria break down ferrous and ferric compounds. Just like we produce heat – that is energy – by igniting coal, these bacteria initiate a chemical reaction when they come into contact with an appropriate substance. In so doing energy is released – which is used for running their tiny "enterprises". If business goes well – the sulphur bacterium gains approximately 75 calories per mol of decomposed hydrogen sulphide – they increase by acquiring and incorporating the corresponding substances.

Since such energy sources are on the whole rather rare, these energons did not blossom. Though these particularly small energons have been blooming up to now as special entities, a higher evolutionary development did not take place⁴.

An almost infinite source of kinetic energy though are the light rays (photons) which constantly stream from the sun to the earth. All those energons which are familiar to us under the name "plants" (more precisely "autotrophic plants") are directed towards exploiting this source⁵. The actual key bit which opens the lock of sunlight is the same or at least similar for all plants. It is the pigment molecules which are spread in the entire cell body of lower plants or are band-like, plate-like or spherical bodies – "plastids" – in higher plants.

These functional units react so strongly to the sun light that single electrons within their structure are shifted to a higher orbit – like the body M1 in Figure 6 which was raised to a higher energy level. In this way they absorb more energy – which is then later transformed into chemical energy in a sequence of reactions (known as "redox reaction"). The energy is, so to speak, locked up in small cages.

Such a "cage" is first and foremost the adenosine diphosphate molecule, in short ADP. It may be compared with a charged battery. By adding a phosphoric acid molecule it is transformed into adenosine triphosphate (ATP), with the bonding energy being the higher "charge". If the plant cell needs energy for running its business, the battery quickly gives off its charge of kinetic energy without losing too much heat. Such a charging and discharging – that is a retransformation into ADP – may occur hundreds or thousands of times in the course of one day.

In the interior of the plastids two other processes take place: with the help of light energy another molecule type (NADP)⁶ is charged with hydrogen, and afterwards – in the "dark reaction" – carbohydrates are produced: first sugar, then starch, cellulose and other necessary substances.

a) The units capable of photosynthesis (energons) float in water (x) or cover the ground (y). In both cases additional functional units are required: one is needed for keeping x drifting within bright zones, another one is needed for securing y in the ground.

b) A locomotor organ (like a cilium) enables the floating type x actively to move to more favourable areas for acquisition. Type y develops stalks for lifting the units capable of photosynthesis above the ground: thus it is less likely that they will be covered with sand and sludge.

c) On land the plants are not surrounded by water and thus they have to extract it from the ground: additional functional units in the form of sucking roots are necessary. When competing for light the plants raise the units capable of photosynthesis as high as possible: the weight-bearing trunks have to be thicker and harder.

At stage b simple devices (such as ducts) are sufficient for feeding the stalks, at stage c ,however, a double tube system is necessary: one for carrying water (together with salts) to the units of acquisition (leaves) and another for carrying energy and materials (the "assimilates") to the branches, trunks and roots.
 

What is important about these processes is the fact that the energy which is necessary for the respective structure (minus heat loss) remains locked up in the molecules built in this way. Thus every molecule of the body is an energy "cage". When the plant needs the energy locked up in there, it simply has to break down or "smash" the molecule – that is open the cage.

The entire process of this energy production is called photosynthesis. The production of an endogenous structure is called "assimilation"; the opposite process, the opening of cages, is called "catabolism". The following important connection exists between the two: the plant needs carbon dioxide and hydrogen for assimilation, at the same time it emits oxygen. In the case of catabolism the plant extracts oxygen from its environment and gives off carbon dioxide. Since however assimilation is predominant on the whole, plants all in all absorb carbon dioxide and produce oxygen.

In so doing plants in two respects create the condition for their being eaten – by "animals".
 
 

Already among the protozoa there are numerous species which no longer absorb solar energy but switched to obtaining energy in a predatory way. These species attack other organisms, snatch away molecules of their body – that is energy cages – , smash them and in so doing gain the energy contained therein. They consequently do the same as plants when they break down substances. What is different is simply that these robbers tap energy reserves which they have not produced by themselves.

Now we come to the other big group of energons, which we call "animals" – and from which we have developed. The energy source these energons tap is the organic structure of other organisms. They have to come close to the organisms and snatch away parts. This is a fundamentally different task from absorbing solar energy. Whereas the sunbeams reach the plants naturally and free of charge, the animals have to track down, hunt and conquer their prey. In order to open the "lock" the key has to be different in this case.

Apart from plants, all other animals are also potential energy sources for this energon type because each molecule of the animal body contains the energy used for developing this structure. In practice this means that the animals have many more and diverse energy sources. While the plants which are capable of photosynthesis are all directed towards the same sunlight and mainly differ only in the way they acquire materials – particularly water –, each prey is a quite different lock for the animals and requires an accordingly different key bit for unlocking.

Thus it is not the production process which determines the basic structure necessary for each animal species but first and foremost the nature of the prey. According to the way the prey looks, behaves, moves, if need be defends itself, the animal energon has to have appropriate properties to succeed in obtaining the energy of others.

For breaking down the stolen molecules animals also need oxygen. Since plants obligingly exhale oxygen, they do not only offer themselves as potential prey but furthermore provide what is necessary for their combustion (oxidation).
 
 

Since sunlight abounds in nature, most plants do not need any organs of locomotion.⁷Correspondingly the majority of species – especially on land – are rooted to the ground. They need sense organs only to a certain extent. Most of them can perceive the direction of light and gravitation – in the case of terrestrial plants the tip of the roots perceive humidity –, but the functional units developed for so doing are relatively simple and cannot be compared with the complex sense organs of the higher animals. Since structures which do not contribute to an active balance are a burden, it is no wonder that these energons possess only those organs which they really need.

For animals, on the other hand, the locomotor and sense organs became important tools for their predatory activity. The sponges and coral polyps which, plant-like, are rooted to the spot are an exception. They feed on microorganisms which float by: the ocean current washes the prey directly to their mouth. They only need to help it by using their cilia. Most animals, however, are equipped with fins, flukes, legs, wings and other tools of locomotion – as well as with highly developed sense organs: eyes, nose, ears and so on.

These organs in turn are not gadgets developed by an imaginative mind but requirements of pure necessity. Without such devices the key would never be able to reach the lock – that is, they would not have developed any further.

The inner organisation of animals is also inevitably tighter. Effective locomotion implies the co-ordination of numerous partial movements (for example movements of muscle) – as well as the co-ordination of sensory impressions.

A vast variety of organs for catching the prey were developed: mouths and paws, sharp teeth, chewing plates and many more. Each of these structures requires a corresponding pattern of behaviour because only then will the functional units serve the acquisition goal. The central structure of acquisition however is the intestine⁸. The amoebae flow around their prey and take it up in their protoplasm whereas the multicellular organisms have specific functional units which are specialised in the process of "digestion". Whereas we consider that the stomach and intestines are secondary organs we see the centre of our inner self as our "ego", which is a function of our brain. The primacy of this "ego" has hardly ever been questioned, even the thought of doing so seems absurd. Only in joke books can we see depictions of gourmands whose main function has become gluttony. In the face of such pictures and evaluations it is not easy to hold the view represented by the energon theory. But if we follow the course of evolution rationally, we will discover that the central nervous system is by no means a natural and central phenomenon. It is a special adaptation to the animals, an effective unit which inevitably gained control over the body. In the case of human beings our "ego" gained so much power that – in the case of a suicide for example – it does not destroy only itself but all other functional units. Seen in terms of evolution this implies an astonishing take-over of an actually secondary auxiliary unit.

The digestive tract is a good example for the far-reaching division of labour and specialisation. Starting with the teeth, the acquired food is broken down, decomposed bit by bit. It is transported like on a conveyor-belt. Glandular secretions decompose the cell walls, acids attack the food in the stomach and finally it is absorbed in the small intestine. In the biological sense – especially in terms of the energon theory – each animal organism is a moving intestine. Sense organs control the organism; legs, fins, flukes and wings enable the organism to come close to the prey and an appropriately shaped front opening, the mouth, has to grab and devour the prey (Figure 8).

Those units capable of acquiring foreign organisms or parts of organisms (energons) float in the water (example: protozoa) or form acquisition structures which are rooted to the ground (example: multicellular polyps). The prey is either directly taken up into the cell body (protozoa) or "digested" by specialised cells in a cavity.

A continuing "intestine" developed in which the acquired molecules are gradually decomposed. Primitive sense and locomotor organs enable the intestine to move and search for prey.

The ability to move is increased by additional functional units (fins, flukes, legs, wings), the sense organs function more properly. The front opening of the intestinal tract (mouth, teeth) specialises in tearing of parts of the prey.

The power and scope of the functional units of the body are increased by additional, artificial organs which are made of parts of the environment (e.g. bow and arrow). Even the "digestion" of acquired "food" is improved by external units (stove, fire, pot).
 

There is a striking difference between plants and animals. In order to absorb sunbeams, surfaces as large as possible are necessary – external surfaces. The "leaves" became the actual organs of acquisition; they contain the plastids. In the case of terrestrial plants these functional units – competing to gain light – are lifted up by special stalks and trunks (Figure 7). The animals however need large internal surfaces for decomposing, "digesting", the stolen food. It is the protuberances and folds in the stomach and intestine – and furthermore the length of the intestine – which enlarge the internal surface.

For the absorption of gas large surfaces are required, too. In the case of plants the surface of the leaves is used and enlarged by a sprawling intercellular system ending in "stomata" on the superior leaf surface. On these surfaces evaporation takes place, sucking the sap out of the roots. For animals, however – especially for the larger multicellular organisms – the surface of their body is only in a few cases large enough to absorb gas. In the case of millipedes and insects a network of tubes, the "tracheae", developed which in small branches stretches across the entire body and even penetrates individual organs. Fish and terrestrial vertebrates absorb gas with their gills or lungs and their blood transports it to the individual points where it is needed.
 
 

When the plant and animal energons left the oceans and inhabited the arid land – the plants first, the animals following their prey –, they had to cope with many new difficulties. They had to "adapt" themselves correspondingly to the new conditions.

In this process the actual key – lock concept was hardly affected by the transition. The respective key bit – the plastids of the plants, the intestinal tube of the animals which is controlled by sense organs and capable of moving – did not need to change. They differed however fundamentally in how they processed material and how they provided the inner support of the body.

On land it became more difficult to obtain water, whereas it was much easier to obtain gaseous substances. The sea and freshwater lakes contain only a relatively small amount of dissolved oxygen . In order to obtain the necessary amount, much vaster surfaces are required in water. In order to demonstrate this we only need compare ourselves with the much smaller cuttlefish. The gills have an area of 1,700 to 1,800 square metres whereas our lungs are only 90 to 100 square metres in area. Thus on land there was the possibility of achieving major savings.

The lack of water on the other hand became a crucial factor. In the vast deserts sunbeams and carbon dioxide abound but without water the plant energons are not able to assimilate them. No wonder that some botanists regard the acquisition and not the absorption of energy as being of major importance. Even on the most favourable ground, plants make use of only 1% of the solar energy available. Plant energons swim in energy, so to speak. The only limits to their ability to make use of energy are in general the acquisition of material, their own capability of conversion as well as the competition from other plants.

Because of their mobility it is a bit easier for animals. They do not necessarily need to find water at a certain point. It is enough for them if a suitable source of water can be found somewhere in their radius of action.

On the other hand, animals and plants are equally exposed to the threat of drying out. Thus in hot, arid regions only those energons are able to survive whose outer skin prevents evaporation as much as possible, for example lizards and cacti.

Since air is 775 times lighter than water and offers accordingly less resistance, locomotion became easier on land. On the other hand the driving force of buoyancy , which is active in water, does not exist – which in part made up for the advantage gained on land. Serpentine motions and moving fins or flukes were simply inadequate in this case⁹. The body of animals needs to be raised from the ground by special functional units. As a counteraction to gravity furthermore stronger skeletons were required. While in the water the bowhead weighing more than 100 tons has no difficulty in moving, on land the elephant is the heaviest animal with its weight of 6 tons at best. Since the weight of a body increases with the cube of its extension but the load – bearing capacity of a support only with its cross section, that is square, there are final limits to growth, due to gravity. This is the reason why the elephant does not manage with legs as thin as that of the daddy – long – legs and why a young oak does not need a trunk as thick as that of an old oak.

a) A functional unit for co-ordinating the sense and locomotor organs becomes necessary: for example a nervous system with brain (B). Sensory (afferent) conductors transmit the information from the external and internal sense organs (S) to the brain; motor (efferent) conductors transmit commands given by the brain to the locomotor organs (C, L) and internal organs (I).

b) Larger animal energons need an effective unit for distributing the acquired amounts of energy and material to the individual parts of the body. A circulation system with a pump (H) is best. At the rear end of the gut the acquired product (K) is taken up and distributed through the entire body.

c) Oxygen is necessary for breaking down the "food" which is transported to the individual parts of the body; Since the intestine cannot absorb a sufficient amount of oxygen, a separate functional unit for absorbing and distributing gas is required: for example tracheae (T). This tube system can draw off the exhaled gases (CO₂). Its effectiveness can be increased by a pair of bellows – like the lungs (L).

d) Other waste products of metabolism apart from gaseous ones cannot be discharged either by the tube system of the tracheae or by the circulatory system. An additional functional unit is necessary for this function – for example nephridia (N). The waste products can be collected in a bladder (B).

Due to extension or sharing of functions (see Figure 20a) these functional units may in some cases blend and make work easier for each other. In the case of mammals, for example, blood circulation may also fulfil the task of distributing the absorbed gases and transporting the waste products of metabolism to those functional units responsible for discharging them (tracheae, nephridia).
 

On land, furthermore, weather conditions were more extreme: snow, ice, storm, rain and many other forms. The leaves of the plant and the moving intestine known as "animal" (both absorbing energy) were in many regions only able to settle down if they additionally developed certain additional functional units . Without them the energy balance of the plants or animals inevitably became negative

The forms of animals and plants thus are not explained by the way they were produced or the way they developed. They were to a great extent dictated by the nature of the energy and material sources. These have nothing to do with the production process but are nevertheless responsible for major structural elements. We will discuss this strange connection between cause and effect in detail in chapter VII.
 
 

Even the phenomenon of the key which fits a lock for which it was not developed can be found among the energons.

A good example demonstrating this is the Colorado beetle, which up to 1850 was simply known as a parasite on wild – growing solani on the North American plateaus. Then the beetle came into contact with the leaves of potatoes which had been planted there – since then it has been known as a dreaded pest. In this case the energon found a different, much richer energy source; the key unexpectedly found a lock which it opened perfectly well. Similar events seem to have taken place quite often in the course of evolution¹⁰.

Each new animal or plant species is like a key in search of a lock. If changes of the genetic pattern result in the development of new species, these species enter into competition with all energons that are directed towards the same energy source. Then it may happen that the new species are able to adapt themselves better to the energy source – or to tap energy sources which so far have not been exploited. In the first case they put their competitors out of action, in the second case they profit from their monopoly position. The new species spreads and multiplies.

If the energy source is constant, the more adaptable types – within the new species – gain a lead over the others. In the course of numerous generations – due to "natural selection" – a key is developed which is better adapted to and increasingly specialised in tapping the source. If the source is not constant, those types have the advantage which are not highly specialised. The degree of effectiveness of their activity may be lower but they are versatile enough to tap a new energy source when the old one runs dry.

Since all higher plants compete for the same sunlight, they do not differ that much in structure. For animals, though, each new animal or plant species is a completely new energy source. Accordingly their key – lock relations are extraordinarily tightly meshed.

Single-celled frustula algae are eaten by small crabs. The small crabs are hunted by freshwater smelts which in turn are hunted by pikes which themselves are hunted by white-tailed eagles on the body of which parasites live. Each of these animals is a key which opens a lock – and at the same time a lock for other keys. The parasites are also hunted. Each dead organism is attacked by putrefactive bacteria – which themselves are an energy source for other energons and so on....

Especially the example of the parasites demonstrates how far such specialisation may reach. The isopod Ergyne Rissoi is a parasite on the decapod crabs, rhizocephalans is a parasite on the isopods and on these the isopod Danalia is parasitic. In this case each special key at the three different levels of size became an energy source for a smaller one.

Reproduction is the main problem for all parasitic energons. The energy sources they exploit are usually highly profitable. Those parasites in particular which live in the intestine of other animals are exclusively surrounded by digested food which they only need to take up. A separate mouth or intestine is no longer necessary; food can directly be absorbed through the outer skin. But how can the energon reproduce itself? If it produces the offspring in the body of its "host", the young will inevitably die together with the host. Only if these keys possess behavioural patterns which provide them with other options will they be able to survive as species.

It happened that some parasites developed in very complicated ways. There are parasites which repeatedly change not only their behaviour but also their appearance in the course of their life.

In the case of the worm Acanthocephalus anguillae which is parasitic on the intestine of the whitefish the procedure is relatively simple. The eggs are discharged with the excrement, sink to the ground and only have to wait for a certain water flea – Gammarus pulex – to eat them. Thus the first difficulty is overcome. The eggs hatch in the stomach of the crab and larvae emerge which bore through the intestinal wall and then become parasites in the body cavity of the crab. This is, so to speak, only a minor contribution. The larvae immediately encapsulate – for the second time now they need luck. The water flea serves as food for the whitefish and must now be eaten by the fish. If this happens, the crab is digested in the stomach of the whitefish – and the capsule remains. Now the parasite uses hooks in order to cling to the intestinal wall – and thus the key finally finds the lock. The worm grows ...and produces eggs.

In this case the parasite only once changed its form but there are parasites which change their appearance as often as three times or more. Each of these forms can be seen as special adaptation to an intermediate stage in the complex course of evolution. The offspring of the fluke Baccinger baccinger reach the intestine of fish which is their actual energy source only via mussel and crab. In some cases parasites wander through the entire body of their host. In the case of the cat for example, the larvae of the liver-fluke migrate from the intestine to the liver through the gall duct. In the case of the cow, however, the larvae bore through the intestinal wall, wander through the body cavity and in so doing reach their destination. There may be different "methods" to reach the goal but what matters is the end result.

If the parasite succeeds in its long and awkward wandering to the key that is to be opened, its net profit will be enormous – then it can produce a large number of offspring¹¹. This profit in turn makes up for the high loss rate. Thus these energon types were able to survive and develop further.

In the case of non- specialists the complex and tight key – lock relations are much more difficult to analyse. The herring feeds on some dozens of different animal species and is itself hunted by a dozen animals. Thus this energon is a kind of point of intersection for different "food chains" which either end up in it or lead in different "directions".
 
 

Though animals and plants differ widely in their forms of acquisition it is nevertheless hard to distinguish between these them since all sorts of transitional forms exist.

Among the protozoa there are a number of species which have plastids but at the same time may act as predators. In these intermediate forms we can even today see the common origin of "plants" and "animals". In protozoa a clear distinction between plants and animals cannot be applied, from this stage on the organisms developed in two main directions.

Among the multicellular animals no species exists which developed plastids. The predators among the energons defended their professional honour, so to speak, and continued their predatory activity. Multicellular plants however developed differently.

There are numerous species among them which became semi- or holoparasites – that is they use other organisms as an energy source. The mistletoe ,for example, is a "semi-parasite". It settles on the branches of trees and steals only water and nutritive salts, that is, it no longer needs to extract water from the ground. Hellweed (Cuscuta) however is a "holoparasite". With its tentacle-like functional units it twines around hop vine and hemp, attacks the tissue and taps the sieve tubes of the plants. It does not rob the host only of water and nutritive salts but also of the assimilates – that is, "energy cages". The leaves are completely degenerate and without any function. As far as its origin is concerned Cuscuta is undoubtedly a plant whereas it is an animal as far as its form of acquisition is concerned.

It is quite similar with fungi. They are specialised in decomposing the remains of dead organisms (mould). Judging by their origin they are plants, by their form of acquisition, however, they are animals.

Despite all these interconnections in nature the development up to humans was highly uniform. Two methods were used to absorb energy, each of them involving the formation of a variety of different forms of acquisition which led the development of life in new fields¹². It is remarkable that animal and plant forms of acquisition presuppose each other. Without plants animals would not have developed and vice versa. The reason for this is simple: plants need the carbon dioxide exhaled by the animals; animals, for their part, need the oxygen exhaled by plants. The almost constant content of carbon dioxide and oxygen of the earth’s atmosphere is one of the most astonishing and least appreciated phenomena. All in all, the gas production of plants and that of animals balance each other. If plant activity were stronger, the oxygen content would increase; if animal activity were stronger, the air and the sea would accumulate more and more carbon dioxide. Nothing of the kind happens. Even the emergence of humankind has so far not changed this – except in large urban areas.

In this extremely tightly knit and interlinked community of animal and plant energons finally humans appeared. For almost two million years we had been nothing more than a very intelligent animal but gradually major changes took place. Just as the energon cell led to the development of much more complex and powerful acquisition structures, a similar but more impressive process of development set in – at the dizzy height of which we are standing now.

Let us take a closer look at this development in the next chapter.
 
 

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Continue to "Requirement as energy source"
 
 

Comments:

¹ In 1968 the team of the Nobel prize winner A. Kornberg succeeded in producing autoreproductive ribonucleic acid, which has the same structure and effect as the genetic blueprint of a virus.
² Ostwald wrote that one has to distinguish between the „stationary part which never will be able to start to move again, c.q. to transform itself“ and the mobile part „which all by itself evokes events in this world“. („Die energetischen Grundlagen der Kulturwissenschaft“, Leipzig 1909, p. 31)
³ The statement made by W.Troll (”Allgemeine Botanik”, Stuttgart 1948, S.350) refers to this connection.
⁴ The smallest autoreproductive unit of life is according to M. Staudinger the bacterial spore. It consists, according to his calculations, of about 15 molecules of 106 atoms, 150 molecules of 105 atoms, 500 molecules of 104 atoms; the remaining 30% consist of about 550,000 molecules of 101 to 103 atoms. (W.Wieser, ”Gewebe des Lebens”, Bremen 1959, S.234)
⁵ When in the following  I talk about ”plants” as such, I am referring to those which are capable of ”photosynthesis”, that is, transforming solar energy. The above mentioned types of bacteria are usually also considered as ”plants” but to keep matters simple – as in common parlance – I will disregard them in the following.
⁶ The complete name of this chemical compound is nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate.
⁷ Some of the more primitie seaweed ( in particular monocellular ones) have flagella and are able to move to places which provide them with better light conditions.
⁸ Cuvier already called the intestine the main characteristic of animals (”premier charactère des animaux”). (”Le Régne Animal”, Brussels 1836, page 11)
⁹ Even snakes do not simply wind but propel themselves over the ground with the help of scales directed to the rear and especially  by their belly muscles.
¹⁰ The contrary – that is when a ”superb” key meets the wrong lock – is almost more important for assessing organisms. The cat is a tremendously competitive and highly complex structure: if we throw it into the sea, it will be helpless and drown. There is no absolutely ”better” or ”worse” as regards the keys we call  "organisms". Such an assessment holds only for a specific energy source and environment.
¹¹ The number of eggs of the tape worm Tacnia solium was calculated to be 42 millions per year, that of the round worm Ascaris lumbricoides 64millions. In the case of the threadworm Sphaerularia bombi which is a parasite in the body cavity of bumblebees there is no more room for the ovariole and the uterus. These organs grow out of the body so that the worm in the end looks like a tiny appendage to the uterus. This example – that an organ is 100 times larger than the its organism – is rare in the animal kingdom.
¹² This is why I keep the common division into plants and animals as far as the energon theory is concerned. Animals and plants are two big and distinct groups – just like the professional entities and business organisations in the second stage of evolution. Thus the division is carried out according to different criteria: first according to the method of energy absorption, second according to the stage of integration. Formally correct would be the following division: protozoa, metazoa, the professional entities and business organisations. Since each system of division is artificial and does not exist in nature anyway, I do not think it is necessary to be that consistent.