Lines of evolution

Patterns of evolution explain the mechanisms of the evolution of engineering systems over time and can be understood as drivers of this evolution. In fact, we need to understand these drivers in order to develop a big picture of the evolution of the specific engineering system that is the subject of our interest. Thus, it is time to introduce the concept of the line of evolution of an engineering system or simply line of evolution. This concept can be defined thus  

A line of evolution of an engineering system is sequence of design concepts that were used to design the system over the time period. 

Usually, we present a list of concepts but also represent a line of evolution in the graphic form, which is much more useful for engineers than a 

A given line of evolution is developed for a specific feature of the system, for example, the source of energy. Therefore, a system may have several separate lines of evolution associated with its various features. These lines constitute together the envelope of evolution lines, which can be described thus  

An envelope of evolution lines is a graphic representation of the entire 

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The underlying guiding principles behind this evolution were that every system evolves towards increasing ideality and evolution continues at the expense of system s own resources . (Note Contemporary TRIZ software has an Evolution Trends database containing over 20 trends and 200 lines of evolution with examples from different processes and products.)... 

Organic synthesis followed a different line of evolution. A landmark was Perkin s serendipitous synthesis of mauveine (aniline purple) in 1856 [26] which marked the advent of the synthetic dyestuffs industry, based on coal tar as the raw material. The present day fine chemicals and pharmaceutical industries evolved largely as spin-offs of this activity. Coincidentally, Perkin was trying to synthesise the anti-malarial drug, quinine, by oxidation of a coal tar-based raw material, allyl toluidine, using stoichiometric amounts of potassium dichromate. Fine chemicals and pharmaceuticals have remained primarily the domain of... 

Carbon. Galimov (1968) pointed out two lines of evolution of carbon. The first is traced from gaseous CO2 and CH4 coming from the mantle and endogenetic minerals into the carbon of the carbonaceous matter of the mantle and later into the carbonaceous matter of meteorites (Fig. 27). By far the largest part of the carbon characterized by a heavy isotopic composition (5 C from —4 to —7%) arrived in the Earth s crust from the mantle by that route. The second line is related to carbide matter in the mantle and meteorites, which does not enter into the formation of gaseous compounds. Carbon of the first line of evolution predominates in the Earth s crust. 

The problem is to find a reliable estimate of tbe age of divergence of the two lines of evolution. Angiosperm pollen has been found in the Jurassic era, 180-140 million years ago, and ginkgo ancestors can be traced back to the early Permian, around 270 million years ago. Both of these dates are irrelevant, unfortunately, for what is needed is the time in the past at which the gymnosperm ancestors of modem angiosperms and ginkgo separated. If both can be traced back to the pterido-sperms or seed ferns of the Carboniferous (139,140), then the age of the evolutionary branch point approaches 350 million years. Eighteen sequence differences per hundred residues in 350 million years lead to a unit evolutionary period essentially identical with that calculated from vertebrates, but the fossil record is so poor that the calculation can only be considered approximate. 

To sum up, three steps could be identified in the major line of evolution of dnplicated genes (i) the original tandem duplications (ii) the preferential transposition of one copy of the duplicated genes into the ancestral genome core (iii) the compositional change of this copy. 

All associations are intended to initiate or expand chains of thought, sequences of ideas, or lines of evolution of ideas (using the terminology of the theory of evolution of engineering systems [Zlotin and Zusman 2006]). They are like catalysts in the process of chain thinking. 

There are many examples showing this pattern in action. It can be observed not only in the evolution of cars but also in the evolution of electronic watches or cellular phones. Knowing this pattern may help the inventive engineer to predict the desired level of complexity of a new system. It can be done when the line of evolution of the system under development is available, and it is possible to determine if the system is in its complexity or simplicity period and how advanced a given period is. 

In nature, various different species use plate armor for protection, with differentiated adaptations for movement. Surprisingly, in nature, separate lines of evolution have emerged, each focused only on a specific requirement maximization of protection, maximization of mobility, or finding a balance between protection and mobility. 

The second line of evolution represents a balance between protection and mobility, and its best example is the armadillo (Figure 10.9). Armadillos can move quickly and are relatively well protected by an armor-like shell from head to toe, except for their underbelly, which has a thick skin covered with coarse hair. Armadillos evolved over the last 10,000 years, and today they are much smaller than their predecessors. Probably, a smaller size has helped them to survive by lightening the weight of their bodies and increasing their mobility. 

The pioneers in the field of research into new molecules started from zero and faced an additional handicap, namely the extraordinary biodiversity of marine life compared to terrestrial biodiversity, for both plants and animals. As we have seen, this considerable marine biodiversity is the consequence of the fact that life first appeared in the oceans, then gradually adapted to brackish waters and to freshwater via large and small rivers, to finally break free from the aquatic environment by adapting to air breathing for the conquest of the terrestrial environment. However, this triple line of evolution concerns only a very small number of organisms. 

Conventional emulsions, unlike the microemulsions, are easily identified as dispersions of one liquid phase in another. In such systems, the energetics of surfactant aggregation is not a major factor in their formation. Conventional emulsions, therefore, are only indirectly related to the subject of this chapter. They are, however, related in the sense that a direct line of evolution can be drawn from the crystalline surfactant phase, through the mesophases, micelles, and microemulsions, to emulsions, aU resulting from changes in the composition of the system. 

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