Biological Entities as Machines: A Historical Perspective on the View

The idea of viewing biological entities as machines was popularized in the 19th century. This perspective arose from the belief that death is the breakdown of the mechanics of the human body. However, as physicists like Boltzmann introduced thermodynamics and the theory of micro-microstates, it became clear that organisms are far more complex than simple machines. The workings of nature cannot solely be explained by Newtonian or Cartesian views, and most phenomena are too complex for us to fully understand. As a result, physics shifted towards focusing on functions rather than causalities.