Can we measure the history of an object's existence?

Science · Published 29 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Physics describes how particles move, but it struggles to explain why complex life exists at all. Assembly theory attempts to bridge this gap by redefining objects not as simple points in space, but as entities defined by their specific histories of formation.

The fundamental challenge in science is reconciling the immutable laws of physics with the open-ended diversity of biological evolution. While physics can predict how a system moves from point A to point B based on initial conditions, it lacks a 'functional' view of the universe. Consequently, physical reductionism cannot distinguish between a random fluctuation and a truly novel functional feature. This creates a conceptual gap where biology explains selection but fails to account for the generation of novelty from basic matter.

Assembly theory (AT) proposes a solution by redefining what an 'object' actually is. Rather than viewing matter as point particles, AT treats objects as entities defined by their possible formation histories. The concept of 'assembly' (A) is established to measure how much causation is needed for creating a particular set of items. By incorporating history and causal contingency into the physics of complex objects, the theory provides a mathematical framework to describe how selection and evolution occur at the chemical scale.

The theory is not without its critics. Some researchers have noted that assembly theory bears a striking similarity to compression algorithms, specifically those in the Lempel-Ziv family developed in the 1970s. This comparison suggests that the way we quantify 'assembly' might mirror how we compress data strings. Despite these critiques, AT aims to provide a unified language for describing selection and novelty, acting as an interface between the laws of physics and the mechanics of biology.

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