Humberto Maturana (born September 14, 1928 in Santiago) is a Chilean biologist and philosopher. Together with Francisco Varela, he invented the concept of autopoiesis. Maturana is also considered to be one of the founders of radical constructivism, a relativistic epistemology built on empirical findings of neurobiology. He has also made important contributions to the field of evolution.

After finishing his high-school studies at Liceo Manuel de Salas in 1947, Maturana began studying Medicine at the University of Chile, but he finished studying Biology in the same University. In 1954 he moved to London to study anatomy and neurophysiology at the University College with a scholarship from the Rockefeller Foundation. He obtained his PhD in Biology from Harvard University in 1958. He works in neuroscience at the University of Chile, in the "Biología del Conocer" (Biology of Knowledge) research center.

Works

*Maturana H.R. and F.G. Varela De máquinas y seres vivos, Editorial Universitaria, Santiago, Chile, 1972 (in Spanish). In English: Autopoiesis: the organization of the living, in Autopoiesis and Cognition by Maturana H.R. and F.G. Varela, Reidel 1980.
*Humberto R. Maturana, Francisco J. Varela, The Tree of Knowledge: The Biological Roots of Human Understanding, Boston: Shambhala, 1987, ISBN 0877733732
*Humberto R. Maturana, Francisco J. Varela, Autopoiesis and Cognition: The Realization of the Living
*Maturana, Erkennen: Die Organisation und Verkörperung von Wiklichkeit, Wiesbaden: Friedrich Vieweg & Sohn Braunschweig, 1982. (in German)
*Maturana, Humberto R. Biology of language: The epistemology of reality,Chapter 2 in Miller, George A., and Elizabeth Lenneberg (eds.), Psychology and Biology of Language and Thought: Essays in Honor of Eric Lenneberg, New York: Academic Press, 1978, pp. 27-63.(http://www.enolagaia.com/M78BoL.html)
*Maturana, Humberto R. Man and society, in Benseler, Hejl, and Köck (1980), pp. 11-32.
*Maturana R. Humberto, Ontology of Observing, The biological foundations of self consciousness and the physical domain of existence, Conference Workbook: Texts in Cybernetics, American Society For Cybernetics Conference, Felton, CA. 18-23 October, 1988. (http://www.inteco.cl/biology/ontology/index.htm)
*H. Maturana, REALITY: The Search for Objectivity or the Quest for a Compelling Argument, The Irish Journal of Psychology, Vol. 9 (1988), no. 1, pp. 25-82. (http://www.enolagaia.com/M88Reality.html)
*Maturana, Humberto R.The origin of the theory of autopoietic systems, in Fischer, H. R. (ed.), Autopoiesis. Eine Theorie im Brennpunkt der Kritik, Frankfurt: Suhrkamp Verlag, 1991.
*Maturana, Humberto R., and G. Verden-Zöller Liebe und Spiel, die vergessene Grundlage der Menschlichkeit, Carl Auer Verlag, 1993 (in German).
*Maturana, Humberto R., and G. Verden-Zöller, Biology of love, in Opp, G., and F. Peterander, F. (Eds.): Focus Heilpadagogik, Munchen/Basel: Ernst Reinhardt, 1996.
*H. Maturana, Autopoiesis, Structural Coupling and Cognition, (a 1999 draft version in: http://www.isss.org/maturana.htm)
*Maturana, H and Mpodozis, J. The origin of species by means of natural drift, Revista Chilena de Historia Natural 73: 261-310. (2000)



Maturana, Humberto
Maturana, Humberto
Maturana, Humberto
Maturana, Humberto