"Their [dissipative systems] uncanny resemblance to living things has prompted the name 'organisms of physics'. Dissipative systems are thermodynamically open systems that are maintained far from equilibrium by the continuous flow of matter and energy through them. Under the right conditions, such systems can undergo spatial self-organization with a concomitant enhancement of energy throughput across whatever energy gradient exists. They are, in short, gradient-destroying. The picture to have in mind is an eddy in a mountain stream or, more dramatically, a tornado.." (Hendrickson p83 What is Life)