Ayres R. Information, Entropy, and Progress. A New Evolutionary Paradigm 1994

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The goals of this book are to give the readers a global perspective and a willingness of their own specialities as well as those of others as being part of that unity. The concepts that justify this perspective are, at least in some fields, very precise and therefore most precisely stated in the language of mathematics.
Ayres does not hesitate to use mathematical statements where they best express the ideas. Yet the book is a book of words and concepts, not a book of equations
and mathematical formalism. It is, in fact, a good read for someone uneasy with equations who nevertheless wants a sense of amateur's mastery over the book's
unifying themes.
Foreword by R. Stephen Berry
Preface
Introduction: Evolution as Accumulation of Useful Information
Concepts, Definitions, and Analogies
Information and Thermodynamics
Physical Evolution: From the Universe to the Earth
Geological and Biochemical Evolution
Biological Evolution
Evolution in Human Social Systems
Evolution in Economic Systems
The Economy as a Self-Organizing Information-Processing System
Information Added by Materials Processing
Morphological Information
Labor as an Information Process
Evolution, Economics, and Environmental Imperatives
Afterword by Allen V. Kneese
Index