L. A. Orbeli. The Main Problems and Methods of Evolutionary Physiology (Digitized Edition of the 1956 Classic)

Abstract 1. About the Work The Main Problems and Methods of Evolutionary Physiology is a lecture delivered by Leonid Aleksandrovich Orbeli at the First Conference on Evolutionary Physiology on 7 March 1956. The work addresses the formation of evolutionary physiology as an independent field of physiological science and defines its principal objectives, methodological foundations, and practical significance. Orbeli distinguishes two central lines of inquiry: the evolution of functions, which traces the historical formation and transformation of physiological functions, and functional evolution, which seeks to understand the mechanisms and causal factors underlying the evolutionary process through physiological investigation. He emphasizes the inseparability and interaction of the organism and its environment, the importance of internal and external determinants of functional change, and the need to integrate comparative physiology, ontogenetic development, clinical observations, and experimental methods. In its later sections, the lecture extends this framework to human physiology, higher nervous activity, and the interaction between biological and social factors. 2. Main Ideas Evolution of functions — tracing the formation and transformation of physiological functions throughout evolutionary development. Functional evolution — investigating the mechanisms and causal factors of evolutionary processes through physiological research. Organism and environment — understanding the organism as inseparable from, and continuously interacting with, its changing environment. Causality — identifying not only the sequence of functional changes but also their interdependence and their causal relationship to internal and external factors. Adaptation — determining the adaptive mechanisms and functional changes through which living organisms respond to changing conditions. Integrated methodology — combining comparative physiology, ontogenetic development, clinical material, and specialized experimental approaches. Theory and practice — treating evolutionary physiology as simultaneously a theoretical and practical science, in which theoretical understanding and practical application continuously inform one another. 3. Connection to the Buteyko Method L. A. Orbeli represents an important physiological predecessor within the scientific tradition that contributed to the theoretical foundation of the Buteyko Method. Buteyko repeatedly referred to Orbeli in his lectures and theoretical explanations. Particularly significant are Orbeli’s concepts of functional change and evolution, the unity and interaction of the organism and its environment, functional adaptation, causal dependence of physiological changes on internal and external factors, and the regulatory organization of physiological functions. Within the Buteyko Method, this broader physiological framework is further developed in relation to breathing: changes in ventilation are considered as changes in the functional state of the organism and in its adaptive-regulatory processes. Orbeli’s work therefore provides an important link in understanding the broader physiological tradition from which the Buteyko Method developed, including the scientific lines associated with Sechenov, Pavlov, Vvedensky, Orbeli, Ukhtomsky, Anokhin, Verigo and Bohr, rather than viewing the Buteyko Method as an isolated theory of breathing. The present edition is an updated 2026 academic-English version of the 2018 English translation by Andrey Polyanovsky, revised against the Russian source text while preserving the substance and historical character of the original translation.