in 1969, morin spent a year at the salk institute for biological studies in la jolla, california. jonas salk invited him under the recommendation of jacques monod and john hunt, with the sole imposed condition of learning. it was there, in this "breeding ground for nobel prizes" that he familiarized himself with systems theory. he read henri laborit, james watson, stéphane lupasco, bronowski, and was introduced to the thought of gregory bateson and the "new problematic in ecology".