The Way of the CellThe Way of the Cell
Molecules, Organisms, and the Order of Life
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eBook, 2001
Current format, eBook, 2001, , Available.eBook, 2001
Current format, eBook, 2001, , Available. Offered in 0 more formatsWhat is life? Fifty years after physicist Erwin Schrodinger posed this question in his celebrated and inspiring book, the answer remains elusive. In The Way of the Cell, one of the world's most respected microbiologists draws on his wide knowledge of contemporary science to provide fresh insight into this intriguing and all-important question.
What is the relationship of living things to the inanimate realm of chemistry and physics? How do lifeless but special chemicals come together to form those intricate dynamic ensembles that we recognize as life? To shed light on these questions, Franklin Harold focuses here on microorganisms--in particular, the supremely well-researched bacterium E. coli--because the cell is the simplest level of organization that manifests all the features of the phenomenon of life. Harold shows that as simple as they appear when compared to ourselves, every cell displays a dynamic pattern in space and time, orders of magnitude richer than its elements. It integrates the writhings and couplings of billions of molecules into a coherent whole, draws matter and energy into itself, constructs and reproduces its own order, and persists in this manner for numberless generations while continuously adapting to a changing world.
A cell constitutes a unitary whole, a unit of life, and in this volume one of the leading authorities on the cell gives us a vivid picture of what goes on within this minute precinct. The result is a richly detailed, meticulously crafted account of what modern science can tell us about life as well as one scientist's personal attempt to wring understanding from the tide of knowledge.
Harold, a biochemist, writes: "This book is not about biology, biochemistry, or any other finished and finite discipline, but about life. Life seems to me the supreme marvel of the universe familiar, thoroughly material, probably ubiquitous, yet elusive and ultimately mysterious." His approach is to gather up many threads of knowledge produced by specialists in an array of scientific fields and see what broad patterns he can identify in understanding the riddle, "What is life?" In particular, Harold celebrates microorganisms, without which life could not exist at all. Though his training is in hard science, his writing is nontechnical; he writes both for scientists and for those who observe the work of scientists. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
A leading microbiologist provides thought-provoking insights into the question of "What is Life?" as he examines the relationship of living things to the inorganic realms of physics and chemistry, explains how lifeless chemicals come together to form living beings, and details the true complexity of seemingly simple microorganisms such as E. coli.
What is life? Fifty years after physicist Erwin Schrodinger posed this question in his celebrated and inspiring book, the answer remains elusive. In The Way of the Cell, one of the world's most respected microbiologists draws on his wide knowledge of contemporary science to provide fresh insight into this intriguing and all-important question.
What is the relationship of living things to the inanimate realm of chemistry and physics? How do lifeless but special chemicals come together to form those intricate dynamic ensembles that we recognize as life? To shed light on these questions, Franklin Harold focuses here on microorganisms--in particular, the supremely well-researched bacterium E. coli--because the cell is the simplest level of organization that manifests all the features of the phenomenon of life. Harold shows that as simple as they appear when compared to ourselves, every cell displays a dynamic pattern in space and time, orders of magnitude richer than its elements. It integrates the writhings and couplings of billions of molecules into a coherent whole, draws matter and energy into itself, constructs and reproduces its own order, and persists in this manner for numberless generations while continuously adapting to a changing world.
A cell constitutes a unitary whole, a unit of life, and in this volume one of the leading authorities on the cell gives us a vivid picture of what goes on within this minute precinct. The result is a richly detailed, meticulously crafted account of what modern science can tell us about life as well as one scientist's personal attempt to wring understanding from the tide of knowledge.
Harold, a biochemist, writes: "This book is not about biology, biochemistry, or any other finished and finite discipline, but about life. Life seems to me the supreme marvel of the universe familiar, thoroughly material, probably ubiquitous, yet elusive and ultimately mysterious." His approach is to gather up many threads of knowledge produced by specialists in an array of scientific fields and see what broad patterns he can identify in understanding the riddle, "What is life?" In particular, Harold celebrates microorganisms, without which life could not exist at all. Though his training is in hard science, his writing is nontechnical; he writes both for scientists and for those who observe the work of scientists. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
A leading microbiologist provides thought-provoking insights into the question of "What is Life?" as he examines the relationship of living things to the inorganic realms of physics and chemistry, explains how lifeless chemicals come together to form living beings, and details the true complexity of seemingly simple microorganisms such as E. coli.
What is life? Fifty years after physicist Erwin Schrodinger posed this question in his celebrated and inspiring book, the answer remains elusive. In The Way of the Cell, one of the world's most respected microbiologists draws on his wide knowledge of contemporary science to provide fresh insight into this intriguing and all-important question.
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- Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2001.
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