The Way of the Cell Molecules, Organisms, and the Order of Life

by Harold, Franklin M.

• ISBN13: 9780195163384
• ISBN10: 0195163389
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-06-05
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

What is life? It has been fifty years since physicist Erwin Schrodinger posed this question, and the answer remains elusive. Here, one of the world's most respected microbiologists draws on his broad knowledge to provide fresh insight into this intriguing and all-important question. Harold focuses on the supremely well-researched bacterium E. coli because the cell is the simplest level of organization that manifests all the features of life. As simple as they appear when compared to humans, every cell integrates the writhings and couplings of billions of molecules into a coherent whole. Each 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. The result of this investigation 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.

Author Biography

Franklin M. Harold is Emeritus Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Colorado State University. He lives in Edmonds, Washington.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Acknowledgments	xiii
Schrodinger's Riddle	1	(8)
The Quality of Life	9	(8)
Cells in Nature and in Theory	17	(16)
Molecular Logic	33	(30)
A (almost) Comprehensible Cell	63	(36)
It Takes a Cell To Make a Cell	99	(18)
Morphogenesis: Where Form and Function Meet	117	(42)
The Advance of the Microbes	159	(30)
By Descent with Modification	189	(28)
So What is Life?	217	(18)
Searching for the Beginning	235	(18)
Epilogue	253	(6)
Notes	259	(11)
References	270	(19)
Glossary	289	(10)
Index	299