About Life (eBook)

Concepts in Modern Biology

Paul S. Agutter, Denys N. Wheatley (Autoren)

eBook Download: PDF

2007 | 2007
VIII, 244 Seiten
Springer Netherland (Verlag)
978-1-4020-5418-1 (ISBN)

Infos

This book uses modern biological knowledge to tackle the question of what distinguishes living organisms from the non-living world. The authors first draw on recent advances in cell and molecular biology to develop an account of the living state that applies to all organisms (and only to organisms). This account is then used to explore questions about evolution, the origin of life, and the possibility of extraterrestrial life. The novel approach taken by this book to issues in biology will interest and be accessible to both the general reader as well as students and specialists in the field.

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Thanks to the popular media, and to books by Dawkins, Fortey, Gould, Margulis and other writers, people are informed about many aspects of biology. Everyone seems to know a little about evolution, for example, and about DNA and the possibilities (good and bad) afforded by research in molecular genetics. Most people know some of the arguments for and against the likelihood of life on other planets. And so on. We are glad that these pieces of information have become so widely available. However, we do not assume any particular knowledge (other than the most basic) in this book. Our aim is to address general questions rather than specific issues. We want to enable our readers to join their disparate pieces of knowledge about biology together. The most basic of these general questions - and perhaps the most difficult - can be expressed in beguilingly simple words: "e;What is life"e;? What does modern biology tell us about the essential differences between living organisms and the inanimate world? An attempt to answer this question takes us on a journey through almost the whole of contemporary cell and molecular biology, which occupies the first half of the book. The journey is worth the effort. The provisional answer we attain provides a coherent, unifying context in which we can discuss evolution, the origin of life, extraterrestrial life, the meaning of "e;intelligence"e;, the evolution of the human brain and the nature of mind.

Inhalt

Ingredients of the Simplest Cells.- Bigger Cells.- Hives of Industry.- Delights of Transport.- As If Standing Still.- Internal State and Gene Expression.- Sustaining and Changing the Internal State.- Responding to the Environment.- The Living State.- Stability and Change in DNA.- The Spice of Life.- Curriculum Vitae.- The Origin of Life.- Other Worlds.- Intelligent Behaviour and Brains.- Human Evolution.- Cells, Brains and Computers: Towards a Characterisation of Mind.

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 6.3.2007
• Zusatzinfo: VIII, 244 p.
• Verlagsort: Dordrecht
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Medizin / Pharmazie
• Themenwelt: Naturwissenschaften ► Biologie ► Mikrobiologie / Immunologie
• Themenwelt: Naturwissenschaften ► Biologie ► Zellbiologie
• Themenwelt: Technik
• Schlagworte: Biology • DNA • Ecosystems • Environment • Evolution • Extraterrestrial Life • gene expression • genes • homeostasis • Life Sciences • Molecular Biology • Natural selection • origin of life • Prokaryotes • the origin
• ISBN-10: 1-4020-5418-1 / 1402054181
• ISBN-13: 978-1-4020-5418-1 / 9781402054181