Steps towards Life: A Perspective on Evolution

Eigen, Manfred; Winkler-Oswatitsch, Ruthild; Woolley, Paul

ISBN 10: 019854751X / ISBN 13: 9780198547518

Verlag: Oxford University Press, New York

Beschreibung

1992 hardcover edition. Good- condition with a nice, crisp dust jacket in a Near Fine condition. One half inch of the center of bottom edge of the front cover is a bit chewed up and frayed; otherwise the covers are in great shape. The binding is tight. The interior pages are sparsely marked. There is a small abrasion on the front flyleaf. The book will be carefully packaged for protection from heavy handling and the elements during shipment. Electronic USPS tracking issued free of charge.

Bestandsnummer des Verkäufers 12796

Bibliografische Details

• Titel: Steps towards Life: A Perspective on Evolution
• Verlag: Oxford University Press, New York
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN-10: 019854751X
• ISBN-13: 9780198547518
• Einband: Hardcover
• Auflage: First Edition.
• Druck: First Printing
• Zustand: Good
• Zustand des Schutzumschlags: Very Good
• Abmessungen: 9,5B x 6,5 H x 0,6 T Zoll Breite: 9,5 Zoll, Höhe: 6,5 Zoll, Tiefe: 0,6 Zoll

Über diesen Titel

Inhaltsangabe

Just how far back into our evolutionary history can we extend the ideas of natural selection which were propounded by Charles Darwin in "The Origins of the Species?" Do they apply only to organisms with complex biochemistry and recognizable behaviour?. In this book, already influential in its German language edition, the Nobel Prize winning scientist Manfred Eigen takes Darwin's ideas and applies them to molecules. The result is a fresh insight into the origins of life. The laws of physics have taught us the fundamental importance of "chance"; the laws of chemistry that, if certain pre-requisites are fulfilled, then subsequent events can be predicted precisely. Eigen draws together these fundamental ideas and shows us that life on Earth is the inevitable result of certain chance events that took place in the unique history of our planet. The book is in three parts. The first ten chapters, which form the main text, are introduced by quotations from Thomas Mann's novel "The Magic Mountain". This book is deeply concerned with ideas that Eigen is able to justify scientifically but which were, in 1924, the product of an extraordinarily prescient intellect. Here, as a counterpoint to the scientific text, they challenge us to wonder. In the second part, important biological ideas are presented as the themes of 15 "vignettes" which can be read separately or as elaborations of the subject matter of the main text. These vignettes are illustrated with colour diagrams. The final section contains a summary of the salient points of the history of molecular biology and a glossary of all the technical terms used throughout the book.

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Manfred Eigen won the Nobel Prize in 1967 for his research on very rapid chemical reactions. Director of the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen since 1964, his interests are now focused on a rigorous exploration of the origins of life.