Life on the Edge: The Coming of Age of Quantum Biology

Framsida
Crown Publishers, 2014 - 353 sidor
New York Times Bestseller and an Amazon Best Science Book of 2015, Life on the Edge alters our understanding of our world's fundamental dynamics through the use of quantum mechanics

Life is the most extraordinary phenomenon in the known universe; but how did it come to be? Even in an age of cloning and artificial biology, the remarkable truth remains: nobody has ever made anything living entirely out of dead material. Life remains the only way to make life. Are we still missing a vital ingredient in its creation?

Using first-hand experience at the cutting edge of science, Jim Al-Khalili and Johnjoe Macfadden reveal that missing ingredient to be quantum mechanics. Drawing on recent ground-breaking experiments around the world, each chapter in Life on the Edge illustrates one of life's puzzles: How do migrating birds know where to go? How do we really smell the scent of a rose? How do our genes copy themselves with such precision? Life on the Edge accessibly reveals how quantum mechanics can answer these probing questions of the universe.

Guiding the reader through the rapidly unfolding discoveries of the last few years, Al-Khalili and McFadden describe the explosive new field of quantum biology and its potentially revolutionary applications, while offering insights into the biggest puzzle of all: what is life? As they brilliantly demonstrate in these groundbreaking pages, life exists on the quantum edge.

- Winner, Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication
 

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life on the edge of a storm
289
quantum life
324

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Om författaren (2014)

Johnjoe McFadden is a Reader in Molecular Microbiology at the University of Surrey, England. Jameel Sadik "Jim" Al-Khalili was born on September 21 1962 in Iraq. He is a theoretical physicist, author and broadcaster. After completing his A-levels in 1982, he studied physics at the University of Surrey and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in 1986. Despite having a job lined up at the National Physical Laboratory, he stayed on at Surrey to pursue a Doctor of Philosophy degree in nuclear reaction theory, which he obtained in 1989. He was also awarded a Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC) postdoctoral fellowship at University College London, In 1994, Al-Khalili was awarded an Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Advanced Research Fellowship for five years, during which time he established himself as a leading expert on mathematical models of exotic atomic nuclei. Al-Khalili is now a professor of physics at the University of Surrey, where he also holds a chair in the Public Engagement in Science. Al-Khalili was awarded the Royal Society Michael Faraday Prize for science communication for 2007. As a broadcaster, Al-Khalili is frequently on television and radio and also writes articles for the British press.

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