The Chemistry of Life’s Origins

Author: J. Mayo Greenberg
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9401119368
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 429

Book Description
This volume contains the lectures presented at the second course of the International School of Space Chemistry held in Erice (Sicily) from October 20 - 30 1991 at the "E. Majorana Centre for Scientific Culture". The course was attended by 58 participants from 13 countries. The Chemistry of Life's Origins is well recognized as one of the most critical subjects of modem chemistry. Much progress has been made since the amazingly perceptive contributions by Oparin some 70 years ago when he first outlined a possible series of steps starting from simple molecules to basic building blocks and ultimate assembly into simple organisms capable of replicating, catalysis and evolution to higher organisms. The pioneering experiments of Stanley Miller demonstrated already forty years ago how easy it could have been to form the amino acids which are critical to living organisms. However we have since learned and are still learning a great deal more about the primitive conditions on earth which has led us to a rethinking of where and how the condition for prebiotic chemical processes occurred. We have also learned a great deal more about the molecular basis for life. For instance, the existence of DNA was just discovered forty years ago.

Chemicals for Life and Living

Author: Eiichiro Ochiai
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 364220273X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 290

Book Description
Chemicals often have a negative Image among the general public. But there is no material world or indeed human beings without chemicals. The material world is operated by chemicals. The title ‘Chemicals for Life and Living’ implies that the material world is staged and played by chemicals. The book consists of five parts and an appendix. Part 1 – Essentials for life; Part 2 – Enhancing health; Part 3 – For the fun of life; Part 4 – Chemistry of the universe and earth, and Part 5 - Some negative effects of chemicals. The appendix gives a brief summary of what chemistry is all about, including a short chapter of chemical principles. No quantitative calculations are included in this book so that it is appealing for everyone – not just chemists.

What is Life?

Author: Addy Pross
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191650897
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 224

Book Description
Seventy years ago, Erwin Schrödinger posed a profound question: 'What is life, and how did it emerge from non-life?' This problem has puzzled biologists and physical scientists ever since. Living things are hugely complex and have unique properties, such as self-maintenance and apparently purposeful behaviour which we do not see in inert matter. So how does chemistry give rise to biology? What could have led the first replicating molecules up such a path? Now, developments in the emerging field of 'systems chemistry' are unlocking the problem. Addy Pross shows how the different kind of stability that operates among replicating molecules results in a tendency for chemical systems to become more complex and acquire the properties of life. Strikingly, he demonstrates that Darwinian evolution is the biological expression of a deeper, well-defined chemical concept: the whole story from replicating molecules to complex life is one continuous process governed by an underlying physical principle. The gulf between biology and the physical sciences is finally becoming bridged. This new edition includes an Epilogue describing developments in the concepts of fundamental forms of stability discussed in the book, and their profound implications. Oxford Landmark Science books are 'must-read' classics of modern science writing which have crystallized big ideas, and shaped the way we think.

The Chemistry of Life

Author: Joseph Needham
Publisher: CUP Archive
ISBN: 9780521073790
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 278

Book Description
This assembly of lectures should appeal to anyone with an interest in the history of science and the nature of living things. Seven of the eight lectures are by eminent biochemists and describe the development of their own subject 'from the inside; the eighth is a more general one.

The Chemistry of Evolution

Author: R.J.P Williams
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 0080460526
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 495

Book Description
Conventionally, evolution has always been described in terms of species. The Chemistry of Evolution takes a novel, not to say revolutionary, approach and examines the evolution of chemicals and the use and degradation of energy, coupled to the environment, as the drive behind it. The authors address the major changes of life from bacteria to man in a systematic and unavoidable sequence, reclassifying organisms as chemotypes. Written by the authors of the bestseller The Biological Chemistry of the Elements - The Inorganic Chemistry of Life (Oxford University Press, 1991), the clarity and precision of The Chemistry of Evolution plainly demonstrate that life is totally interactive with the environment. This exciting theory makes this work an essential addition to the academic and public library.* Provides a novel analysis of evolution in chemical terms* Stresses Systems Biology * Examines the connection between life and the environment, starting with the 'big bang' theory* Reorientates the chemistry of life by emphasising the need to analyse the functions of 20 chemical elements in all organisms

The Limits of Organic Life in Planetary Systems

Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309179564
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 116

Book Description
The search for life in the solar system and beyond has to date been governed by a model based on what we know about life on Earth (terran life). Most of NASA's mission planning is focused on locations where liquid water is possible and emphasizes searches for structures that resemble cells in terran organisms. It is possible, however, that life exists that is based on chemical reactions that do not involve carbon compounds, that occurs in solvents other than water, or that involves oxidation-reduction reactions without oxygen gas. To assist NASA incorporate this possibility in its efforts to search for life, the NRC was asked to carry out a study to evaluate whether nonstandard biochemistry might support life in solar system and conceivable extrasolar environments, and to define areas to guide research in this area. This book presents an exploration of a limited set of hypothetical chemistries of life, a review of current knowledge concerning key questions or hypotheses about nonterran life, and suggestions for future research.

Molecular Biology of the Cell

Author:
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780815332183
Category : Cells
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description

Physical Chemistry for the Life Sciences

Author: Peter Atkins
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 1429231149
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 618

Book Description
Peter Atkins and Julio de Paula offer a fully integrated approach to the study of physical chemistry and biology.

Lavoisier and the Chemistry of Life

Author: Frederic Lawrence Holmes
Publisher: Univ of Wisconsin Press
ISBN: 9780299099848
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 596

Book Description
Drawing on Lavoisier's daily laboratory records, unpublished notes, and successive drafts of articles, Holmes explores the interaction between this creative scientist's theories and practice, the experimental problems he encountered and his response to them, the apparently intuitive understanding that guided his choice of experiments, and the gradual refinement of his hypotheses. This thorough and comprehensive exposition of Lavoisier's scientific style forms the basis for general reflections on the nature of creative scientific imagination that will interest historians of science and biology, philosophers of science, cognitive psychologists, and all who are intrigued by the drama of pioneering scientific discovery.

Basic Organic Chemistry for the Life Sciences

Author: Hrvoj Vančik
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030924386
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 213

Book Description
This textbook is designed for students of biology, molecular biology, ecology,medicine, agriculture, forestry and other professions where the knowledge of organic chemistry plays an important role. The work may also be of interest to non-professionals, as well as to teachers in high schools. The book consists of 13 chapters that cover the essentials of organic chemistry, including - basic principles of structure and constitution of organic compounds, - the elements of the nomenclature, - the concepts of the nature of chemical bond, - introductions in NMR and IR spectroscopy, - the concepts and main classes of the organic reaction mechanisms, - reactions and properties of common classes or organic compounds, - and the introduction to the chemistry of the natural organic products followed by basic principles of the reactions in living cells. This second edition includes revisions and suggestions made by the readers of the first edition and the author's colleagues. In addition, it includes substantial changes compared to the first edition. The chapter on Cycloaddition has been completed by including the other pericyclic reactions (sigmatropic rearrangements, electrocyclic reactions). The chapter on Organic Natural Products has been extended to include new section covering the principles of organic synthesis. New chapter "Organic Supramolecular and Supermolecular Structures" is added. This chapter covers the basic knowledge about the molecular recognition, supramolecular structures, and the mechanisms of the enzyme catalyzed reactions.