Life's Ratchet

Product Description

This title shows how the noisy atomic cloud gives rise to the orderly world of the molecular machine
- & to life itself. The cells in our bodies consist of molecules made up of the same carbon oxygen & hydrogen atoms found in air & rocks. But molecules such as water & sugar are not alive. So how do our cells-assemblies of otherwise dead" molecules-come to life & together constitute a living being? In " Life's Ratchet" physicist Peter M. Hoffmann locates the answer to this age-old question at the nanoscale. The complex molecules of our cells can rightfully be called "molecular machines " or "nanobots"; these machines unlike any other work autonomously to create order out of chaos. Tiny electrical motors turn electrical voltage into motion tiny factories custom-build other molecular machines & mechanical machines twist untwist separate & package strands of DNA. The cell is like a city
- an unfathomable complex collection of molecular worker bees working together to create something greater than themselves. " Life" Hoffman argues emerges from the random motions of atoms filtered through the sophisticated structures of our evolved machinery. We are essentially giant assemblies of interacting nanoscale machines; machines more amazing than can be found in any science fiction novel. Incredibly the molecular machines in our cells function without a mysterious "life force " nor do they violate any natural laws. Scientists can now prove that life is not supernatural & that it can be fully understood in the context of science. Part history part cutting-edge science part philosophy " Life's Ratchet" takes us from ancient Greece to the laboratories of modern nanotechnology to tell the story of our quest for the machinery of life."