Life's Ratchet: How Molecular Machines Extract Order from Chaos

by Peter M. Hoffmann

Book Overview

Life is an enduring mystery. Yet, science tells us that living beings are merely sophisticated structures of lifeless molecules. If this view is correct, where do the seemingly purposeful motions of cells and organisms originate? In Life's Ratchet, physicist Peter M. Hoffmann locates the answer to this age-old question at the nanoscale.

Below the calm, ordered exterior of a living organism lies microscopic chaos, or what Hoffmann calls...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0465022537
• ISBN13: 9780465022533
• Release Date: October 2012
• Publisher: Basic Books
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.4" x 9.3"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher