Research Catalog

Title

The demon in the machine : how hidden webs of information are solving the mystery of life / Paul Davies.

Author

Davies, P. C. W.

Publication

• Chicago : The University of Chicago Press, 2019.
• ©2019

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

250 pages : illustrations; 24 cm

Summary

What is life? For generations, scientists have struggled to make sense of this fundamental question, for life really does look like magic: even a humble bacterium accomplishes things so dazzling that no human engineer can match it. Huge advances in molecular biology over the past few decades have served only to deepen the mystery. In this penetrating and wide-ranging book, world-renowned physicist and science communicator Paul Davies searches for answers in a field so new and fast-moving that it lacks a name; it is a domain where biology, computing, logic, chemistry, quantum physics, and nanotechnology intersect. At the heart of these diverse fields, Davies explains, is the concept of information: a quantity which has the power to unify biology with physics, transform technology and medicine, and force us to fundamentally reconsider what it means to be alive--even illuminating the age-old question of whether we are alone in the universe. From life's murky origins to the microscopic engines that run the cells of our bodies, The Demon in the Machine journeys across an astounding landscape of cutting-edge science. Weaving together cancer and consciousness, two-headed worms and bird navigation, Davies reveals how biological organisms garner and process information to conjure order out of chaos, opening a window onto the secret of life itself.

Subject

• Life (Biology) > Popular works
• Life > Origin
• Information theory in biology
• Life (Biology)

Genre/Form

Popular works.

Note

• "First published by Allen Lane, an imprint of Penguin Random House UK, 2019."

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents

What is life? -- Enter the demon -- The logic of life -- Darwinism 2.0 -- Spooky life and quantum demons -- Almost a miracle -- The ghost in the machine -- Epilogue.

Call Number

JFE 21-1780

ISBN

• 9780226669700
• 022666970X
• 9780226669847 (canceled/invalid)

LCCN

2019008166

OCLC

1089276323

Author

Davies, P. C. W., author.

Title

The demon in the machine : how hidden webs of information are solving the mystery of life / Paul Davies.

Publisher

Chicago : The University of Chicago Press, 2019.

Copyright Date

©2019

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Note

AUTH: ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY

Research Call Number

JFE 21-1780