Research Catalog

Title

Life explained / Michel Morange ; translated by Matthew Cobb and Malcolm DeBevoise.

Author

Morange, Michel.

Publication

New Haven : Yale University Press ; Paris : Éditions Odile Jacob, c2008.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

xv, 205 p.; 22 cm.

Summary

"In this accessible and fascinating book, Michel Morange draws on recent advances in molecular genetics, evolutionary biology, astrobiology, and other disciplines to find today's answers to the question of life. He begins by discussing the various answers formulated in the past, setting contemporary definitions of life within a rich philosophical and scientific tradition that reaches back to ancient Greece, Then, with impeccable logic and a wealth of appropriate detail, Morange lays out the fundamental characteristics that define life. The road to an understanding of life remains incompletely charted, he concludes, but the nature of its final destination is no longer an enigma."--BOOK JACKET.

Uniform Title

Vie expliquée. English

Alternative Title

Vie expliquée.

Subject

• Biology
• Biology > Philosophy
• Philosophy

Note

• "A Caravan book"--T.p. verso.
• Translated from the French.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. 179-196) and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

Pt. I. Death and Resurrection of Life -- 1. Twilight of Life -- 2. Life as Genetic Information -- 3. Return of Life -- Pt. II. Question in Historical Perspective -- 4. Rich Heritage -- 5. Contemporary Answers -- Pt. III. Contributions of Current Research -- 6. Looking for Life's Past -- 7. Retracing the Path of Life -- 8. Reading the Palimpsest of Life -- 9. Life Under Extreme Conditions -- 10. Search for a Minimal Genome -- 11. Astrobiological Investigations -- 12. Life as a Living System -- Pt. IV. Few Necessarily Provisional Conclusions -- 13. Objections and Replies -- 14. Darwinism in Its Proper Place -- 15. Lure of Complexity -- 16. Three Pillars of Life.

ISBN

• 9780300137323 (alk. paper)
• 030013732X (alk. paper)

LCCN

^^2008017943

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library