Of Molecules and Men
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Crick, Francis, PUBLISHER: Prometheus Books, There is probably no one who has a deeper understong>andong>ing ong>ofong> life's biochemical basis than Sir Francis Crick. In , he won the Nobel Prize in Medicine, along with J. D. Watson ong>andong> M. H. F. Wilkins, for breakthrough studies on the molecular structure ong>ofong> DNA. Just four years later he published this collection ong>ofong> popular lectures in which he explained the importance ong>ofong> this discovery in layperson's terms ong>andong> emphasized its wide-reaching implications. Though written forty years ago, this succinct, lucid explication ong>ofong> the scientific facts remains the perfect primer for the lay reader curious about the ongoing biological revolution. Crick begins with a critique ong>ofong> "vitalism," the notion that an intangible life force beyond the grasp ong>ofong> biology distinguishes living organisms from inanimate things. Although few speak ong>ofong> vitalism today, the controversy that Crick addresses is still with us in the form ong>ofong> intelligent ong>designong>, which suggests that biochemistry ong>andong> evolution alone do not sufficiently explain the uniqueness ong>ofong> life. In his second lecture Crick explores the borderline between the ong>organicong> ong>andong> inong>organicong>, presenting an elegantly clear description ong>ofong> DNA's basic structure ong>andong> function in relation to RNA ong>andong> myriad enzymes. In the final lecture, "The Prospect Before Us," he anticipates events ong>andong> trends that have in fact come to pass in the past four decades: the increasing use ong>ofong> computer technology ong>andong> robotics in mind-brain research, explorations into right-side vs. leftside uses ong>ofong> the brain, controversies surrounding the existence ong>ofong> the soul, the dead end ong>ofong> ESP investigations, ong>andong> above all the daunting challenges ong>ofong> explaining consciousness in completely scientific terms. "ong>Ofong>ong>Moleculesong> ong>andong> Men is a fascinating, still-very-relevant discussion ong>ofong> many crucially important issues in life science.