Vital Forces: The Discovery of the Molecular Basis of Life

Author:   Graeme K. Hunter (Stanford University, Department of Biological Sciences, Palo Alto, California, U.S.A.)
Publisher:   Elsevier Science Publishing Co Inc
ISBN:  

9780123618115


Pages:   364
Publication Date:   03 November 2000
Format:   Paperback
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
Limited stock is available. It will be ordered for you and shipped pending supplier's limited stock.

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Vital Forces: The Discovery of the Molecular Basis of Life


Overview

Combining science and biography into a seamless chronological narrative, the author brings to life the successes and failures, collaborations and feuds, and errors and insights that produced the revolution in biology. The story is told in a clear, engaging, and absorbing manner. This delightful work relates the fascinating and staggering advances in concepts and theories over the last 200 years and introduces the major figures of the times.

Full Product Details

Author:   Graeme K. Hunter (Stanford University, Department of Biological Sciences, Palo Alto, California, U.S.A.)
Publisher:   Elsevier Science Publishing Co Inc
Imprint:   Academic Press Inc
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 2.10cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.630kg
ISBN:  

9780123618115


ISBN 10:   0123618118
Pages:   364
Publication Date:   03 November 2000
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Out of Print
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
Limited stock is available. It will be ordered for you and shipped pending supplier's limited stock.

Table of Contents

List of Plates. Preface. Acknowledgements. The Revolution in Chemistry Has Come to Pass. The Maze of Organic Chemistry. A Singular Inward Laboratory. The Catalytic Force. Building Stones of Protoplasm. The Chemical and Geometrical Phenomena of Heredity. The Megachemisry of the Future. The Giant Molecules of the Living Cell. The Chemical Basis of Genetics. The Heredity Code-script. The Ubiquitous Spiral. Our Thread of Ariadne. Nature is Blind and Reads Braille. References. Selected Readings in the History of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Name Index. Subject Index.

Reviews

Hunter has managed to present a complex, multidimensional ensemble of discoveries in diverse biological specialties extending over two centuries as a coherent, linear, unidimensional story. As far as I know, no comparably intelligent and comprehensive account of the Biochemical Revolution is available. --Gunther S. Stent, Dept of Molecular and Cell Biology, UC Berkeley, in BIOESSAYS (September 2001) Well documented with many personal vignettes, this is an engaging and intelligent book. The author is to be commended for capturing the sense of intellectual development as well as the excitement of discovery. --Eugene A. Davidson, Georgetown University School of Medicine, in DOODY'S HEALTH SCIENCES BOOK REVIEW JOURNAL (2001) This [book] should be required reading for students in this area and can surely be of value to even the most experienced investigator. Well documented with many personal vignettes, this is an engaging and intelligent book. --CHOICE


The casual reader might belive that a history of science book is likely to be very dull reading. This is not the case here... The flow of ideas take center stage and for those with any interest in science, the author displays with elegance and skill the development of many of the key ideas that currently dominate biological research. This should be required reading for students in this area and can surely be of value to even the most experienced invesetigator. Well documented with many personal vignettes, this is an engaging and intelligent book. The author is to be commended for capturing the sense of intellectual development as well as the excitement of discovery. Anyone interested in modern biology would be interested in this book. - Choice 2001


Author Information

Graeme Hunter studied biochemistry at the University of Glasgow, graduating with the degree of Ph.D. in 1980. He carried out post-doctoral research at Stanford University and the University of Toronto. In 1988, Dr. Hunter became an Assistant Professor in the Department of Oral Biology at the University of Alberta. Since 1991, he has held the position of Associate Professor in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry at the University of Western Ontario.Dr. Hunter's current research interests are in the areas of biomineralizatin and the history and philosophy of biology.

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