Singularities
Landmarks on the Pathways of Life
- Author: Christian de Duve, Rockefeller University, New York
- Date Published: October 2005
- availability: Available
- format: Hardback
- isbn: 9780521841955
Hardback
Other available formats:
eBook
Looking for an examination copy?
This title is not currently available for examination. However, if you are interested in the title for your course we can consider offering an examination copy. To register your interest please contact [email protected] providing details of the course you are teaching.
-
Erwin Schrödinger's What is Life? published 60 years ago, influenced much of the development of molecular biology. In this new book Christian De Duve, Nobel Laureate and pioneer of modern cell biology, presents a contemporary response to this classic, providing a sophisticated consideration of the key steps or bottlenecks that constrain the origins and evolution of life. De Duve surveys the entire history of life, including insights into the conditions that may have led to its emergence. He uses as landmarks the many remarkable singularities along the way, such as the single ancestry of all living beings, the universal genetic code, and the monophyletic origin of eukaryotes. The book offers a brief guided tour of biochemistry and phylogeny, from the basic molecular building blocks to the origin of humans. Each successive singularity is introduced in a sequence paralleling the hypothetical development of features and conditions on the primitive earth, explaining how and why each transition to greater complexity occurred.
Read more- Author won the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine, and is one of the pioneers of cell biology
- The book lays out, for a scientifically sophisticated readership, a vision and perspective on the successive constraining events that have determined the course of life's evolution on earth, as well as de Duve's views on how life may have originated
Reviews & endorsements
"This book is unquestionably for serious students of biology, biochemistry, and evolution, but anyone willing to work through the details will find a logical tour de force and a powerful illustration of the beauty of evolution."
ChoiceSee more reviews"This volume is well written and readable, and I enjoyed de Duve's unique perspective on this difficult topic, which is invariably multidisciplinary...Singularities is an excellent book, and recommended reading for anyone interested in the fundamental questions of life and its origins."
The Quarterly Review of Biology, S.Blair Hedges, Pennsylvania State University"... lucid and superbly organized..."
BioScienceCustomer reviews
Not yet reviewed
Be the first to review
Review was not posted due to profanity
×Product details
- Date Published: October 2005
- format: Hardback
- isbn: 9780521841955
- length: 274 pages
- dimensions: 237 x 158 x 20 mm
- weight: 0.576kg
- contains: 15 b/w illus.
- availability: Available
Table of Contents
1. Building blocks
2. Homochirality
3. Protometabolism
4. ATP
5. Electrons and protons
6. Thioesters
7. RNA
8. Proteins
9. DNA
10. Membranes
11. Protonmotive force
12. Protometabolism revisited
13. The LUCA
14. The first fork
15. Eukaryotes
16. Oxygen
17. Endosymbionts
18. Multicellular organisms
19. Homo
20. Evolution revisited.
Related Books
related journals
Sorry, this resource is locked
Please register or sign in to request access. If you are having problems accessing these resources please email [email protected]
Register Sign in» Proceed
You are now leaving the Cambridge University Press website. Your eBook purchase and download will be completed by our partner www.ebooks.com. Please see the permission section of the www.ebooks.com catalogue page for details of the print & copy limits on our eBooks.
Continue ×Are you sure you want to delete your account?
This cannot be undone.
Thank you for your feedback which will help us improve our service.
If you requested a response, we will make sure to get back to you shortly.
×