What Is Life?
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What Is Life?

Lynn Margulis, Dorion Sagan

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  1. 303 pages
  2. English
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eBook - PDF

What Is Life?

Lynn Margulis, Dorion Sagan

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About This Book

Half a century ago, before the discovery of DNA, the Austrian physicist and philosopher Erwin Schrödinger inspired a generation of scientists by rephrasing the fascinating philosophical question: What is life? Using their expansive understanding of recent science to wonderful effect, acclaimed authors Lynn Margulis and Dorion Sagan revisit this timeless question in a fast-moving, wide-ranging narrative that combines rigorous science with philosophy, history, and poetry. The authors move deftly across a dazzling array of topics—from the dynamics of the bacterial realm, to the connection between sex and death, to theories of spirit and matter. They delve into the origins of life, offering the startling suggestion that life—not just human life—is free to act and has played an unexpectedly large part in its own evolution. Transcending the various formal concepts of life, this captivating book offers a unique overview of life's history, essences, and future.Supplementing the text are stunning illustrations that range from the smallest known organism (Mycoplasma bacteria) to the largest (the biosphere itself). Creatures both strange and familiar enhance the pages of What Is Life? Their existence prompts readers to reconsider preconceptions not only about life but also about their own part in it.

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Information

Publisher
University of California Press
Year
2000
ISBN
9780520923577
Edition
1
Topic
Filosofía
Subtopic
Filosofía política
FIGURE 
2.
Atmospheric 
comparison 
of 
Earth 
and 
its 
two 
planetary
neighbors. 
Note 
the 
comparatively 
high 
concentration 
of 
the 
ex-
plosive 
gas 
oxygen 
and 
the 
very 
low 
concentration 
of 
carbon 
diox-
ide 
on 
Earth. 
This 
atmospheric 
anomaly 
results 
from 
the 
incessant
activity 
of 
gas-exchanging 
organisms. 
The 
minute 
physiology 
of 
the
cell 
over 
geological 
time 
becomes 
magnified 
into 
the 
global 
physi-
ology 
of 
the 
biosphere.
Venus
Earth
Mars
CO
2
96.6%
N
2
3.2%
Trace 
gases
0.2%
O
2
20.9%
Trace 
gases
0.07%
CO
2
0.03%
N
2
79%
CO
2
95%
N
2
2.7%
Trace 
gases
2.3%

Table of contents