Description
Book SynopsisWhat is Life? This is the question asked by Denis Noble in this very personal and at times deeply lyrical book. Noble is a renowned physiologist and systems biologist, and he argues that the genome is not life itself: to understand what life is, we must view it at a variety of different levels, all interacting with each other in a complex web. It is that emergent web, full of feedback between levels, from the gene to the wider environment, that is life.
Trade ReviewAn excellent informal introduction to the concepts and issues that form the bedrock of systems biology... His conversational style gives readers the feeling they are with him sharing in an active process of discovery. * Eric Werner, Science *
highly evocative essay * Steven Poole, Guardian *
Table of Contents1. The CD of Life: the genome ; 2. The organ of 30,000 pipes ; 3. The Score: is it written down? ; 4. The Conductor: downward causation ; 5. The Rhythm Section: the heartbeat and other rhythms ; 6. The Orchestra: the organs and systems of the body ; 7. Modes and Keys: cellular harmony ; 8. The Composer: evolution ; 9. The Opera Theatre: the brain ; 10. Curtain Call: The artist disappears
