The Touchstone of Life: Molecular Information, Cell Communication, and the Foundations of Life

No one can escape a sense of wonder when looking at an organism from within. From the humblest amoeba to man, from the smallest cell organelle to the amazing human brain, life presents us with example after example of highly ordered cellular matter, precisely organized and shaped to perform coordinated functions. But where does this order spring from? How does a living organism manage to do what nonliving things cannot do—bring forth and maintain all that order against the unrelenting, diso...