Ling In Search of the Physical Basis of Life

Erscheinungsjahr 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4613-2667-0
Verlag: Springer US
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: 1 - PDF Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 792 Seiten, Web PDF

Reihe: Biomedical and Life Sciences

It is highly probable that the ability to distinguish between living and nonliving objects was already well developed in early prehuman animals. Cognizance of the difference between these two classes of objects, long a part of human knowledge, led naturally to the division of science into two categories: physics and chemistry on the one hand and biology on the other. So deep was this belief in the separateness of physics and biology that, as late as the early nineteenth century, many biologists still believed in vitalism, according to which living phenomena fall outside the confines of the laws of physics. It was not until the middle of the nineteenth century that Carl Ludwig, Hermann von Helmholz, Emil DuBois-Reymond, and Ernst von Briicke inaugurated a physicochem ical approach to physiology in which it was recognized clearly that one set of laws must govern the properties and behavior of all matter, living and nonliving . . The task of a biologist is like trying to solve a gigantic multidimensional crossword fill in the right physical concepts at the right places. The biologist depends on puzzle: to the maturation of the science of physics much as the crossword solver depends on a large and correct vocabulary. The solver of crossword puzzles needs not just a good vocabulary but a special vocabulary. Words like inee and oke are vitally useful to him but are not part of the vocabulary of an English professor.

Zielgruppe

Research

Autoren/Hrsg.

Ling, Gilbert

Inhaltsverzeichnis

I. Opposing Concepts in Cell Physiology: History and Background.- 1. The Early History of Cell Physiology.- 2. Evolution of the Membrane and Bulk Phase Theories.- 3. The Emergence of the Steady-State Membrane Pump Concept.- 4. The Reemergence of the Bulk Phase Theories.- 5. Experimental Tests of the Alternative Theories.- II. The Association-Induction Hypothesis.- 6. The Association-Induction Hypothesis I. Association of Ions and Water with Macromolecules.- 7. The Association-Induction Hypothesis II. The Inductive Effect and the Control of Physiological Activities.- 8. The Physical State of K+ and Na+ in Living Cells.- 9. The Physical State of Water in Living Cells.- 10. ATP and the Source of Energy for Biological Work Performance.- III. Applications of the Association-Induction Hypothesis to Traditional Problems in Cell Physiology.- 11. Selective Distribution of Ions, Sugars, and Free Amino Acids.- 12. Permeability.- 13. Swelling, Shrinkage, and Volume Control of Living Cells.- 14. Electrical Potentials.- IV. A Reevaluation of Current Concepts in Physiology and Biochemistry.- 15. Oxidative Phosphorylation, ATP Synthesis, and Other Aspects of Mitochondrial Physiology.- 16. Muscle Contraction and Related Phenomena.- 17. Active Transport across Intestinal Epithelia and Other Bifacial Cell Systems.- V. A Tentative Approach to Some Unsolved Problems in Biology and Medicine.- 18. The Control of Protein Synthesis.- 19. Growth and Differentiation.- 20. Cancer.- Appendixes.- A. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy.- A.1. NMR Relaxation Time, Tx.- A.2. Proton Resonance Spectrum, Linewidth, and T2.- A.2.1. Chemical Shift.- A.2.2. Linewidth and T2.- A.3. The Relation of Tx and T2 to the Rotational Correlation Time, Tc.- A.4. Orientation-Dependent Doublet Structure on NMR Spectral Line Shape.- B. Infrared and Raman Spectra.- References.- Abbreviations.- Notation List.