What is Life? audiobook cover - With Mind and Matter and Autobiographical Sketches

What is Life?

With Mind and Matter and Autobiographical Sketches

Erwin Schrödinger

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What is Life?
Physics of Organisms+
The Genetic Code+
Evolution & Quantum Theory+
Life and Entropy+
Consciousness+
Humanity's Evolution+
Science and Subjectivity+

Quiz — Test Your Understanding

Question 1 of 8
Why must living organisms be so much larger than the individual atoms they are made of?
  • A. To generate enough energy to counteract the unpredictable forces of quantum mechanics.
  • B. Because individual atoms behave erratically, and organisms rely on the statistical laws that only govern large groups of atoms.
  • C. So that the organism can contain enough oxygen atoms to maintain a magnetic equilibrium.
  • D. Because biological life requires a specific volume of space to allow for continuous cellular division.
Question 2 of 8
What paradox does Schrödinger identify regarding the genes and chromosomes inside a living cell?
  • A. They are too small to obey exact statistical physical laws, yet they reliably dictate the organism's entire complex development.
  • B. They contain billions of atoms, but only a fraction of those atoms actually carry genetic information.
  • C. They are distributed across the entire cell when resting but disappear entirely during cell division.
  • D. They are constantly influenced by the erratic behavior of single atoms, which causes smooth, continuous evolutionary changes.
Question 3 of 8
How does Schrödinger apply the principles of quantum theory to the process of biological evolution?
  • A. He argues that evolution occurs through smooth, continuous variations, just as energy flows continuously in quantum systems.
  • B. He suggests that genetic mutations are like 'quantum jumps'—rare, discontinuous leaps with no intermediate forms.
  • C. He proposes that genes evolve by absorbing all available energy in their environment until they reach thermodynamic equilibrium.
  • D. He claims that the evolutionary timeline is dictated by the predictable, rapid vibrations of individual atoms.
Question 4 of 8
According to the text, how does biological life manage to evade the physical law of entropy (the decay into disorder)?
  • A. By feeding on 'negative entropy' and using dynamic principles to generate order from order.
  • B. By relying purely on the statistical method, where large groups of disorderly atoms naturally create biological order.
  • C. By completely halting the continuous vibrations of the atoms within its cells.
  • D. By converting light waves into positive entropy during the process of cellular division.
Question 5 of 8
What did Schrödinger refer to as 'aperiodic crystals'?
  • A. The oxygen molecules that align themselves in a magnetic field.
  • B. The particular types of solids that act like the 'cogs' of the organic machine, allowing organisms to avoid entropy.
  • C. The physical manifestations of human consciousness within the brain's cortex.
  • D. The intermediate forms of species that exist between sudden evolutionary mutations.
Question 6 of 8
According to Schrödinger, when does a behavior or brain process become 'conscious'?
  • A. When it is a repetitive, biologically significant action like breathing or blinking.
  • B. When an organism performs an action flawlessly without needing to think about it.
  • C. When an organism is forced to change its behavior in response to a new or unexpected situation.
  • D. When the brain reaches a state of thermodynamic equilibrium.
Question 7 of 8
What does Schrödinger argue regarding the future of human biological evolution?
  • A. Humanity is doomed to stop advancing biologically because modern medicine prevents the survival of the fittest.
  • B. Humans can actively direct their own evolutionary selection through their behavior and how they use their adaptations.
  • C. Human evolution will now rely entirely on the inheritance of learned skills, such as playing the piano.
  • D. Evolution has become irrelevant to humans because consciousness operates independently of biological laws.
Question 8 of 8
Why does Schrödinger believe there is a gap between our scientific and sensual understandings of the world?
  • A. Because science has not yet discovered the specific nerve fibers that are activated when we experience certain colors.
  • B. Because sensual experiences are completely disconnected from the objective physical world and have no biological purpose.
  • C. Because the objective descriptions of science cannot capture or contain the subjective sensation or experience of things like color.
  • D. Because physicists and physiologists disagree on the fundamental laws of thermodynamics.

What is Life? — Full Chapter Overview

What is Life? Summary & Overview

What is Life? (1944) is a classic scientific text based on a series of lectures given at Trinity College, Dublin, by famous physicist Erwin Schrödinger. Though Schrödinger was a physicist, these lectures addressed issues in biology and genetics –⁠ primarily the fundamental question of how physics and chemistry can account for the processes that occur within living organisms. The concepts he explored went on to spark a revolution in genetics, inspiring, among others, the biologists James D. Watson and Francis Crick, who together proposed the double helix structure of DNA.

Who Should Listen to What is Life??

  • Science geeks
  • Big-picture thinkers, ponderers, and questioners
  • Anyone who loves getting to the bottom of how the universe works

About the Author: Erwin Schrödinger

Erwin Schrödinger, known in popular culture for his “Schrödinger’s cat” thought experiment, was one of the most influential physicists of all time. He won the Nobel Prize in 1933 for his advances in atomic theory, made significant contributions to the field of quantum theory, and wrote on a wide range of other topics related to physics. He’s one of several physicists frequently referred to as “the father of quantum mechanics.”

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