| Preface |
| The classical physicist+s approach to the subject / 1： |
| The hereditary mechanism / 2： |
| Mutations / 3： |
| The quantum-mechanical evidence / 4： |
| Delbruck+s model discussed and tested / 5： |
| Order, disorder and entropy / 6： |
| Is life based on the laws of physics? Epilogue: on determinism and free will Mind and Matter / 7： |
| The physical basis of consciousness |
| The future of understanding |
| The principle of objectivation |
| The arithmetical paradox: the oneness of mind |
| Science and religion |
| The mystery of the sensual qualities |
| Autobiographical sketches (translated from the German by Schrodinger+s granddaughter Verena) |
| What is Life? |
| The Classical Physicist's Approach to the Subject |
| The general character and the purpose of the investigation |
| Statistical physics. The fundamental difference in structure |
| The naive physicist's approach to the subject |
| Why are the atoms so small? |
| The working of an organism requires exact physical laws |
| Physical laws rest on atomic statistics and are therefore only approximate |
| Their precision is based on the large number of atoms intervening, 1st example (paramagnetism) |
| 2nd example (Brownian movement, diffusion) |
| 3rd example (limits of accuracy of measuring) |
| The √n rule |
| The Hereditary Mechanism |
| The classical physicist's expectation, far from being trivial, is wrong |
| The hereditary code-script (chromosomes) |
| Growth of the body by cell division (mitosis) |
| In mitosis every chromosome is duplicated |
| Reductive division (meiosis) and fertilization (syngamy) |
| Haploid individuals |
| The outstanding relevance of the reductive division |
| Crossing-over. Location of properties |
| Maximum size of a gene |
| Small numbers |
| Permanence |
| 'Jump-like' mutations - the working-ground of natural selection |
| They breed true, i.e. they are perfectly inherited |
| Localization. Recessivity and Dominance |
| Introducing some technical language |
| The harmful effect of close-breeding |
| General and historical remarks |
| The necessity of mutation being a rare event |
| Mutations induced by X-rays |
| First law. Mutation is a single event |
| Second law. Localization of the event |
| The Quantum |
| Mechanical Evidence |
| Permanence unexplainable by classical physics |
| Explicable by quantum theory |
| Quantum theory - discrete states -quantum jumps |
| Molecules |
| Their stability dependent on temperature |
| Mathematical interlude |
| First amendment |
| Second amendment |
| Delbrück's Model Discussed and Tested |
| The general picture of the hereditary substance |
| The uniqueness of the picture |
| Some traditional misconceptions |
| Different 'states' of matter |
| The distinction that really matters |
| The aperiodic solid |
| The variety of contents compressed in the miniature code |
| Comparison with facts: degree of stability; discontinuity of mutations |
| Stability of naturally selected genes |
| The sometimes lower stability of mutants |
| Temperature influences unstable genes less than stable ones |
| How X-rays produce mutation |
| Their efficiency does not depend on spontaneous mutability |
| Reversible mutations |
| Order, Disorder and Entropy |
| A remarkable general conclusion from the model |
| Order based on order |
| Living matter evades the decay to equilibrium |
| It feeds on 'negative entropy' |
| What is entropy? |
| The statistical meaning of entropy |
| Organization maintained by extracting 'order' from the environment |
| Is Life Based on the Laws of Physics? 76 |
| New laws to be expected in the organism |
| Reviewing the biological situation |
| Summarizing the physical situation |
| The striking contrast |
| Two ways of producing orderliness |
| The new principle is not alien to physics |
| The motion of a clock |
| Clockwork after all statistical |
| Nernst's Theorem |
| The pendulum clock is virtually at zero temperature |
| The relation between clockwork and organism |
| Epilogue. On Determinism and Free Will 86 |
| Mind and Matter |
| The Physical Basis of Consciousness |
| The problem |
| A tentative answer |
| Ethics |
| The Future of Understanding |
| A biological blind alley? |
| The apparent gloom of Darwinism |
| Behaviour influences selection |
| Feigned Lamarckism |
| Genetic fixation of habits and skills |
| Dangers to intellectual evolution |
| The Principle of Objectivation |
| the arithmetical paradox: the oneness of mind |
| Science and Religion |
| The Mystery of the Sensual Qualities I53 |
| Autobiographical Sketches 165 |
| Translated by Schrödinger's granddaughter Verena |
| Preface |
| The classical physicist+s approach to the subject / 1： |
| The hereditary mechanism / 2： |
| Mutations / 3： |
| The quantum-mechanical evidence / 4： |
| Delbruck+s model discussed and tested / 5： |
