A.G. Cairns-Smith's Books

The Life Puzzle

On Crystals and Organisms and on the Possibility of a Crystal as an Ancestor

By: A.G. Cairns-Smith

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The Life Puzzle

On Crystals and Organisms and on the Possibility of a Crystal as an Ancestor

By: A.G. Cairns-Smith

What is the origin of life? Molecular biology shows us one kind, but in thinking about it we must consider those generalised aspects of living organisation that are common to all conceivable forms of life. The author believes that only a combination of general biological theory and particular chemical knowledge can solve the problems of the origin and re-creation of life. This book does not fall into either the classical Haldane or Oparin schools of thought on the origin of life, but advances a thesis of its own, which, according to Professor C.H. Waddington, is one of the most important recent intellectual developments in this field. Part I considers the role of molecular biology in formulating a view of life as it exists now. Part II turns to more general aspects of the organisation of matter. In Part III the author advances his own theories on the origin of life—theories which are both revolutionary and reactionary. As he remarks, 'If my conclusions are correct it may be difficult to find the right system, but it would be easy to make a very simple organism once we have.

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Page Count

241

Publisher

University of Toronto Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1442654392

ISBN 13

9781442654396

Secrets of the Mind

A Tale of Discovery and Mistaken Identity

By: A.G. Cairns-Smith

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Secrets of the Mind

A Tale of Discovery and Mistaken Identity

By: A.G. Cairns-Smith

Written in a provocative, witty, and highly accessible style, this is not only a splendid general introduction to the central questions of consciousness and brain science, but also an answer to some of them. The author -- noted Glaswegian chemist A.G. Cairns-Smith -- believes our feelings and sensations are not simply alternative descriptions of neural events but have themselves evolved and have physical effects in the brain as well as physical causes. Secrets of the Mind portrays a vision of the world as it may come to be seen by a future science. Sand, sea water, air, and the atoms from which such materials are made are now well understood by science, but the same can not be said of our personal feelings, our sensations and emotions. Science tells us that these too must be forms of quantum energy if they evolved, yet is only now beginning to explain how.

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