Vital Forces: The Discovery of the Molecular Basis of Life - Hardcover

Hunter, Graeme K.

9780123618108: Vital Forces: The Discovery of the Molecular Basis of Life

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 012361810X ISBN 13: 9780123618108

Publisher: Academic Press, 2000

Vital Forces tells the history of the 'biochemical revolution', a period of unprecedentedly rapid advance in human knowledge that profoundly affected our view of life and laid the foundation for modern medicine and biotechnology. The story is told in a clear, engaging, and absorbing manner. This delightful work relates the fascinating and staggering advances in concepts and theories over the last 200 years and introduces the major figures of the times.

Vital Forces also describes the discovery of the molecular basis of life through the stories of the scientists involved, including such towering figures as Louis Pasteur, Gregor Mendel, Linus Pauling, and Francis Crick. Combining science and biography into a seamless chronological narrative, the author brings to life the successes and failures, collaborations and feuds, and errors and insights that produced the revolution in biology.

Vividly describes dramatic scientific discoveries, personalities, feuds and rivalries
Answers a general readers quest to understand the nature of life, and the relevance of biochemistry/molecular biology to modern medicine, industry and agriculture

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Review:

"Hunter has managed to present a complex, multidimensional ensemble of discoveries in diverse biological specialties extending over two centuries as a coherent, linear, unidimensional story. As far as I know, no comparably intelligent and comprehensive account of the "Biochemical Revolution" is available." -Gunther S. Stent, Dept of Molecular and Cell Biology, UC Berkeley, in BIOESSAYS (September 2001)

"Well documented with many personal vignettes, this is an engaging and intelligent book. The author is to be commended for capturing the sense of intellectual development as well as the excitement of discovery." -Eugene A. Davidson, Georgetown University School of Medicine, in DOODY'S HEALTH SCIENCES BOOK REVIEW JOURNAL (2001)

"This [book] should be required reading for students in this area and can surely be of value to even the most experienced investigator. Well documented with many personal vignettes, this is an engaging and intelligent book." -CHOICE

From the Back Cover:

Vital Forces tells the history of the 'biochemical revolution', a 200-year quest to unravel the chemical secrets of the living cell. A period of unprecedentedly rapid advance in human knowledge the biochemical revolution profoundly affected our view of the nature of life, and laid the foundations of medicine and biotechnology.
The story is told in a clear, engaging and absorbing manner. This delightful work relates the fascinating and staggering advances in concepts and theories over the last 200 years, and introduces the major figures of the times.
Vital Forces describes the discovery of the molecular basis of life through the life stories of the scientists involved, including such towering figures as Louis Pasteur, Gregor Mendel, Linus Pauling, and Francis Crick. Combining science and biography into a seamless chronological narrative, the author brings to life the successes and failures, the collaborations and feuds, the failed theories and brilliant insights that produced the molecular revolution in biology.

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