Wetware: The Computer in Every Living Cell - Hardcover

Bray, Denis

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0300141734 ISBN 13: 9780300141733

Publisher: Yale University Press, 2009

Synopsis

How does a single-cell creature, such as an amoeba, lead such a sophisticated life? How does it hunt living prey, respond to lights, sounds, and smells, and display complex sequences of movements without the benefit of a nervous system? This book offers a startling and original answer.In clear, jargon-free language, Dennis Bray taps the findings of the new discipline of systems biology to show that the internal chemistry of living cells is a form of computation. Cells are built out of molecular circuits that perform logical operations, as electronic devices do, but with unique properties. Bray argues that the computational juice of cells provides the basis of all the distinctive properties of living systems: it allows organisms to embody in their internal structure an image of the world, and this accounts for their adaptability, responsiveness, and intelligence.In "Wetware", Bray offers imaginative, wide-ranging and perceptive critiques of robotics and complexity theory - as well as many entertaining and telling anecdotes. For the general reader, the practising scientist, and all others with an interest in the nature of life, the book is an exciting portal to some of biology's latest discoveries and ideas.

About this title

About the Author

Dennis Bray is professor emeritus, University of Cambridge, and coauthor of several bestselling and influential texts on molecular and cell biology. In 2007 he was awarded the prestigious European Science Prize in Computational Biology. He lives in Cambridge.

Edition details

• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0300141734
• ISBN 13: 9780300141733
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 256