What is life Erwin Schrödinger. What is life from a physics point of view? The work of the body requires specific physical laws

Living cell as a physical object

Based on lectures given in association with the Dublin Institute of Advanced Study at Trinity College, Dublin, February 1943.

In memory of my parents

Preface

As a young mathematics student in the early 1950s, I read little, but when I did, it was mostly by Erwin Schrödinger. I have always liked his work; there was a thrill of discovery in it, which promised a truly new understanding of the mysterious world in which we live. In this sense, the short classic work “What is Life?” especially stands out, which, as I now understand, should certainly be placed on a par with the most influential scientific works of the 20th century. It is a powerful attempt to understand the real mysteries of life - an attempt made by a physicist whose own insightful insights have greatly changed our understanding of what the world is made of. The book's multidisciplinary nature was unusual for its time, but it is written with an endearing, if disarming, modesty at a level accessible to non-specialists and young people aspiring to a scientific career. In fact, many of the scientists who made fundamental contributions to biology, such as B. S. Haldane and Francis Crick, acknowledged that they were significantly influenced by the various ideas, albeit controversial, put forward in this book by the thoughtful physicist.

Like many other works that influenced human thinking, What Is Life? presents points of view which, once internalized, appear to be almost self-evident truths. However, they are still ignored by many people who should understand what's what. How often do we hear that quantum effects are of little importance in biological research, or even that we eat food to get energy? These examples highlight the enduring significance of Schrödinger's What Is Life? Without a doubt, it is worth re-reading!

Roger Penrose

Introduction

A scientist is expected to have full and comprehensive first-hand knowledge of things, and therefore should not write about something about which he is not an expert. As the saying goes, noblesse oblige. Now I ask you to forget about noblesse, if any, and be released from related obligations. My justification is this: from our forefathers we have inherited a strong desire for a single, all-encompassing knowledge. The very name of higher educational institutions reminds us that since ancient times and for many centuries the greatest attention has been paid to the aspect versatility. However, the growth - in breadth and depth - of various branches of knowledge over the last hundred or so years has forced us to face a strange dilemma. We clearly feel that we are just beginning to collect reliable material from which we can deduce the total sum of all known things. But on the other hand, now the individual mind can only master a small, specialized piece of knowledge.

I see only one way to deal with this dilemma (otherwise our true goal will be lost forever): someone must take upon himself the synthesis of facts and theories, even second-hand and incomplete, at the risk of making himself look like a fool.

That's my excuse.

Language difficulties should not be underestimated. The native language is like tailored clothing, and a person feels uncomfortable when he is deprived of access to it and is forced to use another language. I wish to express my gratitude to Dr Inkster (Trinity College, Dublin), Dr Patrick Brown (St Patrick's College, Maynooth) and, last but not least, Mr S. C. Roberts. It was not easy for them to fit new clothes to me and convince me to abandon the “original” turns. If some of them survived my friends' editing, it's my fault.

The section headings were originally intended to provide a summary, and the text of each chapter should be read in continuo.

Dublin

September 1944

The least free person thinks about death. In his wisdom he reflects not on death, but on life.

Spinoza. Ethics. Part IV, provision 67

Classic physical approach to the subject

I think, therefore I exist.

R. Descartes

General nature and purpose of the study

This small book was born out of a series of public lectures given by a theoretical physicist to an audience of four hundred people, which did not shrink even after the initial warning about the complexity of the subject and that the lectures could not be called popular, although they practically did not use the physicist's most terrible weapon, mathematical deduction - not because the subject can be explained without the use of mathematics, but simply because it is too confusing for a complete mathematical description. Another feature that gave the lectures a certain popular flavor was the lecturer’s intention to explain to both biologists and physicists a fundamental idea lying at the intersection of biology and physics.

In fact, despite the variety of topics covered, the idea is intended to convey only one idea - a small commentary on a large and important issue. To avoid getting lost, let's make a short plan.

The big, important and highly debated question is this:

How do physics and chemistry explain events in space and time that occur within the spatial framework of a living organism?

The preliminary answer that this book attempts to establish and justify can be summarized as follows:

The obvious inability of modern physics and chemistry to explain such phenomena does not mean at all that these sciences cannot explain them.

Statistical physics. Fundamental difference in structure

This remark would be quite trivial if its sole purpose was to awaken hope for achieving in the future what was not achieved in the past. However, its meaning is much more optimistic: this inability has a detailed explanation.

Today, thanks to the brilliant work of biologists, mostly geneticists, over the last thirty to forty years, we know enough about the actual material structure of organisms and their workings to state and give the exact reason why: modern physics and chemistry cannot explain space-time events , occurring in a living organism.

The interactions of atoms in the vital parts of the body are fundamentally different from all the connections of atoms that have hitherto been the object of experimental and theoretical research by physicists and chemists. However, this difference, which I consider fundamental, may seem of little significance to anyone except a physicist who realizes that the laws of chemistry and physics are purely statistical. After all, it is from a statistical point of view that the structure of the vital parts of living organisms is so different from any piece of matter with which we, physicists and chemists, work physically in laboratories or mentally at a desk. It is impossible to imagine that the laws and regularities discovered in this way can be directly applied to the behavior of systems that do not have the structure on which they are based.

Erwin Schrödinger. What is Life? The Physical Aspect of the Living Cell

Erwin Rudolf Joseph Alexander Schrödinger is an Austrian theoretical physicist and Nobel Prize winner in physics. One of the developers of quantum mechanics and the wave theory of matter. In 1945, Schrödinger wrote the book “What is Life from the Point of View of Physics?”, which had a significant influence on the development of biophysics and molecular biology. This book takes a close look at several critical issues. The fundamental question is: “How can physics and chemistry explain those phenomena in space and time that take place inside a living organism?” Reading this book will not only provide extensive theoretical material, but will also make you think about what life essentially is?

Erwin Schrödinger. What is life from a physics point of view? M.: RIMIS, 2009. 176 p. Download:

Erwin Schrödinger. What is life from a physics point of view? M.: Atomizdat, 1972. 62 p. Download:

Source of text version: Erwin Schrödinger. What is life from a physics point of view? M.: Atomizdat, 1972. 62 p.

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In popular science articles on archaeology, geology, paleontology, evolutionary biology and other disciplines, one way or another related to the reconstruction of events of the distant past, absolute dates are found every now and then: something happened 10 thousand years ago, something 10 million, and something - 4 billion years ago. Where do these numbers come from?

What is life?

Lectures given at Trinity College, Dublin in February 1943.

Moscow: State Publishing House of Foreign Literature, 1947 - p.150

Erwin Schrödinger

Professor at the Dublin Research Institute

WHAT IS LIFE

from a physics point of view?

WHAT IS LIFE?

The Physical Aspect of the

Living Cell

BRWIN SGHRODINGER

Senior Professor at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies

Translation from English and afterword by A. A. MALINOVSKY

Artist G. Riftin

Introduction

Homo liber nulla de re minus quam

de morte cogitat; et ejus sapientia

non mortis sed vitae meditatio est.

Spinoza, Ethica, P. IV, Prop. 67.

A free man is nothing like that

little does not think about death, and

his wisdom lies in reflection

not about death, but about life.

Spinoza, Ethics, Part IV, Theor. 67.

Ghtlbcckjdbt

Preface

It is generally believed that a scientist must have a thorough first-hand knowledge of a particular field of science, and it is therefore believed that he should not write on such matters in which he is not an expert. This is seen as a matter of noblesse oblige. However, in order to achieve my goal, I want to renounce noblesse and ask, in this regard, to release me from the obligations arising from it. My apologies are as follows.

We have inherited from our ancestors a keen desire for unified, all-encompassing knowledge. The very name given to the highest institutions of knowledge - universities - reminds us that from ancient times and for many centuries the universal nature of knowledge was the only thing in which there could be complete trust. But the expansion and deepening of various branches of knowledge during the last hundred wonderful years has presented us with a strange dilemma. We clearly feel that we are only now beginning to acquire reliable material in order to unite into one whole everything that we know; but on the other hand, it becomes almost impossible for one mind to completely master more than any one small specialized part of science.

I see no way out of this situation (without our main goal being lost forever) unless some of us venture to undertake a synthesis of facts and theories, even though our knowledge in some of these areas is incomplete and obtained at second hand and at least we ran the risk of appearing ignorant.

Let this serve as my apology.

Difficulties with language are also of great importance. Everyone’s native language is like a well-fitting garment, and you cannot feel completely free when your language cannot be at ease and when it must be replaced by another, new one. I am very grateful to Dr Inkster (Trinity College, Dublin), Dr Padraig Brown (St Patrick's College, Maynooth) and last but not least, Mr S. C. Roberts. They had a lot of trouble trying to fit me into new clothes, and this was aggravated by the fact that sometimes I did not want to give up my somewhat “original” personal style. If any of it survives despite the efforts of my friends to soften it, it must be attributed to me, and not to theirs.

Initially, it was assumed that the subheadings of numerous sections would have the nature of summary inscriptions in the margins, and the text of each chapter should be read in continue (continuously).

I am greatly indebted to Dr. Darlington and the publisher Endeavor for the illustration plates. They retain all the original details, although not all of these details are relevant to the content of the book.

Dublin, September, 1944. E. Sh.

A classical physicist's approach to the subject

Cogito, ergo sum

Descartes.

General nature and objectives of the study

This small book arose from a course of public lectures given by a theoretical physicist to an audience of about 400 people. The audience almost did not decrease, although from the very beginning it was warned that the subject of presentation was difficult and that the lectures could not be considered popular, despite the fact that the most terrible tool of a physicist - mathematical deduction - could hardly be used here. And not because the subject is so simple that it can be explained without mathematics, but rather the opposite - because it is too complicated and not entirely accessible to mathematics. Another feature that gave at least the appearance of popularity was the intention of the lecturer to make the main idea associated with both biology and physics clear to both physicists and biologists.

Indeed, despite the variety of topics included in the book, as a whole it should convey only one idea, only one small explanation of a large and important issue. In order not to deviate from our path, it will be useful to briefly outline our plan in advance.

The big, important and very often discussed question is this: how can physics and chemistry explain those phenomena in space and time that take place inside a living organism?

The preliminary answer that this little book will try to give and develop can be summed up as follows: the obvious inability of modern physics and chemistry to explain such phenomena gives absolutely no reason to doubt that they can be explained by these sciences.

Statistical physics. The main difference is in the structure

The foregoing remark would be very trivial if it were intended only to stimulate the hope of achieving in the future what was not achieved in the past. It, however, has a much more positive meaning, namely, that the inability of physics and chemistry to date to provide an answer is completely understandable.

Thanks to the skillful work of biologists, mainly geneticists, over the last 30 or 40 years, enough has now been known about the actual material structure of organisms and their functions to understand why modern physics and chemistry could not explain the phenomena in space and time that occur within living things. body.

The arrangement and interaction of atoms in the most important parts of the body are radically different from all those arrangements of atoms with which physicists and chemists have hitherto dealt in their experimental and theoretical research. However, this difference, which I just called fundamental, is of a kind that can easily seem insignificant to anyone except a physicist, imbued with the idea that the laws of physics and chemistry are thoroughly statistical. It is from a statistical point of view that the structure of the most important parts of a living organism is completely different from any piece of matter with which we, physicists and chemists, have hitherto dealt, practically - in our laboratories and theoretically - at our desks. Of course, it is difficult to imagine that the laws and rules that we have discovered would be directly applicable to the behavior of systems that do not have the structures on which these laws and rules are based.

What is life?

Lectures given at Trinity College, Dublin in February 1943.

Moscow: State Publishing House of Foreign Literature, 1947 - p.150

Erwin Schrödinger

Professor at the Dublin Research Institute

WHAT IS LIFE

from a physics point of view?

WHAT IS LIFE?

The Physical Aspect of the

Living Cell

BRWIN SGHRODINGER

Senior Professor at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies

Translation from English and afterword by A. A. MALINOVSKY

Artist G. Riftin

Introduction

Homo liber nulla de re minus quam

de morte cogitat; et ejus sapientia

non mortis sed vitae meditatio est.

Spinoza, Ethica, P. IV, Prop. 67.

A free man is nothing like that

little does not think about death, and

his wisdom lies in reflection

not about death, but about life.

Spinoza, Ethics, Part IV, Theor. 67.

Ghtlbcckjdbt

Preface

Let this serve as my apology.

It was originally assumed that the subheadings of numerous sections would have the nature of summary inscriptions in the margins, and the text of each chapter should be read in continue (continuously).

Dublin, September, 1944. E. Sh.

A classical physicist's approach to the subject

Cogito, ergo sum

General nature and objectives of the study

The big, important and very often discussed question is this: how can physics and chemistry explain those phenomena in space and time that take place inside a living organism?

Statistical physics. The main difference is in the structure

It cannot be expected that a non-physicist could grasp (let alone appreciate) the entire difference in “statistical structure” formulated in terms so abstract as I have just done. To give life and color to my statement, let me first draw attention to something that will be explained in detail later, namely, that the most essential part of a living cell - the chromosomal thread - can justifiably be called an aperiodic crystal. In physics, we have so far dealt only with periodic crystals. To the mind of a simple physicist they are very interesting and complex objects; they constitute one of the most fascinating and complex structures with which inanimate nature confounds the intellect of the physicist; however, in comparison with aperiodic crystals they seem somewhat elementary and boring. The difference in structure here is the same as between ordinary wallpaper, in which the same pattern is repeated at regular intervals again and again, and a masterpiece of embroidery, say, a Raphael tapestry, which produces not boring repetition, but complex, consistent and full of meaning a drawing drawn by a great master.

The book is certainly intended for physicists (or readers who studied physics at a technical university), but the intriguing title “ What is life?"should be of interest to everyone. I will try to highlight what the book is about, so that it is clear to non-physicists, who can skip the italics in this review without harming their understanding :)
Geniuses are multifaceted, and the publication by Schrödinger in 1944 of an original study at the intersection of physics and biology fits well with the image of a brilliant theoretical physicist, Nobel laureate, one of the developers of quantum mechanics and the wave theory of matter, the author of the famous equation describing the change in space and time in the state of quantum systems, who, in addition to physics, knows six languages, reads ancient and contemporary philosophers in the original, is interested in art, writes and publishes his own poetry.
So, the author begins by justifying the reason for a living organism to be polyatomic. Next, Schrödinger introduces a model of an aperiodic crystal and, using the concept of quantum mechanical discreteness, explains how a microscopically small gene resists thermal fluctuations, preserving the hereditary properties of the organism, and how it undergoes mutations (abrupt changes occurring without intermediate states), further retaining already mutated properties.
But here we come to the most interesting part:

What is the characteristic feature of life? We consider matter to be alive when it continues to "do something", move, participate in metabolism with the environment, etc. - all this during more long period of time, than we would expect inanimate matter to do under similar conditions.
If a non-living system is isolated or placed in homogeneous conditions, all movement usually very soon stops... and the system as a whole fades away, turns into a dead inert mass of matter. A state is reached in which no noticeable events occur - a state of thermodynamic equilibrium, or a state of maximum entropy.

How does a living organism avoid the transition to equilibrium? The answer is quite simple: due to the fact that it eats.

A living organism (as well as a nonliving one) continuously increases its entropy and thus approaches the dangerous state of maximum entropy that represents death. He can remain alive only by constantly extracting negative entropy from his environment...
Negative entropy is what the body feeds on.
Thus, the means by which an organism maintains itself constantly at a sufficiently high level of order (and at a sufficiently low level of entropy) actually consists in the continuous extraction of order from its environment.

This Schrödinger idea is popularly expounded by Michael Weller in his book All About Life.
Schrödinger's book is truly wonderful, with many beautiful physical explanations and biological ideas. She had a significant influence on the development of biophysics and molecular biology. In our country, at the time of persecution of genetics, this was one of the few books from which one could learn at least something about genes.
And yet, despite the beauty of the book from a physical and biological point of view, to the question “What is life?” Schrödinger doesn't answer. The cited criterion “Living things last longer than non-living things” is subjective due to the subjectivity of the concept of “longer”. A living mouse in a closed system will stop “functioning” in a week, and electronic devices (watches, toys, etc.) on Energizer and Duracell batteries can continuously function much longer :).
A remarkable bonus that Schrödinger requested from the audience of his lectures was the opportunity to tell them about determinism and free will (the “Epilogue” of the book). Here he quotes the Upanishads, in which the quintessence of the deepest insight into what is happening in the world is the idea that

Atman = Brahman, that is, the personal individual soul is equal to the omnipresent, all-perceiving, eternal soul.

Mystics have always described the personal experience of their lives with the words “Deus factum sum” (I have become God).
From two premises: 1. My body functions as a pure mechanism, obeying the universal laws of nature. 2. From experience, I know that I control my actions, foresee their results and bear full responsibility for my actions.
Schrödinger concludes:

"I" taken in the widest sense of the word - that is, every conscious mind that has ever said and felt "I" - is a subject that can control the "movement of atoms" according to the laws of nature.