Replies

Re: DNA and Quantum Mechanics...

Quantum Evolution: The New Science of Life
by Johnjoe McFadden

Reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review:
Quantum Evolution tackles the hairiest heresy of evolutionary biology, the one most likely to get scientists figuratively burned at the stake: the notion that any force more selective than blind chance could drive mutation. Such "directed evolution" smacks too much of a retreat into creationism for most science-minded readers to be comfortable with, but there's no prior reason to reject the idea. Molecular biologist Johnjoe McFadden risks the Inquisition by suggesting just such a possibility in Quantum Evolution: The New Science of Life. Directed at a general but somewhat sophisticated readership, it covers the basics of both standard evolutionary theory and quantum-level physics, then synthesizes them in an interesting theory of made-to-order mutation that explains enough to warrant attention and is, importantly, testable.

McFadden's writing is clear and sharp, and shows a high regard for the reader's intelligence and patience for complex ideas. This is no airplane book--except for those already well-versed in the latest in both evolutionary theory and subatomic physics. The rewards of reading are great, and the author bows just enough to established theory that he might meet the fate of his intellectual predecessors. The ideas underlying Quantum Evolution may be right or wrong, but they challenge received wisdom without plunging into dogmatism--and that's good science. --Rob Lightner

Synopsis:
How did life start? How did something capable of replicating itself emerge from the primordial soup? How did it defy the odds? And how did it carry on seeking out the very mutations that enable survival? Living organisms are controlled by a single molecule - DNA. Yet the study of physics tells us that the behaviour of single molecules is also controlled by the laws of quantum mechanics. The implications of this for biology have not been fully thought through. Until now. In this debut, Johnjoe McFadden puts forward a theory of quantum evolution. He shows how living organisms have the ability to will themselves into action. Indeed, such an ability may be life's most fundamental attribute. This has radical implications. Evolution may not be random at all, as recent evolutionary theories have taught: rather, cells may, in certain circumstances, be able to choose to mutate particular genes that provide an advantage in the environment in which the cell finds itself.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0006551289/quantumevolution/202-6775530-9928622
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"The form and dynamics of every living organism on this planet is controlled by a single molecule of DNA. Recent experiments suggest that size alone is not a bar to quantum behaviour. A group based in Vienna have recently fired fullerene molecules through the double slit experiment and demonstrated that these particles have no problem in sailing through both slits simultaneously. And fullerene is big - 60 carbon atoms in a cage-like structure, the famous 'buckyball' molecule - with a diameter similar to that of the DNA double helix. If fullerene can enter the quantum multiverse then the microscopic constituents of our own cells, including DNA, are in there as well." --Johnjoe McFadden
http://www.surrey.ac.uk/qe/Biography.htm

"In the context of encounters of Science and Religion, "In Search of Divine Reality" proposes that the traditional conflict between the two disciplines is mainly one involving classical, Newtonian Science; and many of its most pressing issues have obtained an entirely different meaning by the change in world view effected by the discovery of Quantum Mechanics. In Classical Physics, there is no room for the Spiritual and for God. In the world of Quantum Mechanics, the foundations of physical reality have revealed all the aspects of a transcendent reality; with non-material entities at the basis of material things; with components of ordinary things that are not as real as the things that they make; with instantaneous, long-distance (non-local) connections pervading the universe; and with elementary entities that have mind-like properties.

Thus, in the same way in which dead atoms can form living organisms and stupid molecules can form intelligent brains, the metaphysical can engender the physical.

Without the employment of advanced mathematics, the book uses the phenomena of Quantum Reality to provide a clear and generally understandable description of the concepts of Quantum Mechanics and its consequences for our views of human nature."

http://comp.uark.edu/~schafer/
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Program: Science and the Written Word:

A regular series produced by CUNY-TV [City University of New York] featuring interviews with
authors of new books on science. Hosted by Lou Massa, professor of
chemistry and physics at Hunter College/CUNY.

Guest: Lothar Schafer

Professor of Physical Chemistry , University of Arkansas
In this 2-part interview, Lothar Schafer talks about his book “In
Search of Divine Reality”. The tries to make connections among
science, religion, and the arts.

Part-1(an audio link will be found on the page that comes up)
Taped: 11/08/1999 Running Time: 0:27min.
http://www.cuny.tv/audiovideo/action.lasso?-database=CUNYPROG&-response=detail2.lasso&-table=webprogdetail2&-sortField=TapeDate&-sortOrder=descending&-sortField=SeriesTitle&-sortOrder=ascending&-sortField=Title&-sortOrder=ascending&-logicalOperator=OR&-op=bw&SeriesTitle=lothar&-op=bw&Title=lothar&-maxRecords=1&-skipRecords=1&-search
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Part-2(an audio link will be found on the page that comes up)
Taped: 11/08/1999 Running Time: 0:27min.
http://www.cuny.tv/audiovideo/action.lasso?-database=CUNYPROG&-response=detail2.lasso&-table=webprogdetail2&-sortField=TapeDate&-sortOrder=descending&-sortField=SeriesTitle&-sortOrder=ascending&-sortField=Title&-sortOrder=ascending&-logicalOperator=OR&-op=bw&SeriesTitle=lothar&-op=bw&Title=lothar&-maxRecords=1&-skipRecords=2&-search