9780387849249-0387849246-The Machinery of Life

The Machinery of Life

ISBN-13: 9780387849249
ISBN-10: 0387849246
Edition: 2nd ed. 2009
Author: David S. Goodsell
Publication date: 2009
Publisher: Springer
Format: Hardcover 179 pages
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Book details

ISBN-13: 9780387849249
ISBN-10: 0387849246
Edition: 2nd ed. 2009
Author: David S. Goodsell
Publication date: 2009
Publisher: Springer
Format: Hardcover 179 pages

Summary

The Machinery of Life (ISBN-13: 9780387849249 and ISBN-10: 0387849246), written by authors David S. Goodsell, was published by Springer in 2009. With an overall rating of 5.0 stars, it's a notable title among other Biochemistry (Chemistry, Molecular Biology, Evolution, History & Philosophy, Biological Sciences) books. You can easily purchase or rent The Machinery of Life (Hardcover, Used) from BooksRun, along with many other new and used Biochemistry books and textbooks. And, if you're looking to sell your copy, our current buyback offer is $4.72.

Description

Imagine that we had some way to look directly at the molecules in a living organism. An x-ray microscope would do the trick, or since we’re dreaming, perhaps an Asimov-style nanosubmarine (unfortunately, neither is currently feasible). Think of the wonders we could witness firsthand: antibodies atta- ing a virus, electrical signals racing down nerve fibers, proteins building new strands of DNA. Many of the questions puzzling the current cadre of sci- tists would be answered at a glance. But the nanoscale world of molecules is separated from our everyday world of experience by a daunting million-fold difference in size, so the world of molecules is completely invisible. I created the illustrations in this book to help bridge this gulf and allow us to see the molecular structure of cells, if not directly, then in an artistic rendition. I have included two types of illustrations with this goal in mind: watercolor paintings which magnify a small portion of a living cell by one million times, showing the arrangement of molecules inside, and comput- generated pictures, which show the atomic details of individual molecules. In this second edition of The Machinery of Life, these illustrations are presented in full color, and they incorporate many of the exciting scientific advances of the 15 years since the first edition.

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Verified Buyer
Jul 29, 2021

They are written using technical terminology but uncomplicated language with illustrations, which are inarguably the best interpretation used to represent the physical reality of these systems I have ever seen. Interesting, doubtless. Useful? If you want a clearer picture of the world.

This book seems to be more of an exploration of microbiology designed to inspire a visceral understanding of the topic more than a textbook, encyclopedia, or visual guide each could on its own, though its organization shows artifacts of all three.

I was hoping that there would be many more, larger visual interpretations and/or depictions of the biology described and that they would include more complete systems, such as several interacting prokaryotes.