What is Life?

Name: Afshar Ajmeri.(M.Sc.I)
Dept Of Botany, SPPU, Pune.
What is Life? is a classic scientific essay by Erwin Schrödinger in which he attempts to explain the existence and permanence of life, particularly the genetic material, using the concepts of physics. Spanning across not more than 90 pages, the book takes you on a short but adventurous journey of science, safely jumping from one to the other seemingly irrelevant yet naturally interconnected disciplines of physics, chemistry, and biology. While the book talks continuously on core scientific concepts, it is accessible to everyone including non-specialists through its simple language and well-explained examples. For anyone interested in science and philosophy, this is a must-read book.
Erwin Schrödinger would not be an unfamiliar name to anyone who takes interest in science or at least studied science at school level. Though one may think what a person known for his Wave Equation, a well-known concept of basic quantum physics, has to say on what is life, a question seemingly relevant to biology. Hold on, because this very doubt is addressed by him in the preface to his book. He wisely managed to convince his audience that it is time to step towards interdisciplinary approaches in science, leaving the rigid boundaries of conventional disciplines behind; and for this purpose, he has taken the trouble of talking on a subject he is not a master of.
The book ‘What is Life?’ is a short scientific essay based on lectures delivered by Schrödinger under the auspices of the Dublin Institute forAdvanced Studies at Trinity College, Dublin, in February 1943. Probably this is the reason thebook makes you feel sitting in the lecture hall, listening to Schrödinger while he explains his concepts using a chalk and the blackboard, and the reason I used the word ‘audience’ above. This reminds me of a statement Mirza Ghalib, a renowned poet of Urdu, makes in a letter to his friend which goes as “Maine maraslah ko makalmah bana diya hai” (I have transformed the letter into a dialogue). Schrodinger, in no way, failed to win this statement for himself.
Let me correct the readers if someone has mistaken ‘Life’ in question for its philosophical aspect. Though Schrödinger does take a philosophical approach in the Epilogue on Determinism and Free Will in the last section; the book, in most of its entirety, deals with the molecule that carries the information of life, that is the chromosome, rather than life itself. Hededicates the first chapter,out of seven, to explaining the workings and behaviour of atoms and molecules with reference to the laws of statistical physics. The succeeding two chapters are entirely focused on biological concepts of heredity and mutation, the fundamental mechanisms responsible for the continuity of life. In the fourth chapter, he advocates that the laws of quantum mechanics govern the workings and behaviour of the hereditary molecules,as the laws of classical statistical physics seem insufficient to explain them. The fifth one recollects the previously discussed facts and concepts, attempting to connect the missing links and lay a foundation for the final inference about the workings of life molecule, which is to be drawn in the sixth chapter. The last chapter is preserved to addressing the shortcomings of the inferences and exploring further possibilities for revisiting the facts discussed so far.
The above overview may frighten a non-specialist from reading the book as it seems to be laden with scientific concepts. However, Schrodinger, using simplified examples and easy-to-understand diagrams, has made it accessible to everyone. Albeit, someone from the field of biology, as I am, is more likely to not find himself at ease when the author discusses core concepts of physics. Similar, as I feel, would be the case for a physics person. My experience says, with one or two extra attempts of concentrated readings, he manages to open your mind.
Although some facts told in the book stand no longer true to the modern scientific understanding, such as human cells having 48 chromosomes; I must admit that Schrödinger was far ahead of his time with this book. I can say, with my limited knowledge of current advancements in the field, that many aspects and possibilities discussed in the book have yet to be explored. Even after 80 years of publication, the book remains popular within the reading community and maintains its relevance within the scientific community. Roger Penrose was not wrong when he advocated that What is Life? must surely rank among the most influential of scientific writings in this (20th) century. The book is amply worth rereading.