Yesterday night I finished reading a biography of James Joule, by Donald Cardwell. (Manchester UP, 1990, 0719034795)
Scientific biography can be a difficult thing to achieve, striking a balance between describing the man and his science, and can be quite dry reading. There's lots of contextual material in this biography and that largely diverts it from this danger. In particular, Cardwell is at pains to explain the development of Manchester and the role of its Literary and Philosophical Society (often just called the Lit and Phil). He also makes extensive use of Joule's correspondence, especially with Thompson, Tyndall and others.
Joule's generation were perhaps the last non-professional scientists. As he grew into old age, the universities were beginning to proliferate and the professional academic scientist was beginning to be a recognised profession. We see his obsession with precision and his range of interests, as the individual disciplines of science were still beginning to be distinguished.
There is certainly much in this volume to commend. Whilst Dirac, Feynman etc. perhaps make more exciting and intriguing subjects, Joule nonetheless has something to teach all of us about perseverance in the pursuit of scientific truth.
I've also finished Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett. This is only the second of the Discworld series that I've read, but I enjoyed it very much, so I think more will be following during the course of the year!
Friday, January 27, 2017
Sunday, January 08, 2017
Quantum Biology and hard-boiled detectives
Earlier this week I finished reading Jim Al-Khalili and Johnjoe McFadden's Life on the Edge - the Coming Age of Quantum Biology.
This clearly-written and thoughtful account describes ways in which quantum mechanics is, or is at least postulated to be, involved in biological systems. It gives an overview of both the fundamental ideas of quantum mechanics (without the maths) as well as explanations of intracellular chemical processes.
The book opens with a description of the epic migration of the European robin and weaves a carefully crafted tale of the way that quantum mechanics might be involved in animals apparent magnetic sense via a radical pair mechanism. A whole chapter later in the book considers magnetosense more generally.
Other areas that are considered include quantum tunneling of protons as part of enzymes' mechanisms, quantum superposition of DNA base tautomers as an origin of mutation and hence as a driving force for evolution, and the nature of consciousness.
An exciting book with a highly engaging and readable prose style, I most wholeheartedly recommend this to anyone interested in Biology, Chemistry or Physics - if you are a scientist sensu lato, I think you will enjoy this!
I've also read one of Raymond Chandler novel's - The little sister. This is the fifth in the Philip Marlowe series and is, as always, a dark, complex and fast-paced story. In the early volumes the similes seem to drip off the pages like rain drops over the top of gutter full of leaf mould. Ahem. But in this volume I was struck by the style being more tight and controlled and less like the many parodies and pastiches of the Marlowe books.
This clearly-written and thoughtful account describes ways in which quantum mechanics is, or is at least postulated to be, involved in biological systems. It gives an overview of both the fundamental ideas of quantum mechanics (without the maths) as well as explanations of intracellular chemical processes.
The book opens with a description of the epic migration of the European robin and weaves a carefully crafted tale of the way that quantum mechanics might be involved in animals apparent magnetic sense via a radical pair mechanism. A whole chapter later in the book considers magnetosense more generally.
Other areas that are considered include quantum tunneling of protons as part of enzymes' mechanisms, quantum superposition of DNA base tautomers as an origin of mutation and hence as a driving force for evolution, and the nature of consciousness.
An exciting book with a highly engaging and readable prose style, I most wholeheartedly recommend this to anyone interested in Biology, Chemistry or Physics - if you are a scientist sensu lato, I think you will enjoy this!
I've also read one of Raymond Chandler novel's - The little sister. This is the fifth in the Philip Marlowe series and is, as always, a dark, complex and fast-paced story. In the early volumes the similes seem to drip off the pages like rain drops over the top of gutter full of leaf mould. Ahem. But in this volume I was struck by the style being more tight and controlled and less like the many parodies and pastiches of the Marlowe books.
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