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41 of 44 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A clear and welcome explanation of life's origins., January 22, 1999
By A Customer
There have been many creationist books published of late that argue against the possibility of evolution, both at the macro level (completed biological structures) and molecular level (DNA from an information theoretic view). Enjoying great popularity among the former group is Behe's "Darwin's Black Box". Attacking the later issue and the "spontaneous evolution of DNA" is William Dembski and his new book, "The Design Inference". Both of these books are available here on Amazon and both are popular among those with creationist beliefs. However both of these authors ignore the fundamental issues of entropy, information theory, and the juggling between the two that occurs all the time in living organisms, and even in simple organic and inorganic molecules. Loewenstein's "The Touchstone of Life" is a breath of fresh air. Many scientists have quietly gone about their business assuming DNA evolved from simpler molecules and that, once self-replicating organic molecules DO form, natural selection of random mutations (so many creationists forget the first part) takes it from there, resulting in the incredible diversity of life we see today. I don't know if Loewenstien was specifically targeting Behe, Dembski or anyone else, but he certainly addresses the issue of how life started in an exciting, clear, and readable manor. While Dembski's book may intimidate the reader with a poor understanding of probability theory and mathematical notation, Loewenstien will not. Furthermore, Loewenstien actually focuses in on the relevant issue: the information entropy trade off and how this interplay results in the formation and evolution of complex organic molecules, organic molecular systems, and eventually, life itself. All of this without violating the principles of thermodynamics or the information theory of Claude Shannon. Creationists seeking an exact chemical procedure that creates life in a test tube will not find one here. Some of them would thus feel vindicated. But the issue is NOT the discovery or reenactment of the exact event and sequence of molecules that eventually evolved to today's self replicating organisms. Rather, this book is concerned with the self-organizing aspects of matter and the carbon molecules that DID result in life. There could have been numerous other forms of life had it all occurred differently. The exact recipe is not the issue. The issue is that carbon exhibits some amazing properties of self-organization and replication. And Loewenstien shows how this does not violate the laws of thermodynamics or information theory. A basic undergraduate understanding of mathematics (even if a bit forgotten) would be helpful, as would a bit of basic organic chemistry. But the interested and motivated reader could probably get by without it.
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18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Cutting edge science...but fruity prose, October 11, 2002
This review is from: The Touchstone of Life: Molecular Information, Cell Communication, and the Foundations of Life (Paperback)
There are two books wriggling between the covers of this volume. On the one hand, there is a superb exposition of cell biology and molecular biology, mainly towards the end of the book. This is as it should be, given that the author was a leading figure in cell biology and biophysics. On the other hand, there is a spectacularly lame attempt to write a Book of Ages, yes, with Capitalisation of Words involved and some of the most fruity prose you will see this side of a Creationist text. Let me give you an example "These modest assymetric molecular geneses were nursed with information from photons coming in from the cosmos. The nascent molecules suckled photons, as it were." Nursed? Suckled? Do you have a picture of a nascent molecules with breasts? Probably a diatomic molecule. Here's another, "In our journey down the information stream, we shunted our boat, by a little sleight of hand, to the 'mainstream' in the DNA-to-protein segment. Had we sailed down by the book, we might have been sucked in sideways and gone in dizzying circles" Follow? Follow the stream, I mean? I would have thought that metaphors be treated gently with good writing, but they're rife in this book. Nevertheless, when Lowenstein isn't trying to be Keats, this is quite a majesterial survey of molecular biology. This is particular evident in the discussion of inter-cellular communication, of which Lowenstein is one of the undisputed masters. Indeed, when discussing his own work, the prose is suddenly emptied of metaphors and sharpens into tight well-written scientific prose. However, I find a serious problem with one of the central tenets of the book - that all of molecular biology can be united into the central idea of information. The problem is, no one knows how to calculate information in molecular or cellular systems. True the equation of Shannon's information and Boltzmann's entropy is the same. But to calculate the information of, say a DNA molecule, which Lowenstein argues you can in principle do, one must specify all of the other states from which the DNA molecule is constructed out of. That is, you must find the boundary condition. But this is hopelessly ambiguous. Is it the atoms stripped apart in a soup? Or is it the sum of all possible DNA sequences of all possible lengths? And I haven't even considered the difficulties of non-equilibrium statistical mechanics. The problems multiply once you consider interactions between DNA and any, or all other molecules. Given there is no way to calculate or algorithmically unambiguously pin down information, it is simply a rhetoric ploy to talk about the transfer of information. Anyway, I ignored all the musings on the Power of Information and what remains is a substantial meditation on the state of the art molecular biology. If you're willing to work through the dense material, some of the most cutting edge ideas on DNA, RNA, replication, structural biology of cells are here.
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16 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"The Unit of Life" Explained, February 12, 2000
The Touchstone of Life I was fuzzy on the meaning of the word "touchstone" and therefore consulted two dictionaries. It has two separate but related meanings: a stone used to measure (or test) the quality of metals, such as gold and silver; also, a means by which to determine authenticity. The title of Loewenstein's book suggests that he will discuss "the" (not "a") touchstone of "life." Hmmm. My curiosity was aroused. For me, reading this book proved to be a difficult but rewarding intellectual experience. In it, Loewenstein examines molecular information, cell communication, and the "foundations of life." His original purpose was to write a book about intercellular communication but, as he got to "the heart" of this subject, "a picture materialized seemingly out of the blue: a continuous intra- and intercellular network where, with DNA at the core, molecular information flowed in gracefully interlaced circles. That apparition had an allure I could not resist, and so this became a book about information." The timing of the book's publication (1999) coincides with (a) numerous and significant revelations concerning the interaction of the brain with the mind and (b) rapid development of the Internet, especially of the WWW. As a non-scientist, I was fascinated by Loewenstein's analysis of "interlaced circles" and their relevance to the technological transmission of information. (In Holding On to Reality, Albert Borgmann addresses several of the same issues Loewenstein does but from somewhat different perspectives.) As Loewenstein explains in the Introduction, he set out to prove that "this information flow, not energy per se, is the prime mover of life -- that molecular information flowing in circles brings forth the organization we call `organism' and maintains it against the ever-present disorganizing pressures in the physics universe. So viewed, the information circle becomes the unit of life." Part One introduces the entity Information; Part Two "takes up the full-grown weft of circles, the intracellular communication network; Part Three deals with the intercellular communication network, "the web that ties all cells of an organism together; and Part Four provides "a short philosophical foray where we see the principle [ie the principle of information economy which is, for Loewenstein, the guiding principle of biological evolution] through to its heuristic conclusion." Who will most enjoy reading this book? Loewenstein claims to have written it both for the scientist and other reader with an interest in science..."no specialized knowledge of biology or physics is assumed in advance." In my opinion, however, such knowledge would be very helpful. Back to the question. As a non-scientist, I highly recommend it to all the other non-scientists out there who occupy decision-making positions in their organizations and who ask the following questions: 1. What is the nature of "the information circle"? 2. What are its primary functions, possible applications, and potential benefits? 3. What is its relevance to the Internet and, especially, to the WWW? 4. Finally, how can the answers to these first three questions be of specific value to my own organization? Loewenstein provides (or at least suggests) answers to #1-3. In process, he helps his reader to determine an appropriate answer to #4. Although I have neither gold nor silver of questionable quality, I do have some business issues of questionable authenticity which Loewenstein has prepared me to address with much greater precision.
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