Phenomenon of Life in the Eyes of a Chemist: Addy Pross

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Phenomenon of Life in the Eyes of a Chemist: Addy Pross

Journal Title: CHEMIK nauka-technika-rynek - Year 2013, Vol 67, Issue 12

Abstract

Addy Pross, a professor of chemistry at the Ben-Gurion University in Beer Sheva, inspired by Schrödinger’s book What is Life, focuses in his research on the nature of life, which has attracted the naturalists for decades. The Israeli scholar makes a stance that we will never understand what life is until we can solve the paradox concerning its inception. To understand this paradox and, consequently, the phenomenon of life itself, one does not refer to physics or even biology, but to chemistry, the science that bridges the gap between physics and biology. The young branch of modern chemistry, namely systems chemistry, may be particularly helpful in understanding the nature of life. The intention of the researcher is that it is system chemistry that allows us to set the rules that govern the process of the emergence of complexity from relatively simple chemical systems to the highly complex biological systems. The chemical theory of life developed in its framework is meant not only to explain, in simple chemical terms, why life has such unique properties as organized complexity, instability, dynamic nature and purposeful character, but also to bring forward the principles responsible for the process by which life formed from inanimate matter. Explaining the mystery of life will be aided in particular, as the Israeli researcher holds, by the concept of “dynamic kinetic stability”, which is a fundamental feature of replicating systems.

Authors and Affiliations

Mirosław Twardowski

Keywords

EP ID EP99138
DOI -
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