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Perspectives in biology and medicine

Life and Mind, Past and Future: Schrödinger's Vision Fifty Years Later

Avshalom C. Elitzur

Published Mar 1, 1995• 3 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Life and Mind, Past and Future:Schrödinger's Vision Fifty Years Later Avshalom C. Elitzur Avshalom C. Elitzur Department of Chemical Physics, The Weizmann Institute of Science, 76100 Rehovot, Israel References 1. SCHRÖDINGER, E. What is Life? The Physical Aspect of the Living Cell. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1945. Google Scholar 2. PERUTZ, M. F. Physics and the riddles of life. Nature 326:555-558, 1987. Google Scholar 3. PERUTZ, M. F. Erwin Schrödinger's What is Life? and molecular biology. In Schrödinger: Centenary Celebration of a Polymath, edited by C. W. KILMISTER. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1987. Google Scholar 4. PAULING, L. Schrödinger's contribution to chemistry and biology. In Schrödinger: Centenary Celebration of a Polymath, edited by C. W. KILMISTER. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1987. Google Scholar 5. YOCKEY, H. P. Information Theory and Molecular Biology. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1992. Google Scholar 6. LEFF, S. H. and REX, A. F. Maxwell's Demon: Entropy, Information, Computing. Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press, 1990. Google Scholar 7. PENROSE, R. The Emperor's New Mind: Concerning Computers, Minds, and the Laws of Physics. New York: Vintage, 1989. Google Scholar 8. BRILLOUIN, L. Scientific Uncertainty, and Information. New York: Academic Press, 1964. Google Scholar 9. ELITZUR, A. C. Let there be life: Thermodynamic reflections on biogenesis and evolution. J. Theor. Biol. 168, 1994 (forthcoming). Google Scholar 10. EIGEN, M. Steps towards Life: A Perspective on Evolution. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 1992. Google Scholar 11. VON NEUMANN, J. Theory of Self-Reproducing Automata. Urbana, Ill.: Univ. of Illinois Press, 1966. Google Scholar 12. ELITZUR, A. C. Is there no information in thermodynamics? A book review of Information Theory and Molecular Biology by H. P. Yockey (1992). Contemp. Phys. 34, 1994 (forthcoming). Google Scholar 13. LIFSON, S. Autocatalysis, natural selection, life and its origin. Preprint, Dept. of Chemical Physics, The Weizmann Institute of Science, 1994. Google Scholar 14. SMITH, T. F., and MOROWITZ, H. J. Between history and physics. J. Molec. Evol. 18:265-282, 1982. Google Scholar 15. WEBER, B. H.; DEPEW, D. J.; DYKE, C.; et al. Evolution in thermodynamic perspective: An ecological approach. Biol, and Philos. 4:373-405, 1989. Google Scholar 16. ORGEL, L. Molecular replication. Nature 358:203-209, 1992. Google Scholar 17. SCHNEIDER, E. D. Thermodynamics, ecological succession, and natural selection: A common thread. In Entropy, Information, and Evolution, edited by B. H. WEBER, D. J. DEPEW, and J. D. SMITH. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1988. Google Scholar 18. ROBERTSON, D. S. Feedback theory and Darwinian evolution. J. Theor. Biol. 152:469-484, 1991. Google Scholar 19. STUART, C. I. J. M. Physical models of biological information and adaptation. J. Theor. Biol. 113:441-454, 1985. Google Scholar 20. STUART, C. I. J. M. Bio-informational equivalence. J. Theor. Biol. 113:611-636, 1985. Google Scholar 21. DENEUNBOURG, J. L.; GOSS, S.; BECKERS, R.; and SANDINI, G. Collectively self-solving problems. In Self-Organization, Emerging Properties, and Learning, edited by A. BABLOYANTZ. NATO ASI Series B-260. New York: Plenum, 1991. Google Scholar 22. LORENZ, K. The Other Side of the Mirror. New York: Harcourt, 1973. Google Scholar 23. WYNNE-EDWARDS, V. C. Animal Dispersion in Relation to Social Behavior. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd, 1962. Google Scholar 24. MAYR, E. The Growth of Biological Thought: Diversity, Evolution, and Inheritance. Cambridge: Harvard Univ. Press, 1982. Google Scholar 25. HESCHL, A. L = C: A simple equation with astonishing consequences. J. Theor. Biol. 145:13-40, 1990. Google Scholar 26. WUKETITS, F. M. Evolution and cognition: Paradigms, perspectives, problems. Evol. and Cognition 1:1-29, 1991. Google Scholar 27. POPPER, K. R. Objective Knowledge: An Evolutionary Approach. Oxford: Clarendon, 1972. Google Scholar 28. DEWDNEY, A. K. The Armchair Universe: An Exploration of Computer Universes. New York: Freeman, 1988. Google Scholar 29. HOLLAND, J. H. Genetic algorithms. Sci. Am. 267(1):44-50, 1992. Google Scholar 30. HIRATA, H. Information of organization...

DOI
10.1353/pbm.1995.0044

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Sadri Hassani, in his Commentary, laments the fact that many of America’s top-tier medical schools “house centers of integrative health.” He singles out Explore, a peer-reviewed journal I serve as executive editor, for special criticism because we published “Manifesto for a post-materialist science,” which, he says, “elevates parapsychology and near-death experience to the rank of quantum theory.”That article had nothing to do with equating those areas to the scientific status of quantum theory. However, Hassani appears unfamiliar with developments in which quantum physical concepts such as nonlocality and entanglement have been shown to occur in biological systems. That, we believe, indicates some as-yet-undefined degree of overlap between biomedical science and quantum physics. As physicist Vlatko Vedral states in his 2011 article “Living in a quantum world”:Quantum mechanics is not just about teeny particles. It applies to things of all sizes: birds, plants, maybe even people….… Until the past decade, experimentalists had not confirmed that quantum behavior persists on a macroscopic scale. Today, however, they routinely do.11. V. Vedral, Sci. Am., June 2011, p. 38, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/living-in-a-quantum-world/.Until the origin, manifestations, and nature of consciousness—science’s greatest mystery—are resolved, we shall continue to examine those topics at Explore with the same openness advocated by some of the greatest patriarchs of modern physics, including Max Planck, the founder of quantum mechanics, who said,I regard consciousness as fundamental. I regard matter as derivative from consciousness. We cannot get behind consciousness. Everything that we talk about, everything that we regard as existing, postulates consciousness.22. J. W. N. Sullivan, Observer, 25 January 1931, p. 17.And Nobel physicist Erwin Schrödinger said,Although I think that life may be the result of an accident, I do not think that of consciousness. Consciousness cannot be accounted for in physical terms. For consciousness is absolutely fundamental. It cannot be accounted for in terms of anything else.33. W. Moore, A Life of Erwin Schrödinger, Canto edition, Cambridge U. Press (1994), p. 181.REFERENCESSection:ChooseTop of pageREFERENCES <<1. V. Vedral, Sci. Am., June 2011, p. 38, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/living-in-a-quantum-world/. Google ScholarCrossref, ISI2. J. W. N. Sullivan, Observer, 25 January 1931, p. 17. Google Scholar3. W. Moore, A Life of Erwin Schrödinger, Canto edition, Cambridge U. Press (1994), p. 181. Google Scholar© 2016 American Institute of Physics.

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Mermin replies: The enticing arguments that Dave Bacon tries so well to refute were not in my Reference Frame columns, which I’m delighted he enjoyed. The point is put best in my new book, 1 1. N. D. Mermin, Quantum Computer Science: An Introduction, Cambridge U. Press, New York (2007), p. 3. where I also note that q-bit would indeed be better than Qbit, were it not that common expressions such as 2-Qbit gate fail to work when written in the form 2-q-bit gate. To solve the problem, I drop Dirac’s hyphen but put Q in uppercase (which the qbit Bacon wrongly attributes to me does not) to emphasize that it functions as the name of a letter and not as part of another grotesquely spelled word. Qbit for the quantum object parallels the equally important Cbit for the classical object (clbit would be ridiculous). The capitalization convention gives rise to the useful term Bit, which refers collectively to both kinds of physical objects, as opposed to bit, which refers only to a number that can be 0 or 1.I agree with Bacon that qubit has achieved its current status because of its spurious resemblance to cubit, 2 2. Ref. 1, p. 4. but I do not agree that the foot deserves to die. It should be redefined 5 millimeters downward to a light nanosecond 3 3. N. D. Mermin, It’s About Time: Understanding Einstein’s Relativity, Princeton U. Press, Princeton, NJ (2005), p. 22. a couple of years after our backward nation finally goes metric, which I confidently expect to happen in a century or two.Setting aside the fact that transliterations of foreign proper nouns notoriously violate all kinds of rules, I note that Qumran is pronounced k’mran. This class of examples would require qubit to be pronounced k’bit.It may be quixotic (but certainly not Qxotic) to try to correct the spelling of an entire community, but I owe it my best shot. What else is retirement good for?REFERENCESSection:ChooseTop of pageREFERENCES <<1. N. D. Mermin, Quantum Computer Science: An Introduction, Cambridge U. Press, New York (2007), p. 3. Google ScholarCrossref2. Ref. 1, p. 4. Google Scholar3. N. D. Mermin, It’s About Time: Understanding Einstein’s Relativity, Princeton U. Press, Princeton, NJ (2005), p. 22. Google Scholar© 2008 American Institute of Physics.

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Life and Mind, Past and Future:Schrödinger's Vision Fifty Years Later Avshalom C. Elitzur Avshalom C. Elitzur Department of Chemical Physics, The Weizmann Institute of Science, 76100 Rehovot, Israel References 1. SCHRÖDINGER, E. What is Life? The Physical Aspect of the Living Cell. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1945. Google Scholar 2. PERUTZ, M. F. Physics and the riddles of life. Nature 326:555-558, 1987. Google Scholar 3. PERUTZ, M. F. Erwin Schrödinger's What is Life? and molecular biology. In Schrödinger: Centenary Celebration of a Polymath, edited by C. W. KILMISTER. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1987. Google Scholar 4. PAULING, L. Schrödinger's contribution to chemistry and biology. In Schrödinger: Centenary Celebration of a Polymath, edited by C. W. KILMISTER. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1987. Google Scholar 5. YOCKEY, H. P. Information Theory and Molecular Biology. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1992. Google Scholar 6. LEFF, S. H. and REX, A. F. Maxwell's Demon: Entropy, Information, Computing. Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press, 1990. Google Scholar 7. PENROSE, R. The Emperor's New Mind: Concerning Computers, Minds, and the Laws of Physics. New York: Vintage, 1989. Google Scholar 8. BRILLOUIN, L. Scientific Uncertainty, and Information. New York: Academic Press, 1964. Google Scholar 9. ELITZUR, A. C. Let there be life: Thermodynamic reflections on biogenesis and evolution. J. Theor. Biol. 168, 1994 (forthcoming). Google Scholar 10. EIGEN, M. Steps towards Life: A Perspective on Evolution. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 1992. Google Scholar 11. VON NEUMANN, J. Theory of Self-Reproducing Automata. Urbana, Ill.: Univ. of Illinois Press, 1966. Google Scholar 12. ELITZUR, A. C. Is there no information in thermodynamics? A book review of Information Theory and Molecular Biology by H. P. Yockey (1992). Contemp. Phys. 34, 1994 (forthcoming). Google Scholar 13. LIFSON, S. Autocatalysis, natural selection, life and its origin. Preprint, Dept. of Chemical Physics, The Weizmann Institute of Science, 1994. Google Scholar 14. SMITH, T. F., and MOROWITZ, H. J. Between history and physics. J. Molec. Evol. 18:265-282, 1982. Google Scholar 15. WEBER, B. H.; DEPEW, D. J.; DYKE, C.; et al. Evolution in thermodynamic perspective: An ecological approach. Biol, and Philos. 4:373-405, 1989. Google Scholar 16. ORGEL, L. Molecular replication. Nature 358:203-209, 1992. Google Scholar 17. SCHNEIDER, E. D. Thermodynamics, ecological succession, and natural selection: A common thread. In Entropy, Information, and Evolution, edited by B. H. WEBER, D. J. DEPEW, and J. D. SMITH. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1988. Google Scholar 18. ROBERTSON, D. S. Feedback theory and Darwinian evolution. J. Theor. Biol. 152:469-484, 1991. Google Scholar 19. STUART, C. I. J. M. Physical models of biological information and adaptation. J. Theor. Biol. 113:441-454, 1985. Google Scholar 20. STUART, C. I. J. M. Bio-informational equivalence. J. Theor. Biol. 113:611-636, 1985. Google Scholar 21. DENEUNBOURG, J. L.; GOSS, S.; BECKERS, R.; and SANDINI, G. Collectively self-solving problems. In Self-Organization, Emerging Properties, and Learning, edited by A. BABLOYANTZ. NATO ASI Series B-260. New York: Plenum, 1991. Google Scholar 22. LORENZ, K. The Other Side of the Mirror. New York: Harcourt, 1973. Google Scholar 23. WYNNE-EDWARDS, V. C. Animal Dispersion in Relation to Social Behavior. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd, 1962. Google Scholar 24. MAYR, E. The Growth of Biological Thought: Diversity, Evolution, and Inheritance. Cambridge: Harvard Univ. Press, 1982. Google Scholar 25. HESCHL, A. L = C: A simple equation with astonishing consequences. J. Theor. Biol. 145:13-40, 1990. Google Scholar 26. WUKETITS, F. M. Evolution and cognition: Paradigms, perspectives, problems. Evol. and Cognition 1:1-29, 1991. Google Scholar 27. POPPER, K. R. Objective Knowledge: An Evolutionary Approach. Oxford: Clarendon, 1972. Google Scholar 28. DEWDNEY, A. K. The Armchair Universe: An Exploration of Computer Universes. New York: Freeman, 1988. Google Scholar 29. HOLLAND, J. H. Genetic algorithms. Sci. Am. 267(1):44-50, 1992. Google Scholar 30. HIRATA, H. Information of organization...
1. Introduction C. W. Kilmister 2. Boltzmann's influence on Schrodinger Dieter Flamm 3. Schrodinger's original interpretation of the Schrodinger equation: a rescue attempt Jon Dorling 4. Are there quantum jumps? J. S. Bell 5. Square root of minus one, complex phases and Erwin Schrodinger Chen Ning Yung 6. Consequences of the Schrodinger equation for atomic and molecular physics W. E. Thirring 7. Molecular dynamics: from H + H, to biomolecules Martin Karplus 8. Orbital presentation of chemical reactions Kenichi Fukui 9. Quantum chemistry A. D. Buckingham 10. Eamon de Valera, Erwin Schrodinger and the Dublin Institute Sir William McCrea 11. Do bosons condense? J. T. Lewis 12. Schrodinger's nonlinear optics James McConnell 13. Schrodinger's unified field theory seen 40 years later O. Hittmair 14. The Schrodinger equation of the Universe S. W. Hawking 15. Overview of particle physics A. Salam 16. Gauge fields, topological defects and cosmology T. W. B. Kibble 17. Quantum theory and astronomy M. J. Seaton 18. Schrodinger's contributions to chemistry and biology Linus Pawling 19. Erwin Schrodinger's What is Life? and molecular biology M. F. Perutz.
E. Schroedinger - a bibliographical sketch. Part 1 Physics in the philosophical system of Erwin Schroedinger: Erwin Schroedinger and the philosophy of the physicists holistic aspects of the Schrodinger equation Schroedinger's cat and the interpretation of quantum mechanics the Schroedinger function of macroscopic systems. Part 2 Life sciences and the theories of self in Erwin Schroedinger's philosophical system: Schroedinger's negentropy concept and biology determination and self-organization - Erwin Schroedinger's views on chance Schroedinger, the self and the genes Erwin Schroedinger and his contribution to a new understanding of living systems. Part 3 Erwin Schroedinger's world view and his philosophical system: on the scientific and humanistic thinking of Erwin Schroedinger during his last years Erwin Schroedinger as historian - notes towards an interpretation Erwin Schroedinger's position in the Einstein-Bohr debate the notion of consciousness in Schroedinger's philosophy of nature remembering Schroedinger the study of nature and the emergence of world view - philosophical reflections on E. Schreodinger's approach.
Schrödinger's influence in almost every field of science is still felt. He was a man who single-handedly reshaped thinking in cosmology, wave mechanics, statistical mechanics, unified field theories, theoretical chemistry and molecular biology. In this volume, which was prepared in 1987 to celebrate the centenary of Schrödinger's birth, leading figures in all these fields have collaborated to produce this carefully integrated and edited survey of the man and his science. Some of the contributions are biographical in nature, revealing much about the character of the man. Others deal with modern-day theories in different fields of science in which Schrödinger worked and his influence in those areas.
Sadri Hassani, in his Commentary, laments the fact that many of America’s top-tier medical schools “house centers of integrative health.” He singles out Explore, a peer-reviewed journal I serve as executive editor, for special criticism because we published “Manifesto for a post-materialist science,” which, he says, “elevates parapsychology and near-death experience to the rank of quantum theory.”That article had nothing to do with equating those areas to the scientific status of quantum theory. However, Hassani appears unfamiliar with developments in which quantum physical concepts such as nonlocality and entanglement have been shown to occur in biological systems. That, we believe, indicates some as-yet-undefined degree of overlap between biomedical science and quantum physics. As physicist Vlatko Vedral states in his 2011 article “Living in a quantum world”:Quantum mechanics is not just about teeny particles. It applies to things of all sizes: birds, plants, maybe even people….… Until the past decade, experimentalists had not confirmed that quantum behavior persists on a macroscopic scale. Today, however, they routinely do.11. V. Vedral, Sci. Am., June 2011, p. 38, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/living-in-a-quantum-world/.Until the origin, manifestations, and nature of consciousness—science’s greatest mystery—are resolved, we shall continue to examine those topics at Explore with the same openness advocated by some of the greatest patriarchs of modern physics, including Max Planck, the founder of quantum mechanics, who said,I regard consciousness as fundamental. I regard matter as derivative from consciousness. We cannot get behind consciousness. Everything that we talk about, everything that we regard as existing, postulates consciousness.22. J. W. N. Sullivan, Observer, 25 January 1931, p. 17.And Nobel physicist Erwin Schrödinger said,Although I think that life may be the result of an accident, I do not think that of consciousness. Consciousness cannot be accounted for in physical terms. For consciousness is absolutely fundamental. It cannot be accounted for in terms of anything else.33. W. Moore, A Life of Erwin Schrödinger, Canto edition, Cambridge U. Press (1994), p. 181.REFERENCESSection:ChooseTop of pageREFERENCES <<1. V. Vedral, Sci. Am., June 2011, p. 38, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/living-in-a-quantum-world/. Google ScholarCrossref, ISI2. J. W. N. Sullivan, Observer, 25 January 1931, p. 17. Google Scholar3. W. Moore, A Life of Erwin Schrödinger, Canto edition, Cambridge U. Press (1994), p. 181. Google Scholar© 2016 American Institute of Physics.
Mermin replies: The enticing arguments that Dave Bacon tries so well to refute were not in my Reference Frame columns, which I’m delighted he enjoyed. The point is put best in my new book, 1 1. N. D. Mermin, Quantum Computer Science: An Introduction, Cambridge U. Press, New York (2007), p. 3. where I also note that q-bit would indeed be better than Qbit, were it not that common expressions such as 2-Qbit gate fail to work when written in the form 2-q-bit gate. To solve the problem, I drop Dirac’s hyphen but put Q in uppercase (which the qbit Bacon wrongly attributes to me does not) to emphasize that it functions as the name of a letter and not as part of another grotesquely spelled word. Qbit for the quantum object parallels the equally important Cbit for the classical object (clbit would be ridiculous). The capitalization convention gives rise to the useful term Bit, which refers collectively to both kinds of physical objects, as opposed to bit, which refers only to a number that can be 0 or 1.I agree with Bacon that qubit has achieved its current status because of its spurious resemblance to cubit, 2 2. Ref. 1, p. 4. but I do not agree that the foot deserves to die. It should be redefined 5 millimeters downward to a light nanosecond 3 3. N. D. Mermin, It’s About Time: Understanding Einstein’s Relativity, Princeton U. Press, Princeton, NJ (2005), p. 22. a couple of years after our backward nation finally goes metric, which I confidently expect to happen in a century or two.Setting aside the fact that transliterations of foreign proper nouns notoriously violate all kinds of rules, I note that Qumran is pronounced k’mran. This class of examples would require qubit to be pronounced k’bit.It may be quixotic (but certainly not Qxotic) to try to correct the spelling of an entire community, but I owe it my best shot. What else is retirement good for?REFERENCESSection:ChooseTop of pageREFERENCES <<1. N. D. Mermin, Quantum Computer Science: An Introduction, Cambridge U. Press, New York (2007), p. 3. Google ScholarCrossref2. Ref. 1, p. 4. Google Scholar3. N. D. Mermin, It’s About Time: Understanding Einstein’s Relativity, Princeton U. Press, Princeton, NJ (2005), p. 22. Google Scholar© 2008 American Institute of Physics.