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Tables of Contents for The Touchstone of Life
Chapter/Section Title
Page #
Page Count
Acknowledgments
xiii
Introduction
xv
PART ONE. INFORMATION AND THE ORIGINS OF LIFE
1
110
Information and Organisms
3
16
Maxwell's Demon
3
3
What Is Information?
6
3
The Information-Entropy Trade-Off
9
3
The Act of a Molecular Demon
12
1
How the Molecular Demons in Organisms Gather Information
13
2
Organisms Are Densely Packed with Information
15
1
The Law that Rules It All
16
3
The Cosmic Origins of Information
19
9
The Bigger Picture of Organizations
19
1
The Universal Quartet of Forces and Its Soloist in Molecular Organization
19
3
Origins
22
2
The Elusive Wellspring of Information
24
1
Debut of the Cosmic Quartet
25
3
The Growth of the Cosmic Inheritance on Earth
28
26
From Symmetric to Asymmetric Molecules
28
3
The Advantages of Molecular Complementarity
31
1
The Animated Moment: The Begetting of Information Circularity
32
1
A Synoptic View of the Beginnings
33
1
The Lively Twig of the Cosmic Tree
34
2
The Missing Hand: A Phylogenetic Mystery
36
3
The Hobson's Choice of Molecular Evolution
39
1
Chance and Determinism
40
2
The Retreat of Scientific Determinism: Deterministic Chaos
42
2
The Randomness that Contains Information
44
1
A Farewell to Arms
45
1
Molecular Organization from Chaos
45
3
The New Alchemy and the First Stirrings in the Twiglet of the Cosmic Tree
48
3
A Question of Time
51
3
From Energy to Bonds to Molecular Information: The Information/Entropy Balancing Act
54
7
How to Pull the Information Rabbit from the Cosmic Hat
54
1
A Simple Organic Genesis
55
1
The Energy for Organizing Molecules with High-Information Content Must Be Supplied in Small Doses
56
1
The Energy Flux Nursing Biomolecular Organization
57
2
Light into Bonds into Information
59
2
The Three-Dimensional Carriers of Biological Information
61
18
Slam-Bang Is No Substitute for Information
61
1
The Molecular Jigs
62
3
Information Is Transferred from Molecule to Molecule by Weak and Strong Electromagnetic Interactions
65
2
Molecular Relays: The Foolproof Genies
67
3
The Molecular Machines for Coherent Transfer of Information
70
1
The Proteus Stuff
71
1
Transmission of Information by Weak Forces Hinges on Goodness of Molecular Fit
72
1
Weak Forces Are Good for Da Capos in Information Transfer: The Useful Nook in Interacting Atomic Fields
73
1
Why Proteins Do Not Run Out of Wit
74
3
The Recharging of the Protein Demons
77
1
The Limits of Biological Demons and Demon Watchers
78
1
The Growth of Biological Information
79
32
How Sloppy Demons Save Information
79
1
Chemical Performance Guides the Selection of Molecular Complementarity in the Laboratory of Evolution
80
1
An Evolutionary Hypothesis of Conservative Selection
81
1
An Evolutionary Thought Experiment
82
6
The Game of Chance and Savvy
88
1
The Why and Wherefore of the Conservative Selection
88
1
The Principle of Evolutionary Information Economy
89
3
Keeping Things in the Family of Adam and Eve Has Its Advantages
92
1
The Vestiges of Ancient Information
93
1
The First Commandment of Evolution
94
1
Rolling Uphill
95
1
The Basic Loop
96
2
Why Mutations Don't Rub Off Folded Molecular Structures
98
1
And Why They Rub Off Linear Structures
99
2
Mutatis Mutandis
101
1
Cybernetic Loops and the Mass Capture of Photon Information
102
1
The Indispensable Insulator for Natural Selection
103
1
Natural Selection Is Not a Gentle Game
103
1
The Garden of Eden
104
4
The Oldest Circus on Earth
108
3
PART TWO. INFORMATION FLOW INSIDE CELLS
111
54
The Two Information Realms
113
27
The Flip Sides of Information: Life's Two Realms
113
2
The Two Major Information Streams
115
2
The Quintessence of Conservation of Information: DNA
117
4
The Information Subsidy for DNA Replication and Error Correction
121
1
Information Is Pumped into DNA as It Leaks Out
122
1
The Spooling of the Golden Thread
123
1
Cells Know More Than They Let On
124
1
DNA's Various Information Tiers
125
2
The DNA Transform Pro Tempore
127
1
The First-Tier Code
127
1
The Genetic Code
128
4
Transcription
132
1
Splicing
133
2
The Genie that Dances to Its Own Tune
135
2
A Punishment that Fits the Crime
137
1
How to Bridge the Information Gap
138
2
The Game of Seek and Find
140
25
Seek and Find
140
1
How to Keep Molecular Information Broadcasts under Wraps
141
1
The Virtues of Molecular Coherence
142
1
The Transfiguration Called Biological Specificity
143
1
The Maturing of Biological Communication
144
1
How Biological Systems Break the Fetters of Quantum Chemistry
145
1
The Creative Kaleidoscope
146
2
The Paradox of the Progressive Reactionary
148
1
What If the Cellular Information Stream Ran Backward?
149
2
The Elusive Second Wheel of Change
151
1
Can Organisms Promote Useful Mutations?
152
2
The Solid-State Apparatus at the Headgates of the Mainstream
154
1
Three Protein Designs for Tapping Positional Information from DNA
154
2
What Do Proteins See Where They Plug into the DNA?
156
2
If the Mountain Will Not Come to Mahomet...
158
1
The Multiplex Adaptor
159
2
Supramolecular Organization Out of Molecular Hum
161
2
A Ledger for Supramolecular Information
163
2
PART THREE. INFORMATION FLOW BETWEEN CELLS
165
158
Rules of the Intercellular Communication Game
167
34
The End of the Cell Era: The Merger of Circuses
167
2
The Innards of the Cell Membrane
169
3
Strategies for Breaching the Membrane Barrier
172
2
The Bare Bones of Intercellular Communication
174
1
The Intercellular Communication Channels
175
3
The Imperturbable Biological Signal Stuff
178
1
``Nature's Sole Mistake''
179
2
How to Get a Message Through a Noisy Channel: The Second Theorem
181
1
The Virtues of Redundant Small Talk
182
2
What Is a Code?
184
2
Why There Are No Double-Entendres in Biological Communications
186
2
The Question of the Origin of Natural Codes
188
2
The Why and Wherefore of Encoding
190
2
What Can We Learn from Game Theory?
192
2
The Master Demons of Intercellular Communication
194
2
The Game of Seek and Find in the Membrane
196
1
The Communications Between Cells Are Lean in Information But Rich in Meaning
197
1
How to Pull the Strings of a Cell
198
1
Telecontrol
199
2
The Broadcasting of Cellular Information
201
49
The Begetting of Social Graces
201
1
The ``Emanations from Organs''
201
2
The Pervasive Messengers
203
1
Tango a Trois
204
3
The Transfer of Steroid Hormone Information
207
1
The DNA Multiplex and Remote Gene Control
207
2
The Rise of a Demon
209
1
The Intercellular Functions of the DNA Multiplex
210
1
Demons with an Esprit de Corps
211
2
A Smoke Signal
213
3
Cyclic AMP
216
2
From Hunger Signal to Inter-Circus Signal
218
1
The Information Relays in the Cell Membrane
218
2
The Alpha Demon
220
1
The Alpha Merry-Go-Round
221
2
The G-Show Libretto
223
2
Crescendos
225
1
The Cast of Characters
226
1
Ion Channels as Maxwell Demons
227
3
How to Make Signals from Informational Chicken Feed
230
6
A Small Ion with Cachet: The Calcium Signal
236
2
Signal Mopping: An Economical Cure for Cross Talk
238
3
The Shoo-in Called Calcium
241
1
A Streamlined G-Map
242
1
T Junctions and Organismic Harmony
243
2
Snapshots of Two T Demons
245
4
The G-Pathway in Synopsis
249
1
Intercellular Communication Cheek-by-Jowl
250
13
Membrane Hot Spots: The Syncretic Communication Unit
251
2
The Case for Syncretic Communication
253
2
How Syncretic Information Flows
255
2
The Information-Crossover Gambit
257
4
Metamorphosis
261
2
Intercellular Communication Via Channels in the Cell Membrane
263
43
The Cell-to-Cell Channels
263
1
How They Form
264
4
How Cells Are Excommunicated and When
268
2
How to Achieve Control in One's Birthday Suit
270
1
The Channel Shutter
271
2
A Channel Yin-Yang
273
1
What Goes Through the Cell-Cell Channels
274
2
Viewing the Signals Through the Looking Glass of Game Theory
276
2
How Cell Communities Stay on an Even Keel
278
1
E Pluribus Unum
278
4
How to Ferret Out the Functions of a Channel
282
1
The Regulation of Cellular Growth
282
3
The Cellcosm-in-the-Dish
285
1
How Do Cells Know Their Number?
286
2
Parlez Vous Cellulaise?
288
1
Where Canalicular Communication Holds the Trump Card
289
1
A Model of Growth Control for Small Cell Populations
290
3
A Model for Large Cell Populations
293
3
Controls for Two Seasons
296
1
λ Determines Cellular Growth
297
1
What Is Cancer?
298
2
λ Is Reduced in Cancer
300
1
A Cancer Cure in the Test Tube
301
1
Our First Line of Defense
302
2
A Ray of Hope
304
2
Neuronal Communication, Neuronal Computation, and Conscious Thought
306
17
Neuronal Communication and Computation
306
3
Consciousness
309
2
Quantum Coherence
311
3
Quantum Computations?
314
4
Two Worlds Unbridged
318
5
PART FOUR. THE SCIENCE OF THE PECULIAR
323
12
How Can You Explain So Wise an Old Bird in a Few Words?
325
10
An Occam's Razor for Biology
326
1
The Mistress We Can Live Without
326
2
The Arduous Minuet
328
1
The Processing of Information Called Science
329
2
The Limits of Scientific Knowledge
331
4
Epilogue
335
2
Appendix. A Brief Chronicle of ``Information''
337
4
The Form-Giving Principle
337
1
The Tribulations of the Two Great Laws
338
1
The Ripening of an Afterthought
338
3
Recommended Reading
341
3
References
344
16
Index
360