A Chronological Journey Through History's Most Influential 'What Is' Works
By Elena Rostova
In February 1943, Austrian theoretical physicist Erwin Schrödinger walked into Trinity College, Dublin, to deliver a series of public lectures before an audience of roughly 400 people. Dublin was neutral during the Second World War, offering Schrödinger sanctuary after he fled Nazi-annexed Austria. The resulting 1944 book, What Is Life? The Physical Aspect of the Living Cell, took a physicist’s analytical lens to biological phenomena. Schrödinger asked a straightforward question: How can events inside a living organism be accounted for by physics and chemistry?
At the time, biologists knew chromosomes carried heredity, but the underlying physical mechanism remained completely obscure. Most researchers suspected complex proteins handled the transfer. Schrödinger proposed that genetic information resided within what he termed an "aperiodic crystal", a non-repeating molecular structure capable of encoding vast amounts of data without collapsing into thermodynamic equilibrium.
The book’s impact was swift and profound. Francis Crick and James Watson both explicitly credited Schrödinger’s short volume as the decisive catalyst that turned their attention away from pure physics and toward molecular biology, culminating in their 1953 structural model of DNA. By demanding a mechanical answer to an existential inquiry, Schrödinger proved that an elemental question could reorient the trajectory of modern science.
Elena Rostova holds a Master's degree in Public Health Journalism. She covers groundbreaking medical research, holistic wellness trends, mental health awareness, and nutritional science.
