Introduction 



THE question "What is Life?" is undoubtedly 

 the most fundamentally important problem of 

 science. In seeking its answer, an enormous amount 

 of information has been gained in regard to life 

 processes, but the basic question is still unanswered. 

 In fact, the very complexity and wealth of infor- 

 mation about life processes have dispelled hope of any 

 easy or simple solution of the central problem "What 

 is Life?" It is to be expected, therefore, that any 

 suggestion of an answer to this question should 

 meet with skepticism. And, in the nature of the 

 case, such an answer can at best be but an hy- 

 pothesis, since there are no scientific observations 

 which are believed to strike sufficiently near the 

 roots of the problem of life to justify any claims to 

 certainty. The utmost that can be demanded is 

 that any attempt to answer the question should be 

 a good working hypothesis, susceptible of test, and 

 not inconsistent with well established facts and 

 scientific principles. 



7 



TyV 



