Lynden-Bell R.M., Morris S.C, Barrow J.D., Finney J.L. (Eds.) Water and Life: The Unique Properties of H2O

Taylor and Francis Group, LLC., 2010. – 396 p. – ISBN: 1439803560.Reflecting a rich technical and interdisciplinary exchange of ideas, Water and Life: The Unique Properties of H20 focuses on the properties of water and its interaction with life. The book develops a variety of approaches that help to illuminate ways in which to address deeper questions with respect to the nature of the universe and our place within it.
Grouped in five broad parts, this collection examines the arguments of Lawrence J. Henderson and other scholars on the "fitness" of water for life as part of the physical and chemical properties of nature considered as a foundational environment within which life has emerged and evolved. Leading authorities delve into a range of themes and questions that span key areas of ongoing debate and uncertainty. They draw from the fields of chemistry, biology, biochemistry, planetary and earth sciences, physics, astronomy, and their subspecialties. Several chapters also deal with humanistic disciplines, such as the history of science and theology, to provide additional perspectives.
Bringing together highly esteemed researchers from multidisciplinary fields, this volume addresses fundamental questions relating to the possible role of water in the origin of life in the cosmos. It supports readers in their own explorations of the origin and meaning of life and the role of water in maintaining life.This Strange S Part ubstance Called “Water”
Is Water an Amniotic Eden or a Corrosive Hell? Emerging Perspectives on the Strangest Fluid in the Universe
Water and Life: Friend or Foe?
An Introduction to the Properties of Water: Which Might Be Critical to Biological Processes?
Water as a Biomolecule
Water’s Hydrogen Bond Strength
The Specific Properties of Water — How and Why Water Is Eccentric
Properties of Liquids Made from Modified Water Models
Understanding the Unusual Properties of Water
Counterfactual Quantum Chemistry of Water
Properties of Nanoconfined Water
Water in Biochemistry
Water: Constraining Biological Chemistry and the Origin of Life
Fine-Tuning and Small Differences between Large Numbers
Fine-Tuning Protein Stability
Water and Information
Counterfactual Biomolecular Physics: Protein Folding and Molecular Recognition in Water and Other Fluid Environments
Water, the Solar System, and the Origin of Life
Chapter 15. Sources of Terrestrial and Martian Water
Water: The Tough-Love Parent of Life
What Is the Diversity of Life in the Cosmos?
The Primordial Bubble: Water, Symmetry-Breaking, and the Origin of Life
Liquids, Biopolymers, and Evolvability: Case Studies in Counterfactual Water- Life
Water–The Human Dimension
Some Early Responses to the Special Properties of Water
Lawrence Henderson’s Natural Teleology
Water: A Navigable Channel from Science to God?