TABLE OF CONTENTS In keeping with our philosophy of explaining more complex phenomena in terms of simpler phenomena and the components that help explain the phenomena, we will now begin to explore the molecules that are essential to life. Understanding the molecules of life requires an understanding of chemical bonding, polymers, and ultimately, liquid crystals. Clearly, this is an active research area, and this chapter, the last chapter in this section on materials, provides only the briefest of introductions. We will begin to address the following questions:
Why are even the simplest living organisms so difficult to study?
What molecules are especially important to life?
What are the chemical structures of these molecules?
What types of chemical bonds exist in these molecules that make them biologically active?
Why is water so critical to life?
How does the structure of these molecules influence their function?
