The realm of molecules Book

	Introduction	7
I	From inanimate to the living	25
	At the heart of inanimate matter	25
	At the heart of living matter	29
	The cell: a chemical factory	32
	The heredity lottery	38
	Our molecular selves	43
II	Quanta: from atoms to molecules	45
	Wave-particle duality and energy quanta	45
	Niels Bohr's atom	51
	Quantum mechanics and the atom	54
	About precision	57
	Quantum images of chemical bonds	60
	The color of molecules	70
	A quantum theory of chemical reactions	76
	A quantum theory of intermolecular forces	85
	The reactivity of conjugated molecules	88
III	The quantum molecular sciences in biology and medicine	95
	The structure of proteins and nucleic acids	95
	Membrane receptors and brain function	97
	The action of antibiotics	103
	The origin of cancer cells	107
	The AIDS virus	112
	Conclusion: The dance of the molecules	119
	Can we control these molecules	120
	The quantum sciences and the arts	124
	Bibliography	131