What Is Life? published in 1944. At that time DNA was not yet accepted as the carrier of hereditary information, which only was the case after the Hershey–Chase experiment of 1952. One of the most successful branches of physics at this time was statistical physics, and quantum mechanics, a theory which is also very statistical in its nature. Schrödinger himself is one of the founding fathers of quantum mechanics. Max Delbrück's thinking about the physical basis of life was an important influence on Schrödinger. However, long before the publication of "What is Life?", geneticist and 1946 Nobel-prize winner H. J. Muller had in
Physics of failure Physics of failure Physics of failure is a technique under the practice of Design for Reliability that leverages the knowledge and understanding of the processes and mechanisms that induce failure to predict reliability and improve product performance. Other definitions of Physics of Failure include: The concept of Physics of Failure, also known as Reliability Physics, involved the use of degradation algorithms that describe how physical, chemical, mechanical, thermal, or electrical mechanisms evolve over time and eventually induce failure. While the concept of Physics of Failure is common in many structural fields, the specific branding evolved from an attempt to better