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
Letters in Mathematical Physics Letters in Mathematical Physics Letters in Mathematical Physics is a peer-reviewed scientific journal in mathematical physics published by Springer Science+Business Media. It publishes letters and longer research articles, occasionally also articles containing topical reviews. It is essentially a platform for the rapid dissemination of short contributions in the field of mathematical physics. In addition, the journal publishes contributions to modern mathematics in fields which have a potential physical application, and developments in theoretical physics which have potential mathematical impact. The editors are Volker Bach, Edward Frenkel, Maxim Kontsevich, Dirk Kreimer, Nikita Nekrasov, Massimo Porrati, and Daniel Sternheimer. The following services