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
Preparation (physics) Preparation (physics) Generally, measuring instruments are meant to get the (pre-)existent value of a physical quantity of a system with as little change of, or interaction with the system as possible. — If a measuring instrument fixes a physical quantity of a physical system for further use (post-existent), then the measurement process is called preparation. For example, a graduated cylinder filled to a definite mark prepares a certain volume of the liquid for further use. Though preparation measures a physical quantity — at least by fixing it — it often destroys previous states of the physical system. This is usually