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
European Physical Journal D European Physical Journal D The European Physical Journal D: Atomic, Molecular, Optical and Plasma Physics is an academic journal recognized by the European Physical Society, presenting new and original research results. The main areas covered are: The range of topics covered in these areas is extensive, from Molecular Interaction and Reactivity to Spectroscopy and Thermodynamics of Clusters, from Atomic Optics to Bose-Einstein Condensation to Femtochemistry. The EPJ D arose from various predecessors: "Il Nuovo Cimento (Section D)", "Journal de Physique", and "Zeitschrift für Physik D". Prior to 1998, this journal was named "Zeitschrift für Physik D: Atoms, Molecules and Clusters".