Mind from matter: An essay on evolutionary epistemology

How was it possible for that thing we call `mind' to come into being? If natural selection applies, how did the evolutionary process give rise to minds capable of profound insights into mathematics, the structure of matter and the nature of life itself? How could the capacity for knowing and understanding have grown out of inert matter? In this book Max Delbrck calls upon his unusual career in physics and later in biology to analyse these fundamental questions. He traces organic evolution from bacteria to man, and explains how biochemistry, genetics and molecular biology have done so much to advance our understanding of that process. Professor Delbruck was honoured with the Nobel Prize in 1969 for his pioneering studies in viral genetics. After his death in 1981, this manuscript was completed by his collaborators.