SCHRODINGER'S book ''What is life?'' was highly influential on the gen
eration of post war scientists in the late 1940ies. It, however, not o
nly suggested a particular line of research but marked out a particula
r way to deal with the essential questions of biology. Hereby, SCHRODI
NGER focussed interests on genetics. Up to now, a detailed discussion
of the implications of his theoretical framework for molecular biology
is missing.