Manfred Eigen was born in Bochum, Germany in 1927, and began his rerearch career at Gottingen in 1945. In 1967 he won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for work on extremely fast chemical reactions. His work on chemistry, biochemistry and physics has been recognised throughout the world with honorary doctorates, prizes, and awards that include the Linus Pauling Medal (American Chemical Society, 1967), the Austrian Decoration for Arts and Sciences (1976), the Faraday Medal (Chemical Society, London, 1977), Max Planck Research Award (1994), the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Institute of Human Virology, Baltimore, USA (2005), and the Goethe Medal of the Goethe Society, Weimar (2007).

• 1. Matter and Energy ; 2. Energy and Entropy ; 3. Entropy and Information ; 4. Information and Complexity ; 5. Complexity and Self-Organisation ; Appendix to Chapter 1 ; Appendix to Chapter 2 ; Appendix to Chapter 3 ; Appendix to Chapter 4 ; Appendix to Chapter 5

A very special, fascinating and unique book. It is difficult to imagine a reader who would not learn something new and deep in this book. The book constitutes a true tour de force [and] would definitely be of broad interest to the general public, students, professors, scientists, and those with a sufficient science background who are interested in current, state-of-the-art science.