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Until the mid 1800s it was not clear to what extent the laws of physics and chemistry, which were formulated from the observed behavior of inanimate matter, could be applied to living matter. It was certainly evident that on the large scale the laws were applicable. Animals are clearly subject to the same laws of motion as inanimate objects. The question of applicability arose on a more basic level. Living organisms are very complex. Even a virus, which is one of the simplest biological organisms, consists of millions of interacting atoms. A cell, which is the basic building block of tissue, contains on the average 1014 atoms.