Single-Molecule Spectroscopy Illuminating the Molecular Dynamics of Life

This chapter summarizes a series of new single-molecule spectroscopy investigations in the life sciences at Cornell University that began with our invention of Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy (FCS) about 1970. Our invention of FCS became my first focus on the "Molecular Dynamics of Life." It motivated my transition from research on quantum fluctuations and transport in condensed matter physics including superconductivity and in the molecular dynamics of coherent fluctuations and nano-transport in inanimate physical and chemical systems subject to the nonlinear dynamics of continuous phase transitions. These interdisciplinary transitions exemplify the productivity of such interdisciplinary interactions in science.