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    The Equations of Life: How Physics Shapes Evolution
    Unavailable
    The Equations of Life: How Physics Shapes Evolution
    Unavailable
    The Equations of Life: How Physics Shapes Evolution
    Audiobook11 hours

    The Equations of Life: How Physics Shapes Evolution

    Written by Charles S. Cockell

    Narrated by Ian Porter

    4/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    We are all familiar with the popular idea that strange alien life is wildly different from life on Earth. Maybe it's made of silicon! Maybe it has wheels! Or maybe it doesn't.

    In The Equations of Life, biologist Charles S. Cockell makes the forceful argument that the laws of physics narrowly constrain how life can evolve, making evolution's outcomes predictable. If we were to find something very much like a lady bug eating something very much like an aphid on a distant planet, we shouldn't be surprised. The forms of life are guided by a limited set of rules, and, as a result, there is a narrow set of solutions to the challenges of existence.

    A remarkable scientific contribution breathing new life into Darwin's theory of evolution, The Equations of Life makes a radical argument about what life can—and can't—be.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDreamscape Media Audio
    Release dateJun 19, 2018
    ISBN9781974900855
    Unavailable
    The Equations of Life: How Physics Shapes Evolution
    Author

    Charles S. Cockell

    Charles S. Cockell is a professor of astrobiology at the University of Edinburgh and the director of the UK Centre for Astrobiology. He lives in Edinburgh.

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    • 3/5
      Is biology universal?Sitting under my rock as I do, I had no idea there were astrobiologists. For a couple of decades now, apparently. One of them, Charles Cockell has written a book called The Equations of Life. Not only does it examine extraterrestrial life, but it firmly places physics underlying all of biology. Biology is totally dependent on physics.Every lifeform seems to work along basic principles of physics or quantum physics. It’s all about processing electrons for their energy. The basic building blocks of life, amino acids, sugars and fatty acids are apparently raining down on planets all over the universe. Asteroids transport them. And water, which we like to think is our extraordinary trump card, is found commonly all over. The ingredients for life are everywhere. So there must be life out there, and there must be work for astrobiologists.Cockell finds that life is pretty much going to be carbon-based, regardless of the planet or galaxy. Silicon-based life is possible, for example, but is just unlikely because of silicon’s inherent weaknesses. Silicon-based life is probably doomed to be primitive. Carbon however, is not only everywhere, it binds with everything appropriate to life. It’s the odds-on favorite for creating life. And will win the Darwinian battle.The book takes a very long time to get to the good stuff. There is a lengthy examination of the ladybug, and how its wings and legs express physics equations. There is an in-depth examination of anthills and the sociology of their builders. These are interspersed with physics equations, partially explained, barely applied, and skippable. There is a great deal of basic biology and chemistry, including a long discourse on the periodic table. It is, despite Cockell’s efforts, rather flat.Back in outer space, we do not know if the DNA/RNA system is universal, or how a DNA/RNA mutation system might perform in other environments, gravities, atmospheres, climates and seasons. But at the physics level, it is easier to predict. It’s the relationship of atmosphere to gravity to body mass that dictates it. This does not limit lifeforms; it enhances variations. Anything is possible, as long as it obeys the laws of physics. So, Cockell says, if there were a small planet with lesser gravity, and a thicker atmosphere, the top animals might be flying beings of human size. Maybe they wouldn’t have invented the automobile and burnt up all the carbon. Maybe they’d have really advanced flying machines. That’s the fun part of astrobiology. There is far too little of it in The Equations of Life.Meanwhile, back on Earth, while we can’t say biology is universal right now, we can say that physics is. Everything that acts can be reduced to an equation. Is that good news. or what?David Wineberg