Life Ascending [Paperback]

 

 

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"This book is about the greatest inventions of evolution [where invention does NOT imply a deliberate inventor], how each one transformed the living world, and how we humans have learned to read this past...It is a celebration of life's marvellous inventiveness...It is...the long story of how we came to be here--the milestones along the epic journey from the origin of life to our own lives and deaths. It is a book grand in scope. We shall span the lengths and breadths of life, from its very origins in deep-sea vents to human consciousness, from tiny bacteria to giant dinosaurs. We shall span the sciences, from geology and chemistry to neuroimaging, from quantum physics to planetary science. And we shall span the range of human achievement...

My list of [ten] inventions is subjective...and could have been different; but I did apply four criteria [that the author outlines] which I think restrict the choice [of inventions] considerably to a few seminal events in life's history...Beyond these...formal criteria, each invention had to catch my own imagination."

The above comes form the introduction of this extraordinarily interesting book by biochemist and author Nick Lane. He is a biochemist at University College, London, England.

This book is a treasure trove of past, recent, and new scientific knowledge. And the writing is superb. A book like this could have been dry and boring. But the writing is so good that this never occurs. For example, here is a writing sample from the chapter on sex:

"If sex is an occupational folly, an existential absurdity, then not having sex is even worse, for it leads in most cases to extinction, non-existential absurdity. And so there must be advantages to sex, advantages that overwhelm the foolhardiness of doing so. The advantages are surprisingly hard to gauge and made the evolution of sex the 'queen' of evolutionary problems through much of the twentieth century. It may be that, without sex, large complex forms of life are simply not possible at all: we would all disintegrate in a matter of generations, doomed to decay like the degenerate Y chromosome. Either way, sex makes the difference between a silent and introspective planet, full of dour self- replicating things...and the explosion of pleasure and glory all around us. A world without sex is a world without the songs of men and women or birds or frogs, without the flamboyant colours of flowers, without gladiatorial contests, poetry, love, or rapture. A world without much interest."

A criticism of this book that I have read is that certain inventions of evolution cannot be adequately explained and therefore should not have been included in this book. I disagree. Take the invention of consciousness for example. True we don't have all the answers. But what we do know makes for interesting reading. Thanks to Lane's writing, these chapters don't only make for interesting reading but stimulating reading as well.

Finally, this book could have benefited from a glossary. True, Lane defines terms in his narrative but I think a glossary would have made this book easier to read.

In conclusion, this book is essential reading for anyone who has wondered about our very existence or even questioned the science underlying evolution!!

(first published 2009; introduction; 10 chapters; epilogue; main narrative 285 pages; notes; list of illustrations; acknowledgements; bibliography; index)

<<Stephen Pletko, London, Ontario, Canada>>

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Nick Lane is a biochemist by trade, meaning that he takes a biochemical view of life. Thus, this book is a book about the biochemistry of life, or rather, the 10 coolest "inventions" of life. Beginning with the origins of life itself, Lane discusses numerous different kinds of evolutionary inventions. He illuminates their evolutionary origins, development, and functions using genetic and molecular evidence. This is the kind of science that is revolutionizing our understanding of evolution. Not in the sense that it changes the theory or its meaning, but rather, it provides such rich and satisfying data.

That's ultimately what I came away with from this book. We now know a LOT about the evolution of key moments in living organisms. Lane starts by summarizing the most plausible explanation for the origin of life itself. It's not only plausible, it may well turn out to be quite likely that life turned out the way it did for the reasons Lane summarizes (I should note that the vast majority of this book isn't based on Lane's personal research). Lane then progresses through more complex evolutionary events, like photosynthesis, movement, eyes, and ultimately, death. At each step along the way the reader is treated to a wealth of details and fascinating facts. The only chapter I felt was lacking was the chapter on consciousness. That's a very difficult subject to tackle, and one I'm not all that interested in to be honest. I would have rather seen some other kind of more tangible behavior, but fortunately, the chapter is short and leads to perhaps the most important chapter, death. For research is increasingly pointing in the direction that death need not occur at ages 80-100 in humans. There may well be ways of both prolonging health (complex, but doable) and ultimate lifespan (much more complex, much less immediately feasible). The implications of this kind of science is huge. "Curing" old age, and all the attendant problems with it, would be a colossal step for humanity.

I can't discuss too much more without both going into too much detail and giving away important parts of the book. I will mention that perhaps the only drawback of the book is that it assumes (in my opinion) at least some knowledge of biology. Strong high school or early university at a minimum. The talk about genes, proteins, and chemical reactions are well explained to those familiar with science, but will probably be a bit of a chore to those without any kind of science background. That's hard to avoid because life really is complicated. Understanding the evolution of life and its many inventions isn't easy. But the reward is astounding. I found myself repeatedly amazed at just how much we now know about the evolution of life and various adaptations. For anyone interested in knowing the facts about who we are, what life is, how it developed, this is a fantastic time to be alive. And this is a really great book for explaining just why that's so- life is really, really, cool and understanding it is even more so! Highly recommended as it's easily one of the best science books I've read this year.

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