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Life Ascending: The Ten Great Inventions of Evolution

Life Ascending: The Ten Great Inventions of Evolution

by NickLane (Author)

  • Used

    Hardcover 2009

    $3.49
Synopsis

Powerful new research methods are providing fresh and vivid insights into the makeup of life. Comparing gene sequences, examining the atomic structure of proteins and looking into the geochemistry of rocks have all helped to explain creation and evolution in more detail than ever before. Nick Lane uses the full extent of this new knowledge to describe the ten greatest inventions of life, based on their historical impact, role in living organisms today and relevance to current controversies. DNA, sex, sight and consciousnesses are just four examples. Lane also explains how these findings have come about, and the extent to which they can be relied upon. The result is a gripping and lucid account of the ingenuity of nature, and a book which is essential reading for anyone who has ever questioned the science behind the glories of everyday life.

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More Information

Format: Hardcover
 Pages: 288
 Publisher: Profile Books
Published: 16 Apr 2009
ISBN 10: 1861978480
ISBN 13: 9781861978486
Book Overview: How did life invent itself? Where did DNA come from? How did humans develop sight? Nick Lane draws upon the findings of powerful new research to piece together the mosaic of life's remarkable history.

Media Reviews
Boldly tackling some of these apparently irreducible complexities... This is a science book that doesn't cheat: the structure is logical, the writing is witty, and the hard questions are tackled head on -- Tim Radford * Guardian *
If Charles Darwin sprang from his grave, I would give him this fine book to bring him up to speed. It's a breathless bulletin from the accelerating rush of news about the secrets of life on planet earth. -- Matt Ridley
A clever concept is carried through with a clarity and enthusiasm that belies the sophistication of the science * Guardian Summer Reading *
Excellent and imaginative and, similar to life itself, the book is full of surprises.... Life Ascending is a fascinating book for anyone interested in life and evolution, and how these discoveries were made -- Lewis Wolpert * Nature *
Original and awe-inspiring... an exhilarating tour of some of the most profound and important ideas in biology -- Michael Le Page * New Scientist *
An excellent book. It is great fun, readable, bubbling over with enthusiasm, and not afraid of controversial, even weird, ideas... Hopeless as a bedside book: you'd never sleep * Chemistry World *
With clarity and vigour... Lane shows how thoroughly, if provisionally, we can reconstruct evolutionary developments -- Peter Dizikes * New York Times Book Review *
The emergence of life itself remains obscure. But as Lane shows with clarity and vigor, fascinating studies on the subject abound -- Peter Dizikes * New York Times Book Review *
Lane is that particularly rare breed: a scientist who can not only offer a bird's-eye view of an entire field but also tell you about his own very interesting ideas -- Carl Zimmer * Science *
Author Bio
Nick Lane studied biochemistry at Imperial College, London and is an honorary reader at University College, London. His first book, Oxygen, was one of the Sunday Times Books of the Year in 2002. His last book, Power, Sex, Suicide: Mitochondria and the Meaning of Life was named as a book of the year in The Economist in 2005 and was short-listed for The Aventis Science Book Prize and the Times Higher Young Academic of the Year Award in 2006.