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Life on the Edge
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Life on the Edge
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Life on the Edge
Audiobook12 hours

Life on the Edge

Written by Johnjoe McFadden and Jim Al-Khalili

Narrated by Pete Cross

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

4.5/5

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Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

Life is the most extraordinary phenomenon in the known universe; but how did it come to be? Even in an age of cloning and artificial biology, the remarkable truth remains: nobody has ever made anything living entirely out of dead material. Life remains the only way to make life. Are we still missing a vital ingredient in its creation? Jim Al-Khalili and Johnjoe Macfadden reveal the hitherto missing ingredient to be quantum mechanics and the strange phenomena that lie at the heart of this most mysterious of sciences. As they brilliantly demonstrate here, life lives on the quantum edge.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateJul 28, 2015
ISBN9781681413211
Unavailable
Life on the Edge

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Reviews for Life on the Edge

Rating: 4.411764705882353 out of 5 stars
4.5/5

17 ratings16 reviews

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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    While my profession involved understanding biology and physiology it never entered my mind that quantum physics was involved. The importance of quantum phenomena for enzymes, DNA replication, and smell opened my eyes. I have been fascinated by descriptions of elementary particles for years. It had always seemed irrelevant for day to day life. I now see it plays a role in many things we are just beginning to understand.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is full of surprising information. I thought that the quantum world didn't interact much with the higher levels above. Then I saw a TV documentary (by Jim) about quantum effects in smell, and in bird navigation. This book expands on those things and covers other processes that are affected by quantum thing, e.g. photosynthesis. My take away by the end of the book is how complicated life is, even the "simple" one celled organisms are massively complicated, and we won't artificially create life any time soon.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Avant-garde information on the integration of the hot wet chaos that is biology with the spooky science of quantum physics.In general, biology and physics have pretty much ignored each other - they pass politely in the hall and will ask favors of each other but they haven't exactly been best friends. Or at least that was the case when physics consisted only of classical theory. But all that has changed now that study of the incredibly small quantum side of physics has made its appearance. Now such mysterious processes such as animal migration, gene replication, enzyme reactions and how the sense of smell works may finally have an answer. On a deeper level, questions such as how is the brain conscious of itself, and what exactly creates 'life', may also be answered. Authors Johnjoe McFadden and Jim Al-Khalili pull back the curtain and give us a glimpse of this ground breaking science and all the possiblities inherent in it. Combining their fields of expertise - genetics (McFadden) and physics (Al-Khalili) - the authors go in depth to show us how this combination will change the world as we know it.I am very much impressed with how the authors were able to explain such a complex subject. While I will not say the material was easy (I am a complete physics novice and did get lost in a few places) I was able to grasp concepts that had eluded me before. I have a deeper knowledge of biology (namely neuroscience) and found that very helpful in getting over some of the rough patches. I particularly enjoyed the chapter 'Mind' due to this background. Another item that I was pleased to see in the book was the material on Luca Turin and his work on olfactory sensing - his work had been ignored by mainstream scientists and it was good to see him recognized. Filled with 'wow' moments, the science geek in me enjoyed this book immensely. Recommended for the other science geeks out there. Also strongly recommended for anyone interested in getting in on the beginnings of this field - welcome to the future.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    To be honest I read this in 2 chunks - the first half about 10 months ago - because the density of information was overwhelming and I had to let it percolate for a while. There are some fascinating ideas about the quantum-level origins of biological systems. I enjoyed it immensely.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I actually finished this book some time ago and the summer got in the way of writing the review.I have read a number of books on quantum mechanics and can safely say that I only understood less than 50% of what had been said. This book was considerably different. I did have to re-read some of the chapters; however, my understanding of the topic matter was closer to 80% to 90%. I applaud the authors in taking such a complex subject and making it more understandable.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Beautiful, advanced (at times a bit much for me) and convincing.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Fabulous book! An inevitable exploration of biology and quantum theory that is readable and astonishingly interesting, this fascinating read covers biological events such as migration, self-replication, homing behavior, evolution, photosynthesis, and so much more.Although quantum theory is generally confusing to many and anything but normal intuitive thinking, this presentation is logical and easy to follow. McFadden and Al-Khalili have written clearly for the lay person who is interested in the future direction of science/biology. By reading this book I have a much better understanding of current cutting edge research and theories that may lead us someday to be able to answer questions like "What is life?". I only wish I could be around a few hundred years from now to see what we discover.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Professors McFadden and Al-Khalili, both at the University of Surrey, have given us an exciting romp through the 'weird' (their word) view of the field of quantum mechanics intersecting that of molecular biology (or perhaps its the other way around) to give us a new way of looking into the origins of life, evolution, genetic engineering, communication theory, even mind moving matter._Life on the Edge_ is framed by the migrations of a northern European robin, first flying from the spruce forests of Sweden with the first frosts of winter southward to the Mediterranean, and six months later, from the cedar tress in Tunisia northward to return to the Scandinavian spruce forest to find a mate, nest, raise chicks, and begin the cycle once again. How does the "magneto-reception" compass built into the robin's DNA enable it to find its way over thousands of migratory miles? This is the guiding question (and theme) of this marvelous book.[ . . . ]
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Highly readable, revelatory, up-to-the-minute accounting of the strides made in a new science that have led to discoveries about heretofore unanswered questions in Nature. The authors' argue that quantum mechanics is beginning to explain what life is and even how it arose.Readers may struggle to comprehend terms like "superposition," "quantum tunneling," "quantum coherence," and quantum concepts like "entangled particles," or "action at a distance." But they should be able to glide along on the power of the narrative to appreciate how quantum biology untangled the mysteries of how enzymes get the tadpole to develop into a frog; how photosynthesis is such an efficient way for plants to get energy from sunlight; how the sense of smell requires more than specialized molecular detectors and relies on vibrations; how migrating birds, butterflies, and other creatures depend on biological compasses that allow them to find their way over long distances when quantum reactions take place in molecules of cryptochrome (a pigment found in some birds' and other animals' eyes) in the presence of Earth's weak magnetic field.All that said, the most thrilling idea to be found in this book is the discussion of how DNA is able to replicate itself so accurately over thousand of years, preserving the genome of every living thing and guaranteeing the continuation and continuity of life.I enjoyed a serendipitous coincidence in reading this book shortly after finishing Michio Kaku's The Future of the Mind: The Scientific Quest to Understand, Enhance, and Empower the Mind. McFadden and Al-Khalili delve into the mind-body problem to explore whether quantum mechanics can explain how conscious awareness (mind) can cause behavior (body) -- how ideas are turned into action.The authors arranged each chapter with an introductory anecdote or story that illustrates the Question. This is followed by explanations of the biochemistry that drives biological reactions. They dig further into those reactions by discussing the exact quantum processes that are the basic foundation of those functions. The book ends on a happy note that is the crux of Life on the Edge: We can appreciate all the variety, the functions, the growth, movement, change, creativity, and "miraculous" fact of existence itself exhibited by our planets' flora and fauna as a result of "good, good, good, good (quantum) vibrations."
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A fascinating look at the very, very micro and how it drives and affects so much of life around us. The authors do a nice job of giving examples to explain phenomenon that would otherwise be way over my head (admittedly some still was). The best part is each chapter focuses on a different topic (like migration of birds) and then takes it apart to explain the science that permits these things on a microscopic level. While not light reading by any means, it did prove mostly accessible to myself and my severe lack of this type of science understanding.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is a good functional summary of the emerging field of quantum biology. It's hard not to see the fascination of quantum weirdness, but a lot of people are probably turned off by the remoteness of it from our classical physical world. This book smashes the two together with CERN-like force. We are quantum, it says. Everything is quantum. At the same time, this is the weakness of "Life on the Edge". By invoking quantum effects to explain so many and varied biological mysteries, the authors seem to protest too much. Sometimes (magnetoreception in migratory birds) there is very strong experimental evidence to support their case, and other times (origin of life) they freely admit that there isn't (yet). I don't begrudge them their enthusiasm - I suppose it's inevitable in such an emergent field - but I was left with the feeling that Johnjoe McFadden and Jim Al-Khalili would happily blame everything from earthquakes to the Easter Bunny on Quantum Biology, given half the chance. Recommended for its sheer novelty.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This book is Science, college level science, physics of all things mixed with biology. It's one of those mash-ups, except it isn't. It is the latest answer to Life, the Universe and Everything, if you can understand it. The authors tried to put the information in as simple and easy to understand language as they could, but the subject doesn't allow that so much. I read it because my main favorite fiction is science fiction. I want real science in my science fiction. I don't read as much fantasy because dragons and witches and such things aren't real. Quantum whatevers have been invading my science fiction lately. It seems like it's the next new thing, like computers and the Internet used to be. As an aside, I'm glad quantum things weren't so big when I was in high school, or I might never have passed my physics class. I wanted some understanding of this quantum thing so I could enjoy my pleasure reading. I will also say: Quantum Mechanics = Magic. I may have to read this book again after a while, like I did with Stephen Hawking's book A Brief History of Time.The biggest ideas I have from this book right now are: 1) the rules for little things, sub-atomic things, are very different from the rules for big things. 2) Sub-atomic things are both particles and waves. 3) the wave/particles are everywhere at the same time until you look at them. 4) the rules for the very small are more important than the rules for the big. The last one isn't spelled out, but it seems just as true as the first three. This is not an easy book to read. It is well constructed, each chapter starting with the basic theory and the history of the theory's development, experiments used to verify the theory, and the place the theory fits into is describing life. I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This book is an utterly fascinating look at the role of quantum mechanics in the processes of life. It is tackling an immense challenge in trying to present this to the lay audience. With a background in chemistry, however, I could follow and was astonished at what had been figured out in the past 20 years or so. I was impressed with how current the book was describing some experiments published just last year.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is an interesting book, obtained as a LibraryThing Early Reviewer. The authors delve into several seemingly unrelated biological topics, and show that a quantum physics explanation is necessary to understand them. The topics include basic functions of enzymes, photosynthesis, bird migration, scent receptors, and gene transcription. They also propose a solution to one of the greatest ‘how did that ever happen’ questions in the origin of life – the numerous steps necessary to end up with functioning RNA as a precursor to DNA. This is necessary to answer astronomer Fred Hoyle’s ‘tornado in a junkyard creating a functioning 747’ argument, a strong argument for some sort of design from a primordial soup on earth.The problem:“Chemists are able to synthesize the RNA bases from simple chemicals by going through a very complex series of carefully controlled reactions in which each desired product from one reaction is isolated and purified before taking it on to the next reaction. The Scottish chemist Graham Cairns-Smith estimated that there are about 140 steps necessary for the synthesis of an RNA base from simple organic compounds likely to have been present in the primordial soup. For each step there is a minimum of about six alternative reactions that need to be avoided. This makes the chemical synthesis easy to visualize, for you can conceive of each molecule as a kind of molecular die, with each step corresponding to a throw where the number six represents generating the correct product and any other number indicates that the wrong product has been made. So, the odds of any starting molecule eventually being converted into RNA is equivalent to throwing a six 140 times in a row.”These odds are vanishingly small, of course, and might as well be zero. Yet we are here, nonetheless.The answer, according to the authors, as far as I can understand, is that on the quantum level all particles are in all possible states at once, continuously, and once some sort of prebiotic life was viable the quantum ‘wave’ collapsed into the world of classical physics we are all more comfortable with. A world-wide experiment of the wave-particle duality around four billion years old!Other interesting conclusions are that many migratory species, such as birds, can see the earth’s magnetic field. Enzymes (substances that allow chemical reactions to occur at lower energy levels than they otherwise would) work via quantum effects. The photosynthesis process is nearly 100% efficient at the cellular level, again due to quantum effects. Finally, almost as an aside, the author’s allow that quantum computing may prove impossible, as it may be too difficult to avoid the ‘observer’s effect’ on wave/particle duality. Five stars.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Decoherence makes the world go roundThere is a lot of groundwork to get through before Life on the Edge gets really interesting. The authors sugarcoat it with vivid descriptions, but it’s all delayed gratification. They have to describe the bases of biology as well as quantum mechanics before they can begin to show how quantum mechanics operates biology for us. There are too many stories throughout: charming, but tangential. The authors tease the examples they’re going to give, but the first in-depth examination of quantum mechanics in biology begins on page 89.There are two levels of operation in this universe. At the atomic level, rules apply that do not operate at the aggregate level, the level we observe. But there are not two kinds of things; there is one, but the rules change. This rule change is called decoherence. It means atomic particles lose their power to tunnel or be in two places at once, connect to a remote self, or act like both particles and waves. When atoms are isolated, they have quantum powers. When they are incorporated into a group, they lose those abilities. If this were not the case, you could drive your car to China, through the Earth.Decoherence is a femtosecond transaction, going on everywhere, all the time. Plants take what they need, animals take what they need and the air is alive with transiting atomic particles with more or fewer components than they had a nanosecond ago. All of the processes we associate with life take place at this level, transferring photons and electrons to where they’re needed, and disposing of remnants where they are not. Breathe in, breathe out.So it should be no surprise that quantum mechanics underlies all biology. But it is. This is an exciting new field, filling in blanks we have just taken for granted forever. How do we get energy in our bodies? How do plants adapt sunlight and air to feed themselves? How does smell work? How do birds, fish, insects and animals navigate? How did life begin?It seems intuitively obvious (and odd thing to say in the context of quantum physics) that biology partakes of the effects of quantum mechanics. It must. Life, starting out at the atomic level as it did, is totally organized around it. But it’s so early, the authors conclude that a quantum explanation for the beginning of life is no better than the classical explanation at this point.How do all these beings employ quantum effects? The authors suggest noise is the key. Noise means sympathetic vibrations, the same as the target photon or electron. It keeps them moving towards the goal and prevents them from decohering into classical objects. Harnessing that process will open gigantic vistas for making far better use of resources at less cost to the planet. So while we’re fantastically busy inventing new technologies to extract more energy than we do, get more work from the same effort, or convert one type of thing to another, plants and animals (and our own bodies) have been employing quantum mechanics to do those things for billions of years. We’re still checking into it.David Wineberg
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is definitely not summer reading, but is well written and thought provoking. The authors provide stories to begin each chapter that illustrate a familiar behavior, discuss the basic science involved and then how quantum biology does (or might) provide explanations or mechanisms, including quantum coherence, entanglement and tunnelling. The writing is clear and there are many examples provided that help to illustrate the difficult concepts involved. The authors convey a deep knowledge of quantum biology as well as an infectious enthusiasm for the field. I was impressed with the frequent cross-references to earlier (or later) chapters where theory was discussed or examples provided –books like this often seem to be written chapter-by-chapter, with redundant material and a lack of overall cohesiveness—it is clear that the authors and editors went out of their way to avoid this. Was I convinced that these quantum ideas could explain things about processes like migration, hearing, smell, consciousness, etc.? Not always, but the ideas are intriguing, some of the evidence was compelling and it does open up an entirely different approach to how biological processes might work.