About Life
About Life uses modern biological knowledge to tackle the question: “What distinguishes living organisms from the non-living world?”
The authors draw on recent advances in cell and molecular biology to develop a general characterisation of the living state that applies to all, and only, organisms. This characterisation is used to explore questions about evolution, the origin of life and the possibility of extraterrestrial life.
In the final few chapters, issues of human evolution, the nature of mind and human uniqueness are considered. The book is aimed at the general, non-specialist reader, but should also interest students of the life sciences.
Reviews
"This delightfully written book addresses major questions and some of the biggest ideas in biology today. The book is moderately well-illustrated with photomicrographs and line drawings. The book includes numerous insightful analogies and covers somewhat offbeat topics that an instructor could easily adapt to enliven classroom presentations. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-level undergraduates and above." (P. E. Hertz, CHOICE, Vol. 45 (2), 2007)
“I've studied cell and molecular biology, but I never got an overall grasp of the subject until I read the first half of this book. It's "popular science" but serious students as well as non-specialists will really benefit from it. The authors lead the uninformed reader into the subject gently and sympathetically. They avoid as much detail and as much technical language as they can, but by the end of the tenth chapter they've given you a real understanding of how cells work. Also, they've produced the nearest thing I've ever seen to a convincing "definition of life". First-rate! The remaining eight chapters didn't do as much for me, though they're well written and interesting. These chapters cover evolution, the history of life on Earth, the origin of life, extraterrestrial life, the nature of 'intelligence', and an argument for human uniqueness and a novel way of understanding the meaning of 'mind'. I think the sheer range of the material put me off slightly, though it's all coherently organized. The authors stick their necks out in places, such as when they argue that there's nothing like humans or human intelligence anywhere else in the universe, but at least they give you a reasoned case to challenge if you don't agree with them (as I don't!). The reasons I've given this book a four-star rather than a five-star rating are that I think it 'over-reaches' a bit in the later chapters, and that it contains one or two misprints (occasional words omitted, and one horrible gaff - U instead of T in a DNA sequence!). But I'm glad I bought a copy, I'd recommend it to ANYONE interested in modern biology, and I'll read (and probably buy) the promised sequels if and when they appear.” (M. P. Henderson, http://www.reviewscout.co.uk/1402054173).
“About Life, by Agutter and Wheatley is an illuminating and enjoyable read. It starts with the fundaments of life as we now know it. A reader unfamiliar with modern molecular cell biology is coached through the fundaments to arrive at an interesting discussion of the origins of life. The last part of the book opens the door to intelligent behavior in animals then moves on to the uniqueness of human intelligence. The book is worth one’s investment in time.” (Ivan L. Cameron, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.)
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