Transformer
Nick Lane
Naturwissenschaften, Medizin, Informatik, Technik / Naturwissenschaften allgemein
Beschreibung
'One of my favourite science writers' Bill Gates
'Hugely important' Jim Al-Khalili
'A profound meditation on metabolism, the Krebs cycle & the origin of life' Anil Seth
For decades, biology has been dominated by information - the power of genes. Yet there is no difference in information content between a living cell and one that died a moment ago. A better question goes back to the formative years of biology: what processes animate cells and set them apart from lifeless matter?
In Transformer, Nick Lane turns the standard view upside down, capturing an extraordinary scientific renaissance that is hiding in plain sight. At its core is an amazing cycle of reactions that uses energy to transform inorganic molecules into the building blocks of life - and the reverse. To understand this cycle is to fathom the deep coherence of the living world. It connects the origin of life with the devastation of cancer, the first photosynthetic bacteria with our own mitochondria, sulphurous sludges with the emergence of consciousness, and the trivial differences between ourselves with the large-scale history of our planet.
Rezensionen
Amazing! Takes science writing to a new level ... with soaring prose but uncompromising on scientific detail, <i>Transformer </i>made me think about life on earth in a completely different way.
In this compulsively readable book, Lane takes us on a riveting journey, ranging from the flow of energy to new ways of understanding cancer. Lane provides a luminous understanding of how scientists, including Lane himself, are rethinking energy and living organisms.
Nick Lane challenges us to see life differently ... probably the best book on biology I'
Remarkable
An exhilarating account of the biophysics of life, stretching from the first stirrings of living matter to the psychology of consciousness. I felt as if I was there, every step of the way <b></b>
Nick Lane never writes about the living world without offering entirely new perspectives on how life itself works. <i>Transformer </i>is no exception. His subject here - the Krebs cycle - is often seen as one of the driest staples of biochemical textbooks. But in Lane's hands, it becomes a key to life'
A thrilling and highly persuasive account of what makes life and how the miracle started, coaxed not by genes but a remarkable cycle of energy and matter - a chemical cycle able to conjure the material of life from the elements of a rocky blue planet. This hugely important book is set to become a landmark, transforming our understanding of how life works. Lane'
<i>Transformer</i> is a complex yet accessible, illuminating, and thrilling exploration of the vitality and elemental mysteries of our existence
Nobody explains the inner secrets of the living cell better than Nick Lane. He clarifies the complexities of the chemistry that drives all life in a most engaging way. The stories of how this hidden world was revealed by remarkable scientists is explored as a series of riveting detective stories, leaving the reader with admiration for the ingenuity and sheer persistence of those who unscrambled the reactions that underlie all life.
Hugely important ... a powerfully persuasive case for life being about energy flow, flux and change. In <i>Transformer</i>, chemistry is quite literally brought to life
Biochemist Nick Lane is one of our boldest thinkers and a key researcher into the origin and deep history of life.
A stone-cold classic
A profound meditation on metabolism, the Krebs cycle & the origin of life.
Nick Lane's marvellously engaging <i>Transformer </i>refocused my astronomer'
Deeply researched and cogently written
Hugely ambitious and tremendously exciting ... <i>Transformer</i> shows how a molecular dance from the dawn of time still sculpts our lives today. I read with rapt attention.
Bold ... passionate ... a dramatically revisionist account [of the] origins of life
Nick Lane's exploration of the building blocks that underlie life'
A thrilling tour of the remarkable stories behind the discoveries of some of life'
One of the most creative of today'
A thrilling journey... the book is a tour de force.
Kundenbewertungen
photosynthesis, cellular biology, physiological change, biochemistry, The Vital Question Nick Lane, cells, cell life, What If? Randall Munroe, Bill Gates, Periodic Table, Elements, transferal of energy, the Krebs cycle