Life Evolving: Molecules, Mind, and MeaningIn just a half century, humanity has made an astounding leap in its understanding of life. Now, one of the giants of biological science, Christian de Duve, discusses what we've learned in this half century, ranging from the tiniest cells to the future of our species and of life itself. With wide-ranging erudition, De Duve takes us on a dazzling tour of the biological world, beginning with the invisible workings of the cell, the area in which he won his Nobel Prize. He describes how the first cells may have arisen and suggests that they may have been like the organisms that exist today near deep-sea hydrothermal vents. Contrary to many scientists, he argues that life was bound to arise and that it probably only took millennia--maybe tens of thousands of years--to move from rough building blocks to the first organisms possessing the basic properties of life. With equal authority, De Duve examines topics such as the evolution of humans, the origins of consciousness, the development of language, the birth of science, and the origin of emotion, morality, altruism, and love. He concludes with his conjectures on the future of humanity--for instance, we may evolve, perhaps via genetic engineering, into a new species--and he shares his personal thoughts about God and immortality. In Life Evolving, one of our most eminent scientists sums up what he has learned about the nature of life and our place in the universe. An extraordinarily wise and humane volume, it will fascinate readers curious about the world around them and about the impact of science on philosophy and religion. |
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LibraryThing Review
User Review - fernig - LibraryThingAn extraordinarily well written account of the state of contemporary biology by a Nobel laureate (1974). De Duve gives a unified and coherent account of the biochemistry of life, genetics, evolution ... Read full review
LibraryThing Review
User Review - fpagan - LibraryThingA broad-ranging view of biology. Most of the drearily inevitable religion-related comments are concentrated in the last chapter, for convenient skipping by the intelligent reader. Read full review
Contents
12 The Arrow of Evolution | 171 |
13 Becoming Human | 189 |
14 The Riddle of the Brain | 208 |
15 Reshaping Life | 227 |
16 After Us What? | 251 |
17 Are We Alone? | 270 |
18 How About God in All That? | 284 |
Envoy | 308 |
8 The Invisible World of Bacteria | 111 |
The Problem | 119 |
A Possible Pathway | 134 |
11 The Visible Revolution | 152 |
Notes | 309 |
Index | 333 |
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Common terms and phrases
according activities addition allow already amino acids ancestor animals appears associated bacteria bases become believe billion biological brain called cells chance Chapter chemical chemistry common complex considered contain course created cytoplasm depends early Earth energy enzymes eukaryotic event evidence evolution evolutionary example exist explained fact followed functions genes genetic genome given happened highly human important involved kind known later least living major materials matter means mechanisms membrane mentioned molecular molecules mutations natural natural selection needed notion organisms origin oxygen plants play possible present primitive probably problem produced properties proteins question reactions reason remains replication result role scientists seen selection sequence serve single species step structure substances success take place theory tion transfer universe
Popular passages
Page 51 - I mean a single system composed of several well-matched, interacting parts that contribute to the basic function, wherein the removal of any one of the parts causes the system to effectively cease functioning.
Page 107 - Would I rather have a miserable ape for a grandfather, or a man highly endowed by nature and possessed of great means and influence, and yet who employs these faculties and that influence for the mere purpose of introducing ridicule into a grave scientific discussion" — I unhesitatingly affirm my preference for the ape.
Page 184 - Wind back the tape of life to the early days of the Burgess Shale; let it play again from an identical starting point, and the chance becomes vanishingly small that anything like human intelligence would grace the replay.
Page 299 - chaotic inflation" theories of Andre Linde and others, the expanding cloud of billions of galaxies that we call the big bang may be just one fragment of a much larger universe in which big bangs go off all the time, each one with different values for the fundamental constants. In any such picture, in which the universe contains many parts with different values for what we call the constants of nature, there would be no difficulty in understanding why these constants take values favorable to intelligent...
Page 203 - Examples of memes are tunes, ideas, catch-phrases, clothes fashions, ways of making pots or of building arches. Just as genes propagate themselves in the gene pool by leaping from body to body via sperms or eggs, so memes propagate themselves in the meme pool by leaping from brain to brain via a process which, in the broad sense, can be called imitation.
Page 69 - Fig. n, are enantiomorphous, that is, related to each other as the right hand is to the left hand. The examples illustrated represent rare specimens; ordinarily evidence of hemihedry is discernible in but a small portion of the quartz crystals examined, and then only on careful scrutiny. Sir John Herschel in 1820 suggested a possible relationship between the crystallographic and optical properties...
Page 174 - In discussing the development of the characteristic lung of birds, he finds it "hard not to be inclined to see an element of foresight in the evolution of the avian lung, which may well have developed in primitive birds before its full utility could be exploited.
Bibliographic information
| Title | Life Evolving: Molecules, Mind, and Meaning |
| Author | Christian de Duve |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press, 2002 |
| ISBN | 0195348176, 9780195348170 |
| Length | 360 pages |
| Subjects | › › Science / General Science / Life Sciences / Biology Science / Life Sciences / Evolution Science / Philosophy & Social Aspects |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |