About the book
The origin of life and the odd shape of complex life are, for biochemist Nick Lane, questions about energy. Every cell powers its chemistry with a steep electrochemical gradient across a thin membrane, machinery so basic that all living things have conserved it. Lane argues that such a gradient could not form in the open ocean or in Darwin's warm little pond, and places the start of life in deep-sea hydrothermal vents. He then asks why bacteria-like cells stayed simple for two and a half billion years before, on one occasion, gaining a nucleus, other organelles and traits such as sex. Profile Books first published the work, illustrated with 37 figures, and translations exist in at least seven languages.
Bill Gates put it on his list of 11 science books everyone should read, crediting Lane with pushing people to see how central energy is to all life. Lex Fridman counts Lane's books, this one among them, as some of his favorites on biology.
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This book has 2 recommendations
Bill Gates (CEO/Microsoft)
Nick is one of those original thinkers who makes you say: More people should know about this guy's work. He is trying to right a scientific wrong by getting people to fully appreciate the role that energy plays in all living things. Even if the details of Nick's work turn out to be wrong, I suspect his focus on energy will be seen as an important contribution to our understanding of where we come from.
The following is a conversation with Nick Lane, a biochemist at University College London, and author of some of my favorite books on biology, science, and life ever written, including his two most recent titles, Transformer: The Deep Chemistry of Life and Death, and The Vital Question: Why Is Life the Way It Is?
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