The Equations of Life: How Physics Shapes Evolution by Charles S. Cockell (PDF)

Description

A groundbreaking argument for why alien life will evolve to be much like life here on Earth We are all familiar with the popular idea of strange alien life wildly different from life on earth inhabiting other planets. Maybe it’s made of silicon! Maybe it has wheels! Or maybe it doesn’t. In The Equations of Life, biologist Charles S. Cockell makes the forceful argument that the laws of physics narrowly constrain how life can evolve, making evolution’s outcomes predictable. If we were to find on a distant planet something very much like a lady bug eating something like an aphid, we shouldn’t be surprised. The forms of life are guided by a limited set of rules, and as a result, there is a narrow set of solutions to the challenges of existence.A remarkable scientific contribution breathing new life into Darwin’s theory of evolution, The Equations of Life makes a radical argument about what life can — and can’t — be.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐You can’t read an science article in any publication these days without reading something about the search for extraterrestrial life, be that on Mars, the moons of Jupiter, or the planets orbiting distance suns discovered by the Kepler observatory. In his new book, “The Equations of Life: How Physics Shapes Evolution”, by Charles S. Cockell, the author argues that should life be discovered this life will be very similar to our own. The extraterrestrial biology will have evolved under the same pressures, and more importantly, the same physics, from which life on our planet has evolved. Thus things will be very familiar to us. Or not… One need only look at an octopus to realize just how different things could be. Life, however, will always involve carbon, oxygen, and water. Those seem to be the building blocks on our planet, and Cockell is spot on labeling those as the necessary building blocks for life on other planets as well. This, however, is nothing new. Specifically, the Periodic Table of Elements, describes everything there is to work with and suggesting life could emerge from an different combination of elements, is not to understand life, or the elements. Interestingly, he hearkens back to an episode of Star Trek, when an alien life form, known as the Horta, is discovered.The writers of Star Trek actually got it right, according to Cockell. If life did emerge from another set of elements, they would have to be very close to carbon. The Horta was a silicon based life form. But also, to evolve it would be necessary to have the same basic environmental properties which would require a fluid, in our case water, and a gas, in our case oxygen, for the very basic properties of cellular life to gain energy and replicate.Whereas Cockell has a very deep knowledge of biology he has only cursory understanding of math and physics. I think, however, the physics he applies, is mostly self evident, at least to an engineer. Maybe not for him based on his softer back ground in biology. This insight was so extraordinary for him he thought it worthy of an entire book. So maybe his audience is biologists. It can’t be physicists, They will just yawn.His academic upbringing forced him to be way too repetitive. I felt like he was retelling his entire argument in every chapter…. I think 4 or 5 chapters would have been sufficient. 12 chapters just dragged on and on, beating the same dead horse… Of course he’s also trifling with the creator…as any good biologist tends to do. But that’s a different subject. Still I can’t help but wonder that should we find extra-terrestrial life, who is going to be the first to ask said, alien, have you considered Jesus? Certainly not the biologist, but maybe the physicist?Best part for me was his discussion of single cell evolution… Mapping out evolution at the cellular level was something completely new, not being a biologist, and I learned a few things.This is not a book for physicists, this is a book for biologists who would otherwise wonder about evolutionary magic should they not been tuned into the preexisting physical laws of nature that constrain everything we understand above the quantum level. Strangely, this is also not a book for biologists, at least not a written with so many of the equations he has chosen. He’s not really using fundamental laws, per se, he is just using math to calculate constraining limits. To understand what he is doing you kinda have to have had some physics or engineering in your back ground. You can’t simply assume the math works, you have to do the math, and when you do the math it’s not black and white. For the most part, he should have left the equations out of this book he has written for biologists. Of course then he destroys is thesis, maybe. Oh well. It was particularly annoying to me when when he presented an occasional hard number as fact, he should have been more accurate, or at least done the calculations himself. We don’t contain a tennis court of absorption area in our gastrointestinal track, he’s over by an order of magnitude. 10’s of square meters, not 100’s of square meters as he claims.Start with three stars because overall, although well researched, there is nothing earth shattering in this book. Deduct a star for being so repetitive. Deduct another star for using equations that will be obtuse to biologists and simply wrong in other areas. Add a star back for his treatment of single cell evolution and of course add another star for the great use of a Star Trek reference. Three stars overall.

⭐This was my first book by the author and I found that my instincts were spot on in picking out this one.Cockell’s main thesis is that evolution is constrained by physical science (definitely a chemical component- though physics does take center stage). So, he delves into a lot of different topics until he arrives at his summary chapters on the constraints on extraterrestrial life and the predictability of life itself. Surprisingly, I don’t think the book actually lost steam toward the end and was really readable throughout- a difficult feat to achieve.There are several reasons why I liked the author. I liked his anecdotal divergences into how he teaches tricky concepts to his college students (thought experiments that I could consider integrating myself)– particularly his ideas about if anaerobic life could yield intelligent life. I enjoyed the way that his prose was accessible, while still introducing challenging principles. I liked the way that he supported his thesis about life’s predictability, while leaving some window for open mindedness- acting both scientifically and not-so-arrogantly as other authors are wont to behave.I thought he had some interesting insights into a number of topics like the predictability of the chemical nature of life, how organisms adapt to extreme environments (probably my favorite chapter), and the hidden physics of the lady bug.More and more authors have been convincingly demonstrating the evolution, while fascinating in and of itself, isn’t infinitely unpredictable and ascribes to certain principles of both physics and environmental constraints. I am drawn to this view as it is less pie in the sky and also less naive and more grounded.I wish the most was a bit more affordable ($20 is a little steep of a Kindle price), but I guess popular science is a hard area in which to be profitable… It was worth it!

⭐A recommended book for non-scientists, someone like me who enjoys reading about physics and cosmology. The description of how life extracts energy from electrons was interesting, “The electrons have now began the first stage of their journey. Though an act reminiscent of a relay race, the electrons are passed from the broken down products of your sandwiches to the cell.” (Page 147) And, “But at the core is the manipulation of a subatomic particle, the electron, to gather free energy from the universe. Nothing reflects so beautifully the potential universality of living systems, their link to the most basic particles and physical principles in the cosmos.” (Page 166)A brief book summary is capsulated in, “From the most diminutive parts of life to whole populations, physical principles have been shown to hold life captive, to corral it into a small set of possibilities.” (Page 249)On the negative side, there was not one figure or chart. For example, it would have added value to classify the 23 equations in a chart. Also, I was looking for a list of the universal characteristic, which were randomly defined (two were: cell structure and imperfect reproduction), but no luck.Overall, the author’s analysis was persuasive. A solid four star rating.

⭐The author’s writing is accessible, and it flows. The writer adheres to his message, backs it up with evidence, and refreshingly confines his remarks to his areas of expertise.

⭐Connecting physics and biology through astrobiology is a great way to learn about all three sciences. Well-documented and easy enough to follow. Highly recommended.

⭐Good

⭐This is a very enjoyable and well thought out book. Although I had studied many of the topics included in it previously, they are synthesized into a coherent narrative giving me many new insights.

⭐”O Lord”, says Psalm 104, “how manifold are thy works! In Wisdom hast thou made them all”. This delightful book show how very simple physical principles underlie those vast riches. Many themes are explored–you need to spend time as there are lots of distractions–I kept going back and forth and checking the voluminous notes. Start with Chapter 3 and get to know (really know) that exquisite little creature–the ladybug. A browser’s delight.

⭐Excelente reflexión sobre la Física y la Biología aunque, en mi opinión, no todo en la Biología puede explicarse exclusivamente con las ecuaciones de la Física

⭐

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