Life's Edge
by Carl Zimmer · first published 2021
3mentions
2recommended by
3HN commenters
2021–2024first – last mentioned
67% recommend33% neutral
Largely scientific examinations of what life is and how it came to be.
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There’s a book called Life’s Edge by Carl Zimmer[0] that’s similar to this article but gets deeply into the history of various explorations of the concept of “life” as well as issues that come up around it (eg organ donation) and what…
on “Why Life Does Not Really Exist (2013)” ↗Related to is the question of what it means for something to be alive. Carl Zimmer’s “Life’s Edge” is an interesting read
on “Biologists Rethink the Logic Behind Cells’ Molecular Signals” ↗…including Monod's "Chance and Necessity" (dated but excellent), Nick Lane's whole series of books (notably "The Vital Question"), Nurse's "What is Life?" (good if you want to learn about yeast), Zimmer's "Life's Edge" (haven't finished it yet, seems good). Honestly, the details change, and the emphasis of each author, but they are all speculative and hand-wavey. Pre-paradigmatic. My favorite quote is from "Life on…
on “Is the emergence of life an expected phase transition in the evolving universe?” ↗