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Life on the Edge
Life on the Edge: The Coming of Age of Quantum Biology | Johnjoe McFadden, Jim Al-Khalili
New York Times Bestseller and an Amazon Best Science Book of 2015 Life is the most extraordinary phenomenon in the known universe; but how did it come to be? Even in an age of cloning and artificial biology, the remarkable truth remains: nobody has ever made anything living entirely out of dead material. Life remains the only way to make life. Are we still missing a vital ingredient in its creation? Like Richard Dawkins' The Selfish Gene, which provided a new perspective on how evolution works, Life on the Edge alters our understanding of our world's fundamental dynamics. Bringing together first-hand experience at the cutting edge of science with unparalleled gifts of explanation, Jim Al-Khalili and Johnjoe Macfadden reveal that missing ingredient to be quantum mechanics; the phenomena that lie at the heart of this most mysterious of sciences. Drawing on recent ground-breaking experiments around the world, each chapter in Life on the Edge engages by illustrating one of life's puzzles: How do migrating birds know where to go? How do we really smell the scent of a rose? How do our genes copy themselves with such precision? Life on the Edge accessibly reveals how quantum mechanics can answer these probing questions of the universe. Guiding the reader through the rapidly unfolding discoveries of the last few years, Al-Khalili and McFadden communicate the excitement of the explosive new field of quantum biology and its potentially revolutionary applications, while offering insights into the biggest puzzle of all: what is life? As they brilliantly demonstrate in these groundbreaking pages, life exists on the quantum edge. From the Hardcover edition.
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review
Gezemice
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Pickpick

What the heck is quantum biology? This book explains how this fledling science seeks answers to biology‘s unexplained phenomena in the weird world of quantum. Photosythesis, mutation, DNA copying, sense of smell, and sensing the Earth‘s magnetic field in migrating animals is thought to involve quantum effects. The book has good analogies to help lay people understand the concepts. I got the gist, but the details were lost on me. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⬇️

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review
shanaqui
Pickpick

Seems fairly convincing to me in showing that quantum does play a part in biology. Some fascinating ideas, definitely, though in need of much more research.

review
the_hibernator
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Bailedbailed

This is supposed to be a fantastic book, but I just couldn't get into it. Maybe I'm just not meant to be interested in physics? This is the second physics book I've bailed on this year. Shame. I like the idea so much.

DGRachel Physics is the reason I majored in English instead of Statistics. I knew I'd never pass Physics. 😮 8y
Gezemice Looks interesting to me! 8y
the_hibernator @DGRachel I actually did pretty well in first year physics. I never took quantum though, and have always been interested in learning more. But after bailing on those two books, I might give up interest for a while. 8y
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the_hibernator @Gezemice It's supposed to be pretty good. I think it's me, not it. 8y
SarahSaysRead I have this on my shelf, was thinking about reading it this month. I've read another one of Al-Khalili's books and really liked it, so I'm hopeful about this one. 8y
SarahSaysRead Michio Kaku has some GREAT science/physics books, he focuses a bit on the fun weird pieces of physics, quantum mechanics, and how it affects are lives. 8y
the_hibernator @SarahSaysRead I have enjoyed one if Kaku's books and have Einstein's Cosmos on my Audible shelf. 8y
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