Carl Zimmer

(Author)

Life's Edge: The Search for What It Means to Be AliveHardcover, 9 March 2021

Life's Edge: The Search for What It Means to Be Alive
Qty
1
Turbo
Ships in 2 - 3 days
Only 2 left
Free Delivery
Cash on Delivery
15 Days
Free Returns
Secure Checkout
Buy More, Save More
Print Length
368 pages
Language
English
Publisher
Dutton
Date Published
9 Mar 2021
ISBN-10
0593182715
ISBN-13
9780593182710

Description

FINALIST FOR THE PEN/E.O. WILSON LITERARY SCIENCE WRITING AWARD***A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF 2021***A SCIENCE NEWS FAVORITE BOOK OF 2021***A SMITHSONIAN TOP TEN SCIENCE BOOK OF 2021

"Stories that both dazzle and edify... This book is not just about life, but about discovery itself." --Siddhartha Mukherjee, New York Times Book Review

We all assume we know what life is, but the more scientists learn about the living world--from protocells to brains, from zygotes to pandemic viruses--the harder they find it is to locate life's edge.

Carl Zimmer investigates one of the biggest questions of all: What is life? The answer seems obvious until you try to seriously answer it. Is the apple sitting on your kitchen counter alive, or is only the apple tree it came from deserving of the word? If we can't answer that question here on earth, how will we know when and if we discover alien life on other worlds? The question hangs over some of society's most charged conflicts--whether a fertilized egg is a living person, for example, and when we ought to declare a person legally dead.

Life's Edge is an utterly fascinating investigation that no one but one of the most celebrated science writers of our generation could craft. Zimmer journeys through the strange experiments that have attempted to re-create life. Literally hundreds of definitions of what that should look like now exist, but none has yet emerged as an obvious winner. Lists of what living things have in common do not add up to a theory of life. It's never clear why some items on the list are essential and others not. Coronaviruses have altered the course of history, and yet many scientists maintain they are not alive. Chemists are creating droplets that can swarm, sense their environment, and multiply. Have they made life in the lab?

Whether he is handling pythons in Alabama or searching for hibernating bats in the Adirondacks, Zimmer revels in astounding examples of life at its most bizarre. He tries his own hand at evolving life in a test tube with unnerving results. Charting the obsession with Dr. Frankenstein's monster and how the world briefly believed radium was the source of all life, Zimmer leads us all the way into the labs and minds of researchers engineering life from scratch.

Product Details

Author:
Carl Zimmer
Book Format:
Hardcover
Country of Origin:
US
Date Published:
9 March 2021
Dimensions:
23.62 x 15.75 x 3.05 cm
ISBN-10:
0593182715
ISBN-13:
9780593182710
Language:
English
Pages:
368
Publisher:
Weight:
544.31 gm

Related Categories


Need Help?
+971 6 731 0280
support@gzb.ae

About UsContact UsPayment MethodsFAQsShipping PolicyRefund and ReturnTerms of UsePrivacy PolicyCookie Notice

VisaMastercardCash on Delivery

© 2024 White Lion General Trading LLC. All rights reserved.