ErwinSchr繹dinger’s1944classicWhatIsLife?isasmallbookthatoccupiesalargeplaceamongthegreatwrittenworksofthetwentiethcentury.Itissaidthatithelpedlaunchthemodernrevolutioninbiologyandgenetics,andinspiredagenerationofscientists,includingWatsonandCrick,toexploretheriddleoflifeitself.Now,morethansixtyyearslater,sciencewriterEdRegisoffersanintriguinglookatwherethisqueststandstoday.Regisrangeswidelyhere,illuminatingmanydiverseeffortstosolveoneofscience’sgreatmysteries.HeexaminesthegenesisofSchr繹dinger’sgreatbook--whichfirstdebutedasthreepubliclecturesinDublin--anddetailsthefantasticreceptionhisideasreceived,bothinEuropeandAmerica.Regisalsointroducesustotheworkofaremarkablegroupofscientistswhoareattemptingliterallytocreatelifefromscratch,startingwithmolecularcomponentsthattheyhopetoassembleintotheworld’sfirstsyntheticlivingcell.Thebookalsoexamineshowscientistshaveunlockedthe“threesecretsoflife,“describesthekeyroleplayedbyATP(“theultimatedrivingforceofalllife“),andoutlinesthemanyattemptstoexplainhowlifefirstaroseonearth,apuzzlethathasgivenbirthtoawiderangeoftheories(whichFrancisCrickdismissedas“toomuchspeculationrunningaftertoofewfacts“),fromtheprimordialsandwichtheory,tothetheorythatlifearoseinclay,indeep-seavents,orinoilybubblesattheseashore,rightuptoFreemanDyson’s“theoryofdoubleorigins.“Writteninalivelyandaccessiblestyle,andbringingtogetherawiderangeofcutting-edgeresearch,WhatisLife?makesanilluminatingcontributiontothisancientandever-fascinatingdebate.
