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Life Ascending: The Ten Great Inventions of Evolution [Paperback]

Nick Lane (Author)
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
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Book Description

Publication Date: 7 Jan 2010

Powerful new research methods are providing fresh and vivid insights into the makeup of life. Comparing gene sequences, examining the atomic structure of proteins and looking into the geochemistry of rocks have all helped to explain creation and evolution in more detail than ever before. Nick Lane uses the full extent of this new knowledge to describe the ten greatest inventions of life, based on their historical impact, role in living organisms today and relevance to current controversies. DNA, sex, sight and consciousnesses are just four examples.

Lane also explains how these findings have come about, and the extent to which they can be relied upon. The result is a gripping and lucid account of the ingenuity of nature, and a book which is essential reading for anyone who has ever questioned the science behind the glories of everyday life.

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Product details

  • Paperback: 352 pages
  • Publisher: Profile Books (7 Jan 2010)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1861978189
  • ISBN-13: 978-1861978189
  • Product Dimensions: 13.1 x 19.9 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 10,177 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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More About the Author

› Visit Amazon's Nick Lane Page
Nick Lane
Nick Lane is a biochemist and writer. He is Reader in Evolutionary Biochemistry in the Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment at University College London. His research focuses on the role of bioenergetics in the origin of life and the evolution of cells. Nick was awarded the first UCL Provost's Venture Research Prize in 2009 and will receive the 2015 Biochemical Society Award. He has published three critically acclaimed books, which have been translated into 20 languages. The latest, Life Ascending, won the 2010 Royal Society Prize for Science Books. His books have been shortlisted for two other literary prizes and named a book of the year by the Economist, the Independent, the Times, the Sunday Times and New Scientist. He was described by Nobel Laureate Frank Wilczek as "a writer who is not afraid to think big - and think hard." For more information, visit www.nick-lane.net

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Review

'Nick Lane is clear and concise in his writing, delivering concepts and ideas with ease and enthusiasm'
--How It Works

'This is a science book that doesn't cheat: the structure is logical, the writing is witty, and the hard questions are tackled head on' --Guardian

'The most coherent and convincing summary of the dawn of life and of DNA that I have ever read.' --Michael Le Page, New Scientist

'With clarity and vigor Lane smoothly pulls in evidence from genetics to show how complex life could have developed.' --New York Times

'The structure is logical, the writing is witty, and the hard questions are tackled head on.' --Tim Radford, Guardian

'Wonderful... Lane does a masterful job... an elegant, fully satisfying whole.' --Starred Review, Publishers Weekly

'This is an exhilarating tour of some of the most profound and important ideas in biology.'
--New Scientist

'Lane brings science alive with the kind of beautiful prose that turns a book full of interesting information into a book you simply cannot put down.' --Amanda Gefter, New Scientist

'Life Ascending is a beautifully written and elegantly structured book that was a favourite with all of the judges.' -- Maggie Philbin, Chair of the Judges, Royal Society Prize for Science Books 2010

'Nick Lane is one of the most exciting science writers of our time.' --Steve Connor, Independent

'with vast scope, page-turning revelations and elegant prose' --Robert Matthews, Daily Telegraph

'an outstanding contribution to evolutionary writing' -- Independent

'Nick Lane employs a clarity of thought and an adroitness of expression' --Laboratory News

Review

'If Charles Darwin sprang from his grave, I would give him this fine book to bring him up to speed. It's a breathless bulletin from the accelerating rush of news about the secrets of life on planet earth.' - Matt Ridley --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
78 of 79 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars The Bigger Picture 29 Jun 2009
By J. Taylor
Format:Hardcover|Verified Purchase
I don't think it is an overstatement to say that every one of these ten chapters could be expanded to fill ten books! This book is therefore very fast moving, absolutely packed with information and bang up to date.

It is a tribute to the writing skills of the author, that the ten separate inventions follow from each other so smoothly and logically.

Particularly outstanding chapters included the subjects of DNA, photosynthesis, sight, hot blood and death. Here, the level of understanding conferred far exceeded the average poular science book.

A few of the chapters proved quite a challenge, notably the origin of life and conciousness. Whilst these subjects arguably deserve their status in the top ten, the difficulty is possibly that they are less well understood by the current status of science.

Overall, if you really want an inspiring, deeper understanding of the mechanics of evolution, I can't fault this book. If however you are fairly new to the subject, then Richard Dawkins classic "The Selfish Gene" still lays the foundations of understanding without dumbing down.

Some subjects really are more complex than a post-it note explanation, intellectual effort is required, but Life Ascending makes the quest both accessible and richly rewarding. An awesome read!
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Rich dispatches from the frontier 31 Jan 2011
By Jason Mills VINE VOICE
Format:Paperback
This is a thrilling book. Lane picks 10 milestones in evolution and explores their biochemistry. These landmarks are: the origin of life, DNA, photosynthesis, the complex cell, sex, movement, sight, hot blood, consciousness and death. He presents the problems, the research, the contending hypotheses and his careful conclusions, all in a depth of detail that flatters the reader's intellect (this reader's anyway!), yet remains eminently comprehensible throughout. The arguments and explanations are bang up to date and constantly surprising: it was a real delight to me that despite my reading any number of popular texts about evolution, there was still almost nothing here that I already knew!

The premise requires covering certain inevitable subjects, and so I approached the dull-sounding chapter on photosynthesis, for example, as a necessary evil: yet who could have expected that the molecular processes involved could be so exciting? Similarly, the unpromising topic of the mechanical operation of muscle fibres turns out to be fascinating. I found the chapter on consciousness comparatively weak, but it asks a lot for a biochemist to crack that one!

The book's apparatus includes illustrations, an annotated bibliography and extensive index. There are also endnotes: these contain commentary rather than citation, so are better read as one goes along (footnotes might have served the reader better).

This book passes my 'bus test': it made me want to get on the bus to work, so that I could continue reading it!
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars A bit of everything 26 Feb 2010
By Mr. Peter Young
Format:Paperback
This book is well worth a read, as unlike many others in this field, the author discusses in detail, a variety of different topics. These topices range from basic cell structure, to muscles, sight, consciousness and death to name a few. For me, some chapters were fasinating (Consciousness)and not long enough, while a couple of others (muscles), were a bit on the long side. It is almost like ten different books in one, and if it were not for a couple of chapters, which I found repetitive, then it would be a definite 5 stars.
Having said that, if you are at all interested in the evolution of life, buy this book.
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29 of 31 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Suberb Science 27 July 2009
By Ilona
Format:Hardcover
This is one of the best scientific books I have ever read and understood,and written for the non-scientist!! Lane takes the reader beautifully from the origins of life to the finality of death. The chapter on the origins and evolution of sight stands out especially, while the one on photosynthesis isn't far behind.
I will reread it endlessly.
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22 of 24 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating Stuff 12 April 2010
By Crookedmouth HALL OF FAME TOP 50 REVIEWER VINE VOICE
Format:Paperback|Verified Purchase
As the book's subtitle says, this covers ten significant evolutionary inventions, including movement, sex, consciousness, death and so on. Each is covered in some detail (although necessarily abridged and summarised) from a genetic/molecular biology perspective, but also from a more thoughtful esoteric standpoint.

Despite having read a number of similar books, including all of Dawkins' work and Steve Jones' Almost Like a Bear, I still found this hard going in places (quite a few places actually!) and, from that point of view, readers uninitiated in the world of evolutionary biology should approach it with a little caution. Nevertheless it is still a very well written, concise, readable book and the author's passion and humour show through. If you're willing to be flummoxed in places on the first pass (never anything to be ashamed of, I believe), it's quite suitable for the lay reader.

I still think that The Blind Watchmaker and The Selfish Gene tower above all other entries in the popular evolutionary biology genre and these are, I suspect, useful reading before you pick this one up. However the strong point of this book is that it brings the subject as bang up to date as any popular published work can and it is invaluable in that respect.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Life ascending 18 Mar 2010
By Sir Barnabas VINE VOICE
Format:Paperback|Verified Purchase
Life Ascending

In Life Ascending, biochemist Nick Lane examines his particular candidates for the top ten "inventions" of evolution. These are; the origin of life, DNA, photosynthesis, the eukaryotic cell, sex, movement, sight, hot blood, consciousness and death.

The book itself is a fascinating account of some of the central themes of life, from the origin of life itself, through to consciousness and, finally, death. It is extremely well written by a passionate scientist and provides a clear and lucid insight into current scientific thinking regarding the evolution of the subjects selected for inclusion in the book. While the whole book is comendable, one of my favourite chapters is the very first, which explains how the discovery of submarine hydrothermal and alkaline vents, their structure and chemistry have transformed our understanding of the origin of life on this planet.

The author isn't afraid to tackle some difficult concepts head on and the first 3 chapters in particular deal with some pretty complex biochemistry. Whilst this is obviously intended as a popular science book, I would suggest that it possibly isn't all that suitable for the evolution/science novice.

Overall, a fascinating and well written account of our current understanding of the evolution of the chosen subjects, although if you are looking for a more "introductory" text, or a more general overview of evolution, I would suggest something like Jerry Coyne's excellent; "Why Evolution is True" or Dawkins' most recent offering; "The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution".
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Modern Take on Evolution
One of the best science books I have ever read - and I haven't even finished it yet! Up-to-date material, presented in an accessible manner without dumbing down. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Old Timer
4.0 out of 5 stars Great book, poor kindle version
The book is great, i love the way Nick Lane tells the story, however, the kindle version was quite poor, some of the links didn't work at all, some were leading to the wrong place. Read more
Published 3 months ago by book mole
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the most interesting and informative books I have read.
Virtually every page has some mind blowing insight or information. If you are intersted in evolution and science read this book.
Published 5 months ago by WiganPaul
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book - a heavy read unless you are a scientist
So much in here that explains the living world we see - lots of insights & lots of answers & some questions still remaining
This part of science is expanding at such a rate... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Mr Nigelson
5.0 out of 5 stars Life Ascending: The Ten Great inventions of Evolution
This book was lent to my 18 year son from his Science teacher in College in which he is
following the path of Science. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Rex
5.0 out of 5 stars FAB!
Arrived very promptly. I heard Nick Lane speak at UCL recently and he was very inspiring, Have had a quick scan and looks great. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Super ma
5.0 out of 5 stars Life in all it's intricacy .
I think that if your interested in evolutionary biology you have probably read Dawkins which is informative, well explained and easily digested, this book goes much deeper into the... Read more
Published 11 months ago by D. S. Sample
4.0 out of 5 stars A good read overall for those with a decent basis of biological...
A good book spanning lots of areas of biology, meaning that there is bound to be a chapter you find personally interesting. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Vicky Firth
5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Book
I found this book a wonderfully stimulating read. It provides for an interested layman a superbly written introduction to the bio-chemical foundations of the evolutionary process... Read more
Published 12 months ago by a k jameson
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic
Just brilliant, provides fantastic intriduction and insight into evolutionary marvels and also doesn't just repeat the material that was also covered in power,sex and suicide.
Published 14 months ago by James Peter Arrich
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