000			nam a22 4500
999			_c86862 _d86862
008			190704b xxu||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d
020			_a9780393352979
082			_a577 _bLan
100			_aLane, Nick
245			_aThe vital question : _bEnergy, evolution, and the origins of complex life
250			_a1st
260			_aNew York _bW.W. Norton & Company, Inc. _c2015
300			_a360p. _bpb _c21x14 cm.
365			_b930/-
520			_a “One of the deepest, most illuminating books about the history of life to have been published in recent years.” —The Economist The Earth teems with life: in its oceans, forests, skies and cities. Yet there’s a black hole at the heart of biology. We do not know why complex life is the way it is, or, for that matter, how life first began. In The Vital Question, award-winning author and biochemist Nick Lane radically reframes evolutionary history, putting forward a solution to conundrums that have puzzled generations of scientists. For two and a half billion years, from the very origins of life, single-celled organisms such as bacteria evolved without changing their basic form. Then, on just one occasion in four billion years, they made the jump to complexity. All complex life, from mushrooms to man, shares puzzling features, such as sex, which are unknown in bacteria. How and why did this radical transformation happen? The answer, Lane argues, lies in energy: all life on Earth lives off a voltage with the strength of a lightning bolt. Building on the pillars of evolutionary theory, Lane’s hypothesis draws on cutting-edge research into the link between energy and cell biology, in order to deliver a compelling account of evolution from the very origins of life to the emergence of multicellular organisms, while offering deep insights into our own lives and deaths. Both rigorous and enchanting, The Vital Question provides a solution to life’s vital question: why are we as we are, and indeed, why are we here at all?
650			_aEnergy
650			_aEvolution
650			_aOrigins of Complex Life
942			_cBK