The Equations of Life : How Physics Shapes Evolution

A groundbreaking new theory of evolution, arguing that life develops in predictable ways We are all familiar with the popular idea of strange alien life wildly different from life on earth inhabiting other planets. Maybe it's made of silicon! Maybe it has wheels! Or maybe it doesn't. In The Equations of Life , biologist Charles S. Cockell makes the forceful argument that the laws of physics narrowly constrain how life can evolve, making evolution's outcomes predictable. If we were to find on a distant planet something very much like a lady bug eating something like an aphid, we shouldn't be surprised. The forms of life are guided by a limited set of rules, and as a result, there is a narrow set of solutions to the challenges of existence. A remarkable scientific contribution breathing new life into Darwin's theory of evolution, The Equations of Life makes a radical argument about what life can—and can't—be. "Why do flocks of geese fly in graceful echelons? Why do animals have legs and not wheels? Why do burrowing moles look the same the world over? In [this book], biologist Charles S. Cockell argues that the laws of physics narrowly constrain how life can evolve. Despite the astounding diversity of living things on the planet, evolution's outcomes are predictable at every level of life's structure, from colonies of ants to the very atoms from which they are made. Yet in this view, we can find a new appreciation for the beautiful simplicity and symmetry of life. In a provocative and captivating journey into the forces and laws that shape the zoo of living things on Earth, Cockell suggests that the unity of physics and biology gives us a new way to unravel the mysteries of life on our own planet and maybe even elsewhere. He shows why alien life forms, if they exist, would look like the creatures we know. With only a narrow set of solutions available to organisms struggling with the challenges of existence, they too would be limited in their chemistry, their forms, and the rules that shape their populations. The profusion of life on Earth can seem mindboggling, but ultimately it may be unexceptional in the universe. A remarkable contribution breathing new life into Darwin's theory of evolution, The Equations of Life is a forceful argument about what life can--and can't--be."--Jacket "Any reader of science fiction or viewer of Star Trek will be awake to the dream that there may be life elsewhere in our universe that isn't like life here on Earth. Maybe, like E.T., it has new letters in its genetic alphabet! Maybe it's made of silicon! Maybe it gets around on wheels! Or maybe it doesn't. In The Equations of Life, biologist Charles Cockell makes the surprising argument that the Universe constrains life, making its evolutionary outcomes quite predictable--in short, if we were to find, on some distant planet, something very much like a ladybug eating something very much like an aphid that had itself just been feeding on the sap of something very much like a flower, we shouldn't at all be surprised. Considering the vast pantheon of creatures that have existed on Earth, from pterodactyls to sloths, it is tempting to think that the possibilities for life are limitless, and that a ladybug is a marvelous oddity. But as Cockell reveals, the forms and shapes of life are guided by a limited sets of rules. There is just a narrow set of mathematical solutions to the challenges of existence. Any natural environment usually has multiple challenges to survival in it, each associated to a physical equation."--Publisher information "Any reader of science fiction or viewer of Star Trek will be awake to the dream that there may be life elsewhere in our universe that isn't like life here on Earth. Maybe, like E.T., it has new letters in its genetic alphabet! Maybe it's made of silicon! Maybe it gets around on wheels! Or maybe it doesn't. In The Equations of Life, biologist Charles Cockell makes the surprising argument that the Universe constrains life, making its evolutionary outcomes quite predictable--in short, if we were to find, on some distant planet, something very much like a ladybug eating something very much like an aphid that had itself just been feeding on the sap of something very much like a flower, we shouldn't at all be surprised. Considering the vast pantheon of creatures that have existed on Earth, from pterodactyls to sloths, it is tempting to think that the possibilities for life are limitless, and that a ladybug is a marvelous oddity. But as Cockell reveals, the forms and shapes of life are guided by a limited sets of rules. There is just a narrow set of mathematical solutions to the challenges of existence. Any natural environment usually has multiple challenges to survival in it, each associated to a physical equation"-- Provided by publisher A groundbreaking argument for why alien life will evolve to be much like life here on Earth We are all familiar with the popular idea of strange alien life wildly different from life on earth inhabiting other planets. Maybe it's made of silicon! Maybe it has wheels! Or maybe it doesn't. In The Equations of Life , biologist Charles S. Cockell makes the forceful argument that the laws of physics narrowly constrain how life can evolve, making evolution's outcomes predictable. If we were to find on a distant planet something very much like a lady bug eating something like an aphid, we shouldn't be surprised. The forms of life are guided by a limited set of rules, and as a result, there is a narrow set of solutions to the challenges of existence. A remarkable scientific contribution breathing new life into Darwin's theory of evolution, The Equations of Life makes a radical argument about what life can — and can't — be. Life's silent commander Organizing the multitudes The physics of the ladybug All creatures great and small Bundles of life The edge of life The code of life Of sandwiches and sulfur Water, the liquid of life The atoms of life Universal biology? The laws of life : evolution and physics unified.