This biology book blew me away

The Vital Question by Nick Lane

Nick reminds me of writers like Jared Diamond, people who develop a grand (宏伟的) theory that explains a lot about the world. He is one of those original thinkers who makes you say: More people should know about this guy’s work.

Simple cells like bacteria generate all their energy in their outer membrane, which puts a physical limit on how big they can get and still make enough energy to support themselves. (In mathematical terms, their volume expands faster than their surface area, so their demand for energy eventually exceeds their ability to generate it.) Once cells had internalized (内化) the means of making energy—that is, once they had mitochondria—this constraint disappeared. Mitochondria also have specialized genomes focused on energy generation, but bacteria don’t. So cells with mitochondria could get much bigger, allowing for complex new arrangements.

In The Vital Question, Nick goes on to show how energy can help explain why life is the way it is. He makes a persuasive case that complex life must have the traits we see today. And he argues that it would almost certainly develop the same way everywhere. Which means that, if we find complex life on other planets, it will quite likely share the same traits. In other words, E.T. can’t clone himself. If he wants to have kids, he’ll need Mrs. E.T.

Nick has a very scientific demeanor (风度). In reading his books and talking to him, I never got the impression that he was claiming more than he should or trying to pull a fast one (欺骗) on the reader. It’s always clear where he’s citing someone else’s work and where he’s building out his own ideas. And he would be the first to tell you that some of his ideas might be wrong.

As much as I loved The Vital Question, it’s not for everyone. Some of the explanations are pretty technical. But this is a technical subject, and I doubt anyone else will make it much easier to understand without sacrificing crucial details. He uses lots of vivid metaphors (隐喻) to explain key ideas. Every few pages he sums up what he has just said and recaps (回顾) the important points. If you have a scientific bent (爱好，天赋) and you remember a bit of chemistry and biology, you should find The Vital Question quite approachable (易理解的，可接近的).

His focus on energy will be seen as an important contribution to our understanding of where we come from, and where are we going.

See you tomorrow