Life on the Edge

The Coming of Age of Quantum Biology

By: Johnjoe McFadden, Jim Al-Khalili

Narrated by: Pete Cross

Life is the most extraordinary phenomenon in the known universe; but how did it come to be? Even in an age of cloning and artificial biology, the remarkable truth remains: Nobody has ever made anything living entirely out of dead material. Life remains the only way to make life. Are we still missing a vital ingredient in its creation? Jim Al-Khalili and Johnjoe Macfadden reveal the hitherto missing ingredient to be quantum mechanics and the strange phenomena that lie at the heart of this most mysterious of sciences. As they brilliantly demonstrate here, life lives on the quantum edge.

©2014 Johnjoe McFadden and Jim Al-Khalili (P)2015 Dreamscape Media, LLC

Thoroughly enjoyable and highly interesting

Good writing is getting more difficult to find, especially in popular science, but not this one. The subject matter has not been explored elsewhere (yet) except for the explanations of the quantum mechanics but the experiments used to probe the specific features as well as those upon which this theory is built. A few of the ideas have been tested at least once (which means many runs of each experiment.) The narrator of the audio book was good but seemed to be doing more reading than comprehending. It may not be true, and his job is to strictly repeat what is on the written page, but he sounded bored in spots. Still, it was fascinating stuff and thoroughly enjoyable.

Life on the edge, a perfect title!

I have relistened several times, and it just gets better each time. It is technical, but understandable. A Tour De force in science as related to physics and biology. The narration is professional which made it enjoyable to listen too. All the different species in this audio relates to multiple ways of navigation, either through seeing magnetic fields or feeling magnetic fields and using quantum entanglement to achieve migration. From European robins to fruit flies and many other differentiated species this book continues where Darwin could only imagine. The science of cryptochromes will simply amaze you. This audio book takes us into the worlds of decoherence & coherence to a relm of what we understand from Newtonian physics in the macro world of what we observer to a place where the unseen is truly our reality. One of the journey's that you experience is a trip through time back about 30,000 years ago to the present-day France in in a most unique cave called Chauvet, where highly detailed images have been drawn, or painted on the walls of paleolithic art along with the drawer's own handprints. The authors, take you on a quantum trip through the artists own imagined experiences as she creates memories for all to view. I highly recommend this audio if you enjoy learning especially from such an outstanding set of professor's and authors as Johnjoe McFadden in biology & Jim Al-Khalili in theoretical physics. Each of these are experts in their field of study. I am looking forward to purchasing the hard copy when it's available, it's that good.

Brilliant Explanations

I love it when I find a book that explains new concepts like this one. These books are few and far between. However, Life on the Edge stands out for the quality of its explanations of both the new quantum biological phenomena and the long-known quantum phenomena that I supposedly learned in college.

Stimulating and challenging

The book is focused on the evolution and current research in quantum biology a branch of bio physics. It is well written, current, and raises very thought provoking research question on what is life? What is consciousness? And, artificial life. It basically elaborate the thesis that at a certain basic level quantum mechanics is essential for life as statistical mechanics is essential to under thermodynamic properties of living organisms as classical mechanics is essential for understanding the macro level of
Life.

I recommend this book for readers interested in the frontiers of science and the science of life.

Finally, applied quantum mechanics for biology

Story most compelling. Written so that a classical biologist could understand. Coherent arguments more than plausible. Implications far reaching. Schroedinger's "What is life" under appreciated. Than you.

Life on the edge

The authors convincingly illustrated that Quantum seemed to be the origin of life. But the quantum entanglement phenomena are hard to comprehend with limited evidence.

A Good Review with Decent Quantum Relevant Insight

This is a good review of biology from molecular and quantum perspectives.  The authors made a great effort in connecting or trying to connect biological functionalities with today's understanding of quantum mechanics and (potential) applications, though some are quite convincing based on existing scientific evidence, some are not yet at the current time... Nonetheless, my hats off to the authors and hope to see more and/or updated version.

A wonderful intro to quantum biology

A great and uncompromising look at the newish field of quantum biology. Although dense with concepts and information, it does a great job at moving through topics in a well-planned, demonstrative arc; using a lot of great examples, comparisons, and metaphors.

Highly recommend for a great introduction to quantum biology and an enjoyable refresh on some of mysterious biological concepts you may have learned in school, but are now party or mostly understood through the quantum lens.

Too many boring asides about the researchers and other key figures.

Unlike Al-Khalili's usual focus on the awe and wonder of the science, this book keeps sidetracking itself with boring asides that I think are intended to make the story more human and appeal to a broader audience. It also spends a lot of time on the history of our understanding of the science in a typical past to present sequential manner. Anyone who has taken a science class (hopefully this has changed now) will be familiar with the approach of starting at the beginning and following the development of the field, stopping to praise the individual discoverers by name and telling a memorable anecdote about them. I think this is an archaic way to present a topic and I could care less what a total stranger to me was doing in their spare time many decades ago. .

A whole new perspective on biology

While my profession involved understanding biology and physiology it never entered my mind that quantum physics was involved. The importance of quantum phenomena for enzymes, DNA replication, and smell opened my eyes. I have been fascinated by descriptions of elementary particles for years. It had always seemed irrelevant for day to day life. I now see it plays a role in many things we are just beginning to understand.