- Paperback: 288 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd (27 Feb 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0140263306
- ISBN-13: 978-0140263305
- Product Dimensions: 17.4 x 11 x 2.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 772,135 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
In The Fifth Miracle, physicist and writer Paul Davies confronts one of science's great outstanding mysteries -- the origin of life. Davies builds on contemporary scientific discoveries and theories to address the question: What, exactly, is life? Is it the inevitable by-product of physical laws, as many scientists maintain, or an almost miraculous accident? Are we alone in the universe, or will life emerge on all Earth-like planets? And if there is life elsewhere in the universe, is it preordained to evolve toward greater complexity and intelligence?
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The mystery of life in a meteorite,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Fifth Miracle: Search for the Origins of Life (Penguin Press Science) (Paperback)
Paul Davies here goes through the theories attached to the enduring problem of where life originally came from, how an inhospitable lump of rather warm rock managed to become a world of living creatures. Sometimes the science is really a bit too (unnecessarily) blinding, especially where Davies tries to relate the second law of thermodynamics and the concept of entropy to the origins of life: the connection between physics and biology here is rather difficult to understand. But by the time Davies'...erm... less substantiated theories about meteorites and Mars start being elaborated, the book's taken on a momentum of its own. It's a very interesting book, but, to a layman, only quite convincing.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Mind opening and very facinating,
By manji_kerai@hotmail.com (London, UK.) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Fifth Miracle: Search for the Origins of Life (Penguin Press Science) (Paperback)
This book describes in detail various theories on the origins of life. It is supported by a combination of scientific research information and personal views which made it a very enjoyable read. One of the most interesting books I have read on this subject. I would be very interested to know which of the theories Paul Davies favours most.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Theories of the origin of life,
By
This review is from: The Fifth Miracle: Search for the Origins of Life (Allen Lane Science) (Hardcover)
The Fifth Miracle: The search for the origin of life, by Paul Davies, Penguin, 1998, 304 ff.
Theories of the origin of life By Howard A. Jones No, this is not a theology book, though it does take its title from the author's reading of Genesis where God is said to create the universe, light, firmament, land - and then life, all regarded as miracles. Setting theology aside, the rest of the book is a scientific description of theories - biological, chemical and physical - as to the origin of life on Earth. The author was a Professor at the University of Adelaide when this book was written and is now at the State University of Arizona where he is Director of a Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science, exploring subjects as diverse as cancer, which he proposes be studied in a non-traditional way, and the search for extra-terrestrial life. In the opening chapter Davies makes it clear that he does not believe in vitalism, the existence of some kind of life force in living matter. He does however accept that living matter contains a unique type of information that allows self-propagation. There is a good discussion of the scientifically accepted (Darwinian) biological role of DNA and RNA here and in later chapters, but for any Lamarckian interpretation readers must turn to authors like Bruce Lipton. In fact, the whole book is more biological than others I have read by this author, but it's good to see Cairns-Smith's ideas of clay minerals as templates for nucleic acids getting some coverage. As usual in his books, Davies combines with fluency geology, biology, cosmology and metaphysics (about the meaning of life, for example) on a scientific bedrock of physics. Also as usual, there is no mathematics for readers to have to get their heads around. As might be expected from the title, there is more biology in this book than physics, but this is also in line with the author's current research interests. At the end, there are several pages of Notes that include References, and an Index set in a very tiny font size that's hard to read. Dr Howard A. Jones is the author of The Thoughtful Guide to God (2006) and The Tao of Holism (2008), both published by O Books of Winchester, UK. The Biology of Belief: Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter and Miracles What is Life?: With Mind and Matter and Autobiographical Sketches (Canto) Complexity: The Emerging Science at the Edge of Order and Chaos (Penguin Science)
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