Power, Sex, Suicide: Mitochondria and the meaning of life: Amazon.co.uk: Nick Lane: Books

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Review

Challenging, but rewarding. (Observer )

Full of startling insights into the nature and evolution of life as we know it. (Economist Best Books of the Year, 2005 )

An enthralling account...The author has accomplished something quite breathtaking...moreover,he brings the science alive...he is always accessible, livley, thought-provoking, and informative. Every biologist should read this book

'Power, Sex, Suicide is an enjoyable and readable book....anyone interested in the broader and more philosophical aspects of their discipline will profit from reading the book' (David G. Nicholls, Science )

impressive....a polemical book...readable, provocative and often persuasive....This is an exciting and unusual book. (Jonathan Hodgkin, Times Literary Supplement )

Popular Science

Amazing... This book opens up secrets with an obvious delight from Lane that the readers are likely to share. Recommended.

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Inside This Book (Learn More)

First Sentence
Mitochondria are tiny organelles inside cells that generate almost all our energy in the form of ATP. Read the first page

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Concordance

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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index

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Customer Reviews

17 Reviews

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4.5 out of 5 stars (17 customer reviews)

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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Where we all come from, 3 Oct 2009

By

Printul Noptilor (Eastern Europe) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Power, Sex, Suicide: Mitochondria and the meaning of life (Paperback)

This book is a real treasure for anyone who wants to understand what life on Earth is all about and why we are the way we are. After you have read "The Selfish Gene", this (admittedly far more specific and complicated) work is the mandatory follow-up.

But talk about a misleading title! (Dare I say "cheap sales trick"?) Of course, strictly speaking, this book is about power - meaning "power" in the sense of "energy", not in the sense of "power over something or somebody". It is about sex - but only in the sense of "how did two-gender organisms emerge", not in any sexy meaning. And it's about suicide - it describes how occasionally cells die willingly if it benefits the organism as a whole. So if Mr. Lane would say under oath that this book is about power, sex and suicide, he could not be convicted of perjury. On the other hand, I don't think there are many people in the world who, seeing the title "Power, Sex, Suicide", would expect to find a book on... mitochondria!

And this book is about mitochondria. They are organelles inside the cells and they supply cells with energy. It doesn't sound like a big deal, but according to this book, mitochondria are the crucial piece of the puzzle that has made life as we know possible. When you read this book, you'll learn that amoeba (one-cell organisms who have mitochondria) are actually closer to humans than to bacteria (one-cell organisms without mitochondria). You'll also learn why bacteria can never evolve into multicellular organisms, and even why Richard Dawkins's "selfish gene" theory isn't applicable on bacteria. Also, the emergence of multiple sexes (there are species that have more than two) and the phenomenon known as cell suicide have been caused by mitochondria. The part on antioxydants was also rather interesting.

Finally, Mr. Lane suggests that the emergence of mitochondria was such a hugely improbable coincidence that it's quite possible that it has never occurred anywhere else in the universe. It means that it's plausible to assume that Earth is the only place where there is any life above the level of bacteria.

My only big complaint is that Mr. Lane just can't do without pathetic politically correct apologies whenever touching subjects that have to do with (human) gender relations.

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41 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mitochondria Revisited, 11 Dec 2005

By

Joan H. Hammond "joanius" - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Power, Sex, Suicide: Mitochondria and the meaning of life (Hardcover)

Cellular biology is a subject, which falls between the interesting and complicated. It is for this reason I warn the reader that unless you have an unquenchable thirst for this subject, think twice about reading this book. For the biologically-orientated individual however, this is an excellent book, which takes account of recent developments and discoveries. It is very readable and the author has made a complex subject a somewhat absorbing field. The reason for the 4 stars is the price. Given the lack of illustrations, the price is a bit on the high side.

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22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ohh mitochondria, tell us the truth, 17 Sep 2007

By

Luis Mansilla Miranda (Vi�a del Mar, Chile) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Power, Sex, Suicide: Mitochondria and the meaning of life (Paperback)

What a book, absolutely fascinating and highly recommended, although I must say that this is not an easy book, in fact is kind of complex if you are not acquainted with the subject. This is not a critic, thing is I would not change a bit of it, but in my opinion, people should have a little knowledge of cellular metabolism and biochemistry before attempting this book.

After reading Dawkins book about the selfish gene, it was inevitable for me to wonder about life origins, why unicellular organisms have that tendency to complexity and to group itself, and how all this machinery works. This book provide a thorough and absorbing biography of Mitochondria and its symbiosis with eukaryotes, what is the function of each one, why there are two sexes and why we aged and finally become history. As you will see, our understanding of these matters is rather modest, the author insinuate possible solutions to some of the big questions, but in any case the subject is so interesting that you read this book excited all the way to the end.

How beautiful is life and how complex ... you can see that just watching a little fly and wonder how on earth this insect manage to fly, as if eukaryotes have a previous knowledge of Physics, as if they have all the basic solutions of nature in a template. I just know one thing: I want to know and read more about it.

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