dennyabraham's review against another edition
5.0
I consider myself well versed enough in chemistry and microbiology to be able to explain abiogenesis, but this book explains to the layperson things I couldn't even conceive before reading it. great content, great prose.
randomprogrammer's review against another edition
3.0
There's some great stuff in here, and the concepts are often fascinating, but holy cow is it hard to get through as an audiobook. I feel like this is a constant complaint for me with Lane's work.
rhyslindmark's review against another edition
4.0
I really wanted to give this 5 stars, but couldn't quite do it.
This book reminds me of Dawkin's Selfish Gene. An excellent synthesis of cutting edge research, but a bit too scattered at the end.
The first half is an incredibly clear overview of how life began. It's a shame that the wiki abiogenesis page still emphasizes RNA world and Miller-Urey. The iron-sulfur hypothesis laid out by Lane is MUCH stronger.
Lane then goes into the importance of endosymbiosis and mitochrondria, which is again a tour de force of bioenergetics, physical biochemistry, and inevitable evolution.
The second half is less good, partially because I ran out of steam, partially because it feels out of scope. 368 pages is indeed too long.
Still, THE book to read on the origin of life, and one of my favorite biochem/evolution books along with Selfish Gene, Darwin's Dangerous Idea, and Free Energy Principle.
This book reminds me of Dawkin's Selfish Gene. An excellent synthesis of cutting edge research, but a bit too scattered at the end.
The first half is an incredibly clear overview of how life began. It's a shame that the wiki abiogenesis page still emphasizes RNA world and Miller-Urey. The iron-sulfur hypothesis laid out by Lane is MUCH stronger.
Lane then goes into the importance of endosymbiosis and mitochrondria, which is again a tour de force of bioenergetics, physical biochemistry, and inevitable evolution.
The second half is less good, partially because I ran out of steam, partially because it feels out of scope. 368 pages is indeed too long.
Still, THE book to read on the origin of life, and one of my favorite biochem/evolution books along with Selfish Gene, Darwin's Dangerous Idea, and Free Energy Principle.
maxsebastian's review against another edition
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
4.0
The Vital Question is a solid and informative read on the origin of life, cells, complexity, and death itself. I enjoyed Lane’s process throughout the story and found his premise that the origin of life was an energy problem to be quite thought provoking.
mark_lm's review against another edition
4.0
A very clear explanation of the importance of bioenergetics in the origin of life and the evolution of the eukaryotes, and a detailed discussion of the possible role of endosymbiosis in the evolution of complex organisms, sex, apoptosis and aging. A lot has happened since I learned the Krebs cycle, and just the update, including the extraordinary appearance of ATP synthase, along with the discussion relating biochemistry to evolution makes the book worthwhile. Dr. Lane's imagined trip through a mitochondrion, shrinking us to the size of an ATP molecule, to explain chemiosmotic coupling is inspired.