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Life on the Edge: The Coming of Age of Quantum Biology
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?
Like Richard Dawkins' The Selfish Gene, which provided a new perspective on how evolution works, Life on the Edge alters our understanding of our world's fundamental dynamics. Bringing together first-hand experience at the cutting edge of science with unparalleled gifts of explanation, Jim Al-Khalili and Johnjoe Macfadden reveal that missing ingredient to be quantum mechanics; the phenomena that lie at the heart of this most mysterious of sciences.
Drawing on recent ground-breaking experiments around the world, each chapter in Life on the Edge engages by illustrating one of life's puzzles: How do migrating birds know where to go? How do we really smell the scent of a rose? How do our genes copy themselves with such precision? Life on the Edge accessibly reveals how quantum mechanics can answer these probing questions of the universe.
Guiding the reader through the rapidly unfolding discoveries of the last few years, Al-Khalili and McFadden communicate the excitement of the explosive new field of quantum biology and its potentially revolutionary applications, while offering insights into the biggest puzzle of all: what is life? As they brilliantly demonstrate in these groundbreaking pages, life exists on the quantum edge.
Like Richard Dawkins' The Selfish Gene, which provided a new perspective on how evolution works, Life on the Edge alters our understanding of our world's fundamental dynamics. Bringing together first-hand experience at the cutting edge of science with unparalleled gifts of explanation, Jim Al-Khalili and Johnjoe Macfadden reveal that missing ingredient to be quantum mechanics; the phenomena that lie at the heart of this most mysterious of sciences.
Drawing on recent ground-breaking experiments around the world, each chapter in Life on the Edge engages by illustrating one of life's puzzles: How do migrating birds know where to go? How do we really smell the scent of a rose? How do our genes copy themselves with such precision? Life on the Edge accessibly reveals how quantum mechanics can answer these probing questions of the universe.
Guiding the reader through the rapidly unfolding discoveries of the last few years, Al-Khalili and McFadden communicate the excitement of the explosive new field of quantum biology and its potentially revolutionary applications, while offering insights into the biggest puzzle of all: what is life? As they brilliantly demonstrate in these groundbreaking pages, life exists on the quantum edge.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published November 6, 2014
About the author
Johnjoe McFadden
11 books53 followersan Anglo-Irish scientist, academic and writer. He is Professor of Molecular Genetics at the University of Surrey, United Kingdom.
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November 16, 2014
You might think that this book has received four stars, but if you know anything about quantum theory you will be aware that a quantum object can be in a superposition of states. And this quantum book is in a superposed state of 5 stars for the subject - which is fascinating and important - and 3 stars for the writing - which is disappointingly poor, given Jim Al-Khalili's expertise and experience.
It might seem that the whole concept of 'quantum biology' is a truism that hardly needs exploring. When every chemical reaction or electrical activity in a living organism is based on the interaction of quantum particles, why would there be a need for a separate discipline? But the (still relatively few) workers in the field like quantum physicist Jim Al-Khalili and biologist Johnjoe McFadden are looking at special cases. Where quantum effects, like entanglement, have a direct impact on large scale systems. Whether it's the robin's ability to steer using a molecular magnetic compass or the detail at the heart of photosynthesis, there seems to be some strange quantum behaviour that would take biologists by surprise as much as the general reader. And, the authors suggest, perhaps it is the reason that life itself can exist.
There are two aspects of the book that are truly fascinating. One is the exploration of the way that photosynthesis makes use of quantum effects - in fact, could not work without it. It's absolutely mind-boggling that the excited electron that has to be passed as an energy source to the reaction centre has no way of getting there without making use the of the quantum probabilities of taking every path to find its way. And as the authors explore the incredible unlikeliness of life getting started as a result of random interactions it becomes increasingly obvious that there surely must have been some kind of quantum effect that was involved in that process. (We have no idea what it might be, so having a chapter titled How life began' is a bit optimistic.)
One thing I didn't like, which is a common failing when a media scientist writes a book, is the way that quantum physics is presented with a broadcast gloss. What I mean by this is that in a TV or radio programme, where you only have a minute or two to explain something, you often have to gloss over the detail in a way that means you will say something that isn't quite true to keep things moving. But in a book you have the space to explain things properly, and this kind of glossing is a shame. It happens early on where quantum physics is first explained. We hear for instance that quantum particles can be in two places at once (where in reality they aren't at any fixed location) and quantum spin is mentioned in a way that suggests it's literally about a particle spinning around (it's not).
There was also what seemed like a little cattiness. Several times (again, as it's on quantum physics I assume this was Al-Khalili) there are at least four little digs about the way that quantum entanglement doesn't make 'paranormal phenomena' (his inverted commas) such as telepathy possible. At one point he says 'despite the bogus claims of telepathy'. If you don't know the field, you might wonder why this obsession with telepathy, but if you do it's hard not to suspect that this is a dig at Nobel Prize winner Brian Josephson who has previously made exactly this suggestion.
However, neither of these is the reason for the 3 stars for writing, which is rather that apart from those highlights of photosynthesis and the origins of life the book gets bogged down in biochemical details that are frankly not very interesting and that fail to carry the reader. Quantum physics may be glossed, but biological details get the opposite treatment. Perhaps it's the difficulty of having a co-authored book. Perhaps it's because the authors are too close to the subject, but I found parts of it very tedious, perhaps reflective of the old Feynman observation about biologists spending far too much time learning the names for things.
Overall, then, a fascinating topic, a branch of science that is shiny and new and wonderful. But not the book it should have been.
It might seem that the whole concept of 'quantum biology' is a truism that hardly needs exploring. When every chemical reaction or electrical activity in a living organism is based on the interaction of quantum particles, why would there be a need for a separate discipline? But the (still relatively few) workers in the field like quantum physicist Jim Al-Khalili and biologist Johnjoe McFadden are looking at special cases. Where quantum effects, like entanglement, have a direct impact on large scale systems. Whether it's the robin's ability to steer using a molecular magnetic compass or the detail at the heart of photosynthesis, there seems to be some strange quantum behaviour that would take biologists by surprise as much as the general reader. And, the authors suggest, perhaps it is the reason that life itself can exist.
There are two aspects of the book that are truly fascinating. One is the exploration of the way that photosynthesis makes use of quantum effects - in fact, could not work without it. It's absolutely mind-boggling that the excited electron that has to be passed as an energy source to the reaction centre has no way of getting there without making use the of the quantum probabilities of taking every path to find its way. And as the authors explore the incredible unlikeliness of life getting started as a result of random interactions it becomes increasingly obvious that there surely must have been some kind of quantum effect that was involved in that process. (We have no idea what it might be, so having a chapter titled How life began' is a bit optimistic.)
One thing I didn't like, which is a common failing when a media scientist writes a book, is the way that quantum physics is presented with a broadcast gloss. What I mean by this is that in a TV or radio programme, where you only have a minute or two to explain something, you often have to gloss over the detail in a way that means you will say something that isn't quite true to keep things moving. But in a book you have the space to explain things properly, and this kind of glossing is a shame. It happens early on where quantum physics is first explained. We hear for instance that quantum particles can be in two places at once (where in reality they aren't at any fixed location) and quantum spin is mentioned in a way that suggests it's literally about a particle spinning around (it's not).
There was also what seemed like a little cattiness. Several times (again, as it's on quantum physics I assume this was Al-Khalili) there are at least four little digs about the way that quantum entanglement doesn't make 'paranormal phenomena' (his inverted commas) such as telepathy possible. At one point he says 'despite the bogus claims of telepathy'. If you don't know the field, you might wonder why this obsession with telepathy, but if you do it's hard not to suspect that this is a dig at Nobel Prize winner Brian Josephson who has previously made exactly this suggestion.
However, neither of these is the reason for the 3 stars for writing, which is rather that apart from those highlights of photosynthesis and the origins of life the book gets bogged down in biochemical details that are frankly not very interesting and that fail to carry the reader. Quantum physics may be glossed, but biological details get the opposite treatment. Perhaps it's the difficulty of having a co-authored book. Perhaps it's because the authors are too close to the subject, but I found parts of it very tedious, perhaps reflective of the old Feynman observation about biologists spending far too much time learning the names for things.
Overall, then, a fascinating topic, a branch of science that is shiny and new and wonderful. But not the book it should have been.
December 13, 2015
I really appreciate well-written books about science when they are written by active researchers in the field. And this book qualifies, as McFadden is a research biologist, and Al-Khalili is a theoretical physicist. They are both actively engaged in researching evidence for quantum phenomena that are responsible for complex biological mechanisms.
The book focuses on several important and difficult biology problems; photosynthesis, respiration, magnetoreception (bird migration), consciousness, genetics, the sense of smell, and the origin of life. Each of these is still a mystery, and the authors find some--or a lot--of evidence for quantum mechanics being an essential component.
I found a couple of the issues to be particularly fascinating. Some birds that migrate thousands of miles definitely use magnetoreception to find their way. But the receptors are also connected with sight, and require light in order for the magnetoreception to work! And some butterflies also have magnetoreceptors on their antennae. It can take three generations for some butterflies to do a complete round trip of a thousand miles or more. How in the world is this possible?
I also found it fascinating that for photosynthesis to occur, plants may use a form of a quantum computer to perform the necessary catalysis. And the problem that the quantum computer solves is well known--it is the traveling salesman problem!
The authors frequently repeat a quote by physicist Richard Feynman; "If you cannot make it, then you don't understand it." In other words, you don't really understand a biological or physical process until you can duplicate it in the lab. Well, that is certainly the case for the biological processes that are discussed in this book. The origin of life is far from our understanding!
Research on this topic is proceeding rapidly, and the authors found that by the time they had finished writing the book, some parts were already dated. So, they added an extra chapter at the end, to include more recent results. But they recognize that by the time the book is published, it will still contain some out-of-date ideas. And that is wonderful, because science is a process, not an end result!
The book focuses on several important and difficult biology problems; photosynthesis, respiration, magnetoreception (bird migration), consciousness, genetics, the sense of smell, and the origin of life. Each of these is still a mystery, and the authors find some--or a lot--of evidence for quantum mechanics being an essential component.
I found a couple of the issues to be particularly fascinating. Some birds that migrate thousands of miles definitely use magnetoreception to find their way. But the receptors are also connected with sight, and require light in order for the magnetoreception to work! And some butterflies also have magnetoreceptors on their antennae. It can take three generations for some butterflies to do a complete round trip of a thousand miles or more. How in the world is this possible?
I also found it fascinating that for photosynthesis to occur, plants may use a form of a quantum computer to perform the necessary catalysis. And the problem that the quantum computer solves is well known--it is the traveling salesman problem!
The authors frequently repeat a quote by physicist Richard Feynman; "If you cannot make it, then you don't understand it." In other words, you don't really understand a biological or physical process until you can duplicate it in the lab. Well, that is certainly the case for the biological processes that are discussed in this book. The origin of life is far from our understanding!
Research on this topic is proceeding rapidly, and the authors found that by the time they had finished writing the book, some parts were already dated. So, they added an extra chapter at the end, to include more recent results. But they recognize that by the time the book is published, it will still contain some out-of-date ideas. And that is wonderful, because science is a process, not an end result!
December 4, 2018
McFadden and Al-Khalili explore the role of quantum mechanics in living organisms. This new field of quantum biology is finding that life lies on the edge between classical and quantum physics, thus the title of the book. The authors do not believe in any spiritual or mystical influences, rather they dig deeply into biochemistry. They identify specific situations in which the quantum properties of electrons and protons influence organic processes. McFadden and Al-Khalili explain without math the relevant attributes of the quantum world: wave-particle duality, quantum tunneling, superposition and entanglement. They begin each case with a story and then delve into the chemistry and physics behind it.
How does the European robin find its way each year from Scandinavia to the Mediterranean and back? How does the Monarch butterfly make its way across North America to its winter hideout in the mountains of Mexico? Monarchs and the European robin have the protein cryptochrome enabling them to navigate using the earth’s magnetic field. I was struck by the fact that the monarchs that return every summer are the grandchildren of those that left. The monarchs breed in route and their progeny continue the journey somehow knowing the way. The authors note that many animals, plants and even microbes use cryptochrome for magnetic field detection.
Cryptochrome contains free radicals, molecules with an unpaired electron in the outer shell. Particles in cryptochrome molecules can align their spin to the earth’s magnetic field allowing the robins and monarchs to detect the way towards or away from the equator. McFadden and Al-Kahlili explain the quantum property of spin to help us understand how cryptochrome works. It’s counterintuitive. Quantum spin is not like anything we are familiar with in the macro world. A particle’s spin can be one direction or the other (up or down) or it can spin in both directions at the same time (superposition). Pairs of electrons forming chemical bonds become entangled so that when one changes its spin state, so does the other. Until measured both electrons are in superposition (spinning both up and down at the same time). When either one is measured both change to a single spin direction, instantaneously. Fascinatingly, the spin of entangled particles stay coordinated even after the bond is broken and they are separated by large distances. The author’s explain how changes to the quantum state of spin signal to the organism the orientation of the magnetic field. It’s complicated. The book provides the details.
McFadden and Al-Khalili illustrate the amazing complexity of life with the example of the single cell. In the emerging field of synthetic biology when scientists create an amino acid or sugar they create one product at a time. The authors go on, “This is not an easy task and requires careful control of many different conditions inside customized flasks, condensers, separation columns, filtration devices and other elaborate chemical apparatuses…Yet every cell in your body is continually synthesizing thousands of distinct biochemicals within a reaction chamber filled with just a few millionths of a microliter of fluid. How do all those diverse reactions proceed concurrently? And how is all this molecular action orchestrated within a microscopic cell?” This is a profound mystery.
Among the many important substances cells manufacture are enzymes. These are protein catalysts that speed the cell’s many chemical reactions. For example collagenase is essential to deconstruct unneeded or damaged collagen and construct new collagen. It performs its operations in nanoseconds with stunning efficiency. Good to know since collagen holds our trillions of cells together. Collagenase strategically places a positively charged zinc atom and a negatively charged oxygen atom to break exiting chemical bonds and form new ones. But is electrical charge the only force this nanomachine uses? The authors hold that quantum tunneling is also used to move electrons into position. In their quantum state electrons are both particles and waves and their wave function gives them a probability of being found on the other side of a chemical barrier (perhaps electric charge or just empty space). The authors also hold that quantum tunneling is also used in cellular respiration, an extremely complex process cells use to derive energy from food. Whether life evolved to use quantum tunneling or it just was a lucky addition is debated.
The authors explore the details of quantum mechanics reviewing in detail the double slit experiments that show wave-particle duality. They also explain coherence, the state in which particles maintain their quantum nature. Decoherence is the state in which particles operate in a classical manner. Until observed, particles in the double slit experiment have coherence and take all possible routes to their destination. Observation causes decoherence in the double slit experiment and one route only is taken. The bustling movement of neighboring particles can also cause decoherence. Thus the particles that make up living things which are densely packed have been assumed to operate as classical particles not quantum ones. The author’s then review experiments that show examples of coherence, most notably in photosynthesis in bacteria. They believe that in photosynthesis some particles are actually operating as quantum computers exploring all possible paths at once to route electrons the quickest way to their destination. Again the book provides the details.
McFadden and Al-Khalili look into the sense of smell. The prevailing theory is that the olfactory receptors recognize molecules of certain shapes working like a lock and key. When there is a fit the receptors signal the brain. However the authors think more is involved. They believe the vibrational frequency in the atomic bonds of molecules distinguish what we smell. Both the shape theory and the quantum level theory which may involve quantum tunneling have had holes punched in them. The latest seems to be that both processes are at work. Detailed explanations are in the book.
The authors explore whether quantum effects are involved DNA mutations. They note the weak hydrogen bonds between base pairs of the nucleotides that make up DNA. The hydrogen ion is a shared proton that normally lies closer to one of the nucleotides, but rarely it moves to the other side. Is this due to quantum tunneling? McFadden and Al-Khalili consider quantum tunneling in enzymes to be proven, so why could it not also take place in DNA? Could this be one cause of mutations that lead to evolutionary change? The authors don’t claim to have a definitive answer, but clearly are intrigued by the possibility.
Consciousness has received a lot of attention as subject to quantum influences. The authors examine a couple of specific processes but eschew telepathy and other paranormal theories. The rapid firing of neurons underlies body movement and consciousness. McFadden and Al-Khalili look at potassium ions that move through ion channels in neuronal cell membranes at the fantastic rate of one hundred million per second. They wonder whether these ions may be in coherent states with wave like properties that would foster their great speed. They also consider the idea that the electromagnetic field created by all the brain’s neuronal activity in turn synchronizes neuronal firing which is indicative of consciousness. While they are very interested in new research on these ideas they don’t reach a conclusion as to their validity.
The authors end by speculating about possible quantum influences in the origin of life and even how it may be applied in the creation of synthetic life. There is a fair amount of speculation throughout the book, but some of their assertions seem well supported and accepted. They provide very detailed explanations for their positions and cite supporting experiments and concurrence by other scientists. At a minimum McFadden and Al-Khalili make the case for expanded research in this emerging area of study. This would hardly be the first time that scientific proposals once dismissed as too far out turned out to be true.
How does the European robin find its way each year from Scandinavia to the Mediterranean and back? How does the Monarch butterfly make its way across North America to its winter hideout in the mountains of Mexico? Monarchs and the European robin have the protein cryptochrome enabling them to navigate using the earth’s magnetic field. I was struck by the fact that the monarchs that return every summer are the grandchildren of those that left. The monarchs breed in route and their progeny continue the journey somehow knowing the way. The authors note that many animals, plants and even microbes use cryptochrome for magnetic field detection.
Cryptochrome contains free radicals, molecules with an unpaired electron in the outer shell. Particles in cryptochrome molecules can align their spin to the earth’s magnetic field allowing the robins and monarchs to detect the way towards or away from the equator. McFadden and Al-Kahlili explain the quantum property of spin to help us understand how cryptochrome works. It’s counterintuitive. Quantum spin is not like anything we are familiar with in the macro world. A particle’s spin can be one direction or the other (up or down) or it can spin in both directions at the same time (superposition). Pairs of electrons forming chemical bonds become entangled so that when one changes its spin state, so does the other. Until measured both electrons are in superposition (spinning both up and down at the same time). When either one is measured both change to a single spin direction, instantaneously. Fascinatingly, the spin of entangled particles stay coordinated even after the bond is broken and they are separated by large distances. The author’s explain how changes to the quantum state of spin signal to the organism the orientation of the magnetic field. It’s complicated. The book provides the details.
McFadden and Al-Khalili illustrate the amazing complexity of life with the example of the single cell. In the emerging field of synthetic biology when scientists create an amino acid or sugar they create one product at a time. The authors go on, “This is not an easy task and requires careful control of many different conditions inside customized flasks, condensers, separation columns, filtration devices and other elaborate chemical apparatuses…Yet every cell in your body is continually synthesizing thousands of distinct biochemicals within a reaction chamber filled with just a few millionths of a microliter of fluid. How do all those diverse reactions proceed concurrently? And how is all this molecular action orchestrated within a microscopic cell?” This is a profound mystery.
Among the many important substances cells manufacture are enzymes. These are protein catalysts that speed the cell’s many chemical reactions. For example collagenase is essential to deconstruct unneeded or damaged collagen and construct new collagen. It performs its operations in nanoseconds with stunning efficiency. Good to know since collagen holds our trillions of cells together. Collagenase strategically places a positively charged zinc atom and a negatively charged oxygen atom to break exiting chemical bonds and form new ones. But is electrical charge the only force this nanomachine uses? The authors hold that quantum tunneling is also used to move electrons into position. In their quantum state electrons are both particles and waves and their wave function gives them a probability of being found on the other side of a chemical barrier (perhaps electric charge or just empty space). The authors also hold that quantum tunneling is also used in cellular respiration, an extremely complex process cells use to derive energy from food. Whether life evolved to use quantum tunneling or it just was a lucky addition is debated.
The authors explore the details of quantum mechanics reviewing in detail the double slit experiments that show wave-particle duality. They also explain coherence, the state in which particles maintain their quantum nature. Decoherence is the state in which particles operate in a classical manner. Until observed, particles in the double slit experiment have coherence and take all possible routes to their destination. Observation causes decoherence in the double slit experiment and one route only is taken. The bustling movement of neighboring particles can also cause decoherence. Thus the particles that make up living things which are densely packed have been assumed to operate as classical particles not quantum ones. The author’s then review experiments that show examples of coherence, most notably in photosynthesis in bacteria. They believe that in photosynthesis some particles are actually operating as quantum computers exploring all possible paths at once to route electrons the quickest way to their destination. Again the book provides the details.
McFadden and Al-Khalili look into the sense of smell. The prevailing theory is that the olfactory receptors recognize molecules of certain shapes working like a lock and key. When there is a fit the receptors signal the brain. However the authors think more is involved. They believe the vibrational frequency in the atomic bonds of molecules distinguish what we smell. Both the shape theory and the quantum level theory which may involve quantum tunneling have had holes punched in them. The latest seems to be that both processes are at work. Detailed explanations are in the book.
The authors explore whether quantum effects are involved DNA mutations. They note the weak hydrogen bonds between base pairs of the nucleotides that make up DNA. The hydrogen ion is a shared proton that normally lies closer to one of the nucleotides, but rarely it moves to the other side. Is this due to quantum tunneling? McFadden and Al-Khalili consider quantum tunneling in enzymes to be proven, so why could it not also take place in DNA? Could this be one cause of mutations that lead to evolutionary change? The authors don’t claim to have a definitive answer, but clearly are intrigued by the possibility.
Consciousness has received a lot of attention as subject to quantum influences. The authors examine a couple of specific processes but eschew telepathy and other paranormal theories. The rapid firing of neurons underlies body movement and consciousness. McFadden and Al-Khalili look at potassium ions that move through ion channels in neuronal cell membranes at the fantastic rate of one hundred million per second. They wonder whether these ions may be in coherent states with wave like properties that would foster their great speed. They also consider the idea that the electromagnetic field created by all the brain’s neuronal activity in turn synchronizes neuronal firing which is indicative of consciousness. While they are very interested in new research on these ideas they don’t reach a conclusion as to their validity.
The authors end by speculating about possible quantum influences in the origin of life and even how it may be applied in the creation of synthetic life. There is a fair amount of speculation throughout the book, but some of their assertions seem well supported and accepted. They provide very detailed explanations for their positions and cite supporting experiments and concurrence by other scientists. At a minimum McFadden and Al-Khalili make the case for expanded research in this emerging area of study. This would hardly be the first time that scientific proposals once dismissed as too far out turned out to be true.
December 2, 2018
What lies beyond the molecular level? Where we can not see.
Please note that I put the original German text at the end of this review. Just if you might be interested.
The motor of life seems to be more complicated than expected. It turns out more and more than the previous research has observed rather only individual components of the complex machinery. One or the other connection was made, and a few processes were followed. Only nobody knows what underlies these processes on deeper levels. For example, breathing, heredity, photosynthesis, the electrical quantum activity of neurons, magnetoreception, consciousness, sense of smell and the origin of life. Moreover, these are just the processes that this very young science discipline has been able to investigate so far.
Many observed phenomena imply more levels than postulated by established research. Quantum field theory opens a few doors concerning this. Which of the thought experiments fits the inexplicable, observed anomalies will become apparent. The fact that the ghostly long-distance effect cannot be forced well to manifest, complicates the research. When nervous particles are nowhere and at two places at the same time at the same time. This alone contradicts both our fundamental ideas of physics and our worldview. Because it fits into the realm of myths, legends, and fantasy rather than serious science. Also, if that limit falls, what is impossible? What is eccentricity close to madness and what is the reality?
A few hypotheses can be set up.
There are overlooked factors in the known three dimensions that are so tiny or so small in effect that they have not been considered before.
More dimensions than expected. From the 4th and other dimensions come interactions that allow metabolic processes, photosynthesis, and life in our dimension. Without this connection, life would not be possible. Suppose that life would disappear in our dimension or another dimension. Would that also destroy life in the connected dimension because the two are dependent on each other?
Parallel universes. A parallel universe interacts with the other. An unknown kind of entropy shapes the laws of nature. Different variants of the principles of thermodynamics and gravitation interact between the worlds. Or several parallel universes with several types of natural laws are in complex interaction. For a multiverse, the possibilities of variation would be infinite.
Simulation Hypothesis. If the quanta are some programming language, the world would be made up of code. Alternatively, the quanta are just the coarsest, fundamental building blocks under which the actual code is hidden. Mistakes in programming would explain anomalies in our world.
No matter which model you prefer. It could be that the emergence of life without interaction with invisible and undetectable forces is not possible. That there may be universes or worlds that will forever be dead because they are not interacting with others. That symbiosis and cooperation between the layers of realities were so essential that without them, evolution was impossible. We consist of unknown many such hypothetical processes that we do not understand.
The photosynthesis of plants is based not only on sunlight but also on quantum entanglement. If human beings accidentally interfere with this process through physical experiments or less subtly through genetic engineering, the world would perish. If the ability becomes possible only through an interaction with another dimension, disturbances could make it disappear.
The processes in the tiny and colossal call the sea metaphor on the plan. A grain of sand knowledge and an ocean of unanswered questions. A small plant cell is a game that automates a process that requires the hordes of the best scientists and billions of investment in large equipment. Moreover, the flower also manages to sustain the operation for more than a few thousandths of a second. It makes a living with it.
The foundations of many cellular processes, photosynthesis, and chemical processes are currently defined from the point of view of the giant, coarse constituents. Like looking at a factory from the outside. One can see the supply streams, maybe know a few of the primary materials and see the finished end products coming out of the factory. From an analysis of the smoke from the factory chimneys and the waste that arises, one can make small attempts with reverse engineering.
However, what happens in the factory aka all living things can only be guessed.
For human consciousness, this raises the question of where and what the self is. In the un-understood brain, the factor is added that unknown smallest parts or mechanisms of action from other dimensions could be significantly involved. So this ego is theoretically exposed to interactions or, probably, manipulations and whisperings from other, inaccessible realities.
When you make a decision, talk, work or think about things like that.
Whether it is a one-way street and the opposite direction will remain inaccessible to people like a black hole is one of the critical issues. Not only concerning whether we unconsciously work in other dimensions, when we think or have emotions.
However, also regarding the relativity of death. If consciousness does not exist bound to 3 dimensions, then why a body with some wetware in it?
Was liegt alles jenseits der molekularen Ebene? Dort, wohin wir nicht sehen können.
Der Motor des Lebens scheint diffiziler aufgebaut zu sein, als angenommen. Es stellt sich immer mehr heraus, dass die bisherigen Forschungen eher nur einzelne Komponenten der komplexen Maschinerie beobachtet haben. Der eine oder andere Zusammenhang wurde hergestellt und ein paar Prozesse beobachtet. Nur was diesen Vorgängen auf tieferen Ebenen zugrunde liegt, weiß niemand.
Etwa der Atmung, Vererbung, Fotosynthese, elektrischer Quantenaktivität von Neuronen, Magnetorezeption, Bewusstsein, Geruchssinn und dem Ursprung des Lebens.
Und das sind nur die Prozesse, die diese sehr junge Wissenschaftsdisziplin bisher untersuchen konnte.
Viele beobachtete Phänomene implizieren mehr Ebenen als von der etablierten Forschung postuliert. Die Quantenfeldtheorie öffnet hinsichtlich dessen einige Türen. Welches der Gedankenexperimente zu den unerklärlichen, beobachteten Anomalien passt, wird sich zeigen. Dass sich die spukhafte Fernwirkung nicht gut zur Manifestation zwingen lässt, erschwert die Forschung. Wenn die nervösen Teilchen gleichzeitig nirgends und an 2 Stellen zur selben Zeit sind. Alleine das widerspricht sowohl unseren fundamentalen Vorstellungen von Physik als auch unserem Weltbild. Weil es viel eher in das Reich der Mythen, Legenden und Fantasy als zu seriöser Wissenschaft passt. Und wenn diese Grenze fällt, was ist dann noch unmöglich? Was ist dann Spinnerei oder Wahnsinn und was Realität?
Ein paar Hypothesen lassen sich aufstellen.
Es gibt übersehene Faktoren in den bekannten 3 Dimensionen, die so klein oder in ihrer Wirkung so gering sind, dass man sie bisher nicht in Betracht gezogen hat.
Mehr Dimensionen als angenommen. Aus der 4ten und weiteren Dimensionen kommen Wechselwirkungen, die Stoffwechselprozesse, Fotosynthese und das Leben in unserer Dimension ermöglichen. Ohne diese Verbindung wäre Leben nicht möglich. Angenommen, das Leben würde in unserer Dimension oder in einer anderen Dimension verschwinden. Würde das auch das Leben in der angekoppelten Dimension zerstören?
Paralleluniversen. Ein Paralleluniversum wechselwirkt mit dem anderen. Die Naturgesetze sind durch eine unbekannte Art von Entropie geformt. Verschiedene Varianten der Grundsätze der Thermodynamik und Gravitation stehen zwischen den Universen in Wechselwirkung. Oder mehrere Paralleluniversen mit mehreren Arten von Naturgesetzen stehen in komplexem Zusammenspiel. Bei einem Multiversum wären die Variationsmöglichkeiten entsprechend unendlich.
Simulationshypothese. Wenn die Quanten eine Art von Programmiersprache sind, wäre die Welt aus Code zusammen gesetzt. Oder die Quanten sind nur die gröbsten, primitiven Bausteine unter denen der eigentliche Code verborgen liegt. Anomalien in unserer Welt würden sicht mit Fehlern in der Programmierung erklären lassen.
Egal, welchem Modell man den Vorzug gibt. Es könnte sein, dass die Entstehung von Leben ohne eine Wechselwirkung mit unsichtbaren und noch undetektierbaren Kräften nicht möglich ist. Dass es Universen oder Welten geben mag, die für immer tot bleiben werden, weil sie nicht in Wechselwirkung mit anderen stehen. Dass sie Symbiose und Kooperation zwischen den Schichten der Wirklichkeiten so essentiell sind, dass ohne sie keine Evolution möglich ist. Wir bestehen aus unbekannt vielen solcher hypothetischer Vorgänge, die wir nicht verstehen.
Die Fotosynthese von Pflanzen basiert nicht allein auf Sonnenlicht, sondern auch auf Quantenverschränkung. Wenn der Mensch aus Versehen durch physikalische Experimente oder weniger subtil durch Gentechnik diesen Prozess stört, würde die Welt untergehen. Wenn die Fähigkeit nur durch eine Wechselwirkung mit einer anderen Dimension möglich wird, könnten Störungen diese verschwinden lassen.
Die Prozesse im ganz kleinen und ganz großen rufen die Meermetapher auf den Plan. Ein Sandkorn Wissen und ein Ozean von offenen Fragen. Eine winzige Pflanzenzelle automatisiert spielend einen Prozess, für den es Heerscharen der besten Wissenschaftler und Milliarden an Investitionen für Großgeräte braucht. Und die Blume schafft es auch länger als ein paar Tausendstel Sekunden, den Prozess aufrecht zu erhalten. Sie lebt davon.
Die Grundlagen vieler zellulärer Prozesse, der Fotosynthese und chemischer Vorgänge sind momentan unter dem Gesichtspunkt definiert, dass man die riesigen, groben Bestandteile beobachtet. Wie wenn man von außen auf eine Fabrik blickt. Man sieht die Zulieferströme, kennt vielleicht ein paar der Grundmaterialien und sieht die fertigen Endprodukte aus der Fabrik heraus kommen. Anhand einer Analyse des Rauchs aus den Fabrikschloten und der Abfälle die anfallen, kann man kleine Versuche mit Reverse Engineering anstellen.
Aber was in der Fabrik und in allen Lebewesen wirklich geschieht, kann man nur raten.
Für das menschliche Bewusstsein wirft das die Frage auf, wo und was das Ich eigentlich ist. Im nicht verstandenen Gehirn kommt der Faktor hinzu, dass unbekannte kleinste Teile oder Wirkmechanismen aus anderen Dimensionen maßgeblich beteiligt sein könnten. Also ist dieses Ego theoretisch Wechselwirkungen oder, theoretisch, Manipulationen und Einflüsterungen aus anderen, unzugänglichen Realitäten ausgesetzt.
Wenn man eine Entscheidung trifft, redet, arbeitet oder über solche Dinge nachdenkt.
Ob es eine Einbahnstraße ist und die Gegenrichtung für Menschen wie ein schwarzes Loch unzugänglich bleiben wird, ist eine der Kernfragen. Nicht nur hinsichtlich dessen, ob wir unbewusst in anderen Dimensionen wirken, wenn wir denken oder Emotionen haben.
Sondern auch bezüglich der Relativität des Todes. Wenn das Bewusstsein nicht an 3 Dimensionen gebunden existiert, warum dann an einen Körper?
Please note that I put the original German text at the end of this review. Just if you might be interested.
The motor of life seems to be more complicated than expected. It turns out more and more than the previous research has observed rather only individual components of the complex machinery. One or the other connection was made, and a few processes were followed. Only nobody knows what underlies these processes on deeper levels. For example, breathing, heredity, photosynthesis, the electrical quantum activity of neurons, magnetoreception, consciousness, sense of smell and the origin of life. Moreover, these are just the processes that this very young science discipline has been able to investigate so far.
Many observed phenomena imply more levels than postulated by established research. Quantum field theory opens a few doors concerning this. Which of the thought experiments fits the inexplicable, observed anomalies will become apparent. The fact that the ghostly long-distance effect cannot be forced well to manifest, complicates the research. When nervous particles are nowhere and at two places at the same time at the same time. This alone contradicts both our fundamental ideas of physics and our worldview. Because it fits into the realm of myths, legends, and fantasy rather than serious science. Also, if that limit falls, what is impossible? What is eccentricity close to madness and what is the reality?
A few hypotheses can be set up.
There are overlooked factors in the known three dimensions that are so tiny or so small in effect that they have not been considered before.
More dimensions than expected. From the 4th and other dimensions come interactions that allow metabolic processes, photosynthesis, and life in our dimension. Without this connection, life would not be possible. Suppose that life would disappear in our dimension or another dimension. Would that also destroy life in the connected dimension because the two are dependent on each other?
Parallel universes. A parallel universe interacts with the other. An unknown kind of entropy shapes the laws of nature. Different variants of the principles of thermodynamics and gravitation interact between the worlds. Or several parallel universes with several types of natural laws are in complex interaction. For a multiverse, the possibilities of variation would be infinite.
Simulation Hypothesis. If the quanta are some programming language, the world would be made up of code. Alternatively, the quanta are just the coarsest, fundamental building blocks under which the actual code is hidden. Mistakes in programming would explain anomalies in our world.
No matter which model you prefer. It could be that the emergence of life without interaction with invisible and undetectable forces is not possible. That there may be universes or worlds that will forever be dead because they are not interacting with others. That symbiosis and cooperation between the layers of realities were so essential that without them, evolution was impossible. We consist of unknown many such hypothetical processes that we do not understand.
The photosynthesis of plants is based not only on sunlight but also on quantum entanglement. If human beings accidentally interfere with this process through physical experiments or less subtly through genetic engineering, the world would perish. If the ability becomes possible only through an interaction with another dimension, disturbances could make it disappear.
The processes in the tiny and colossal call the sea metaphor on the plan. A grain of sand knowledge and an ocean of unanswered questions. A small plant cell is a game that automates a process that requires the hordes of the best scientists and billions of investment in large equipment. Moreover, the flower also manages to sustain the operation for more than a few thousandths of a second. It makes a living with it.
The foundations of many cellular processes, photosynthesis, and chemical processes are currently defined from the point of view of the giant, coarse constituents. Like looking at a factory from the outside. One can see the supply streams, maybe know a few of the primary materials and see the finished end products coming out of the factory. From an analysis of the smoke from the factory chimneys and the waste that arises, one can make small attempts with reverse engineering.
However, what happens in the factory aka all living things can only be guessed.
For human consciousness, this raises the question of where and what the self is. In the un-understood brain, the factor is added that unknown smallest parts or mechanisms of action from other dimensions could be significantly involved. So this ego is theoretically exposed to interactions or, probably, manipulations and whisperings from other, inaccessible realities.
When you make a decision, talk, work or think about things like that.
Whether it is a one-way street and the opposite direction will remain inaccessible to people like a black hole is one of the critical issues. Not only concerning whether we unconsciously work in other dimensions, when we think or have emotions.
However, also regarding the relativity of death. If consciousness does not exist bound to 3 dimensions, then why a body with some wetware in it?
Was liegt alles jenseits der molekularen Ebene? Dort, wohin wir nicht sehen können.
Der Motor des Lebens scheint diffiziler aufgebaut zu sein, als angenommen. Es stellt sich immer mehr heraus, dass die bisherigen Forschungen eher nur einzelne Komponenten der komplexen Maschinerie beobachtet haben. Der eine oder andere Zusammenhang wurde hergestellt und ein paar Prozesse beobachtet. Nur was diesen Vorgängen auf tieferen Ebenen zugrunde liegt, weiß niemand.
Etwa der Atmung, Vererbung, Fotosynthese, elektrischer Quantenaktivität von Neuronen, Magnetorezeption, Bewusstsein, Geruchssinn und dem Ursprung des Lebens.
Und das sind nur die Prozesse, die diese sehr junge Wissenschaftsdisziplin bisher untersuchen konnte.
Viele beobachtete Phänomene implizieren mehr Ebenen als von der etablierten Forschung postuliert. Die Quantenfeldtheorie öffnet hinsichtlich dessen einige Türen. Welches der Gedankenexperimente zu den unerklärlichen, beobachteten Anomalien passt, wird sich zeigen. Dass sich die spukhafte Fernwirkung nicht gut zur Manifestation zwingen lässt, erschwert die Forschung. Wenn die nervösen Teilchen gleichzeitig nirgends und an 2 Stellen zur selben Zeit sind. Alleine das widerspricht sowohl unseren fundamentalen Vorstellungen von Physik als auch unserem Weltbild. Weil es viel eher in das Reich der Mythen, Legenden und Fantasy als zu seriöser Wissenschaft passt. Und wenn diese Grenze fällt, was ist dann noch unmöglich? Was ist dann Spinnerei oder Wahnsinn und was Realität?
Ein paar Hypothesen lassen sich aufstellen.
Es gibt übersehene Faktoren in den bekannten 3 Dimensionen, die so klein oder in ihrer Wirkung so gering sind, dass man sie bisher nicht in Betracht gezogen hat.
Mehr Dimensionen als angenommen. Aus der 4ten und weiteren Dimensionen kommen Wechselwirkungen, die Stoffwechselprozesse, Fotosynthese und das Leben in unserer Dimension ermöglichen. Ohne diese Verbindung wäre Leben nicht möglich. Angenommen, das Leben würde in unserer Dimension oder in einer anderen Dimension verschwinden. Würde das auch das Leben in der angekoppelten Dimension zerstören?
Paralleluniversen. Ein Paralleluniversum wechselwirkt mit dem anderen. Die Naturgesetze sind durch eine unbekannte Art von Entropie geformt. Verschiedene Varianten der Grundsätze der Thermodynamik und Gravitation stehen zwischen den Universen in Wechselwirkung. Oder mehrere Paralleluniversen mit mehreren Arten von Naturgesetzen stehen in komplexem Zusammenspiel. Bei einem Multiversum wären die Variationsmöglichkeiten entsprechend unendlich.
Simulationshypothese. Wenn die Quanten eine Art von Programmiersprache sind, wäre die Welt aus Code zusammen gesetzt. Oder die Quanten sind nur die gröbsten, primitiven Bausteine unter denen der eigentliche Code verborgen liegt. Anomalien in unserer Welt würden sicht mit Fehlern in der Programmierung erklären lassen.
Egal, welchem Modell man den Vorzug gibt. Es könnte sein, dass die Entstehung von Leben ohne eine Wechselwirkung mit unsichtbaren und noch undetektierbaren Kräften nicht möglich ist. Dass es Universen oder Welten geben mag, die für immer tot bleiben werden, weil sie nicht in Wechselwirkung mit anderen stehen. Dass sie Symbiose und Kooperation zwischen den Schichten der Wirklichkeiten so essentiell sind, dass ohne sie keine Evolution möglich ist. Wir bestehen aus unbekannt vielen solcher hypothetischer Vorgänge, die wir nicht verstehen.
Die Fotosynthese von Pflanzen basiert nicht allein auf Sonnenlicht, sondern auch auf Quantenverschränkung. Wenn der Mensch aus Versehen durch physikalische Experimente oder weniger subtil durch Gentechnik diesen Prozess stört, würde die Welt untergehen. Wenn die Fähigkeit nur durch eine Wechselwirkung mit einer anderen Dimension möglich wird, könnten Störungen diese verschwinden lassen.
Die Prozesse im ganz kleinen und ganz großen rufen die Meermetapher auf den Plan. Ein Sandkorn Wissen und ein Ozean von offenen Fragen. Eine winzige Pflanzenzelle automatisiert spielend einen Prozess, für den es Heerscharen der besten Wissenschaftler und Milliarden an Investitionen für Großgeräte braucht. Und die Blume schafft es auch länger als ein paar Tausendstel Sekunden, den Prozess aufrecht zu erhalten. Sie lebt davon.
Die Grundlagen vieler zellulärer Prozesse, der Fotosynthese und chemischer Vorgänge sind momentan unter dem Gesichtspunkt definiert, dass man die riesigen, groben Bestandteile beobachtet. Wie wenn man von außen auf eine Fabrik blickt. Man sieht die Zulieferströme, kennt vielleicht ein paar der Grundmaterialien und sieht die fertigen Endprodukte aus der Fabrik heraus kommen. Anhand einer Analyse des Rauchs aus den Fabrikschloten und der Abfälle die anfallen, kann man kleine Versuche mit Reverse Engineering anstellen.
Aber was in der Fabrik und in allen Lebewesen wirklich geschieht, kann man nur raten.
Für das menschliche Bewusstsein wirft das die Frage auf, wo und was das Ich eigentlich ist. Im nicht verstandenen Gehirn kommt der Faktor hinzu, dass unbekannte kleinste Teile oder Wirkmechanismen aus anderen Dimensionen maßgeblich beteiligt sein könnten. Also ist dieses Ego theoretisch Wechselwirkungen oder, theoretisch, Manipulationen und Einflüsterungen aus anderen, unzugänglichen Realitäten ausgesetzt.
Wenn man eine Entscheidung trifft, redet, arbeitet oder über solche Dinge nachdenkt.
Ob es eine Einbahnstraße ist und die Gegenrichtung für Menschen wie ein schwarzes Loch unzugänglich bleiben wird, ist eine der Kernfragen. Nicht nur hinsichtlich dessen, ob wir unbewusst in anderen Dimensionen wirken, wenn wir denken oder Emotionen haben.
Sondern auch bezüglich der Relativität des Todes. Wenn das Bewusstsein nicht an 3 Dimensionen gebunden existiert, warum dann an einen Körper?
January 24, 2021
'Life on the Edge: The Coming of Age of Quantum Biology ' by Johnjoe McFadden is a wonderful book describing wonderful things.
Science is not my strongest area in learning, but this book makes clear an opaque part, to me, of physics which usually is understood through mathematics and specialized scientific equipment able to view or measure particles of atoms.
As a book written for the general reader, it does not have a lot of math, and it includes drawings which add clarity to the subject addressed in each chapter. The chapters each cover a single main subject which illuminates how plant and animal molecular biology has been discovered performing vital life-sustaining functions with quantum physics. Each chapter builds on the previous information described earlier in the book, which allowed this reader to keep up. But I recommend a consistent progression, revisiting the book every day to read a chapter if you are not a science geek. If the book is picked up days later from the last time one may have read it, the reader might need to start over, re-reading again earlier chapters.
I was astounded that the authors were able to describe such subjects as quantum photosynthesis and the electrical quantum activity of neurons in such a clear, yet simple, manner that someone not very scientific can understand these important new discoveries.
The last chapters are speculative, but never irrationally so. Instead, I am as excited as the authors are to see if future quantum-biology research will uncover about why we are alive and why rocks are not.
These discoveries are new to me because I graduated from college several decades ago. I am very excited about being able to understand the quantum world a touch better through the examples given in each chapter.
I recommend ' The Coming Age of Quantum Biology' to those familiar with the slightly more difficult science magazines and articles. The material is made simple as possible, but it is not dumbed down.
Science is not my strongest area in learning, but this book makes clear an opaque part, to me, of physics which usually is understood through mathematics and specialized scientific equipment able to view or measure particles of atoms.
As a book written for the general reader, it does not have a lot of math, and it includes drawings which add clarity to the subject addressed in each chapter. The chapters each cover a single main subject which illuminates how plant and animal molecular biology has been discovered performing vital life-sustaining functions with quantum physics. Each chapter builds on the previous information described earlier in the book, which allowed this reader to keep up. But I recommend a consistent progression, revisiting the book every day to read a chapter if you are not a science geek. If the book is picked up days later from the last time one may have read it, the reader might need to start over, re-reading again earlier chapters.
I was astounded that the authors were able to describe such subjects as quantum photosynthesis and the electrical quantum activity of neurons in such a clear, yet simple, manner that someone not very scientific can understand these important new discoveries.
The last chapters are speculative, but never irrationally so. Instead, I am as excited as the authors are to see if future quantum-biology research will uncover about why we are alive and why rocks are not.
These discoveries are new to me because I graduated from college several decades ago. I am very excited about being able to understand the quantum world a touch better through the examples given in each chapter.
I recommend ' The Coming Age of Quantum Biology' to those familiar with the slightly more difficult science magazines and articles. The material is made simple as possible, but it is not dumbed down.
November 19, 2016
For a long time it was believed that scientists could only study quantum mechanics at absolute zero in their labs. Yet in recent years excellent evidence of quantum mechanics at work in humans, birds, plants and other living things has come to the fore. Who knew? This book is a fascinating and very accessible introduction for the general reader. It uses virtually no math. Rather, the writers possess a neat gift for metaphor. Stephen Jay Gould had this gift too, and while Life on the Edge isn't SJG, that paragon of science writing, it does the job and does it well.
September 9, 2015
I have a problem with most of the new science books that I've been reading lately. They really aren't saying anything new and when they do they seem to enter into woo woo land. The authors demonstrate nicely how certain biological processes such as the internal magnetic compass of a certain kind of Robin, the photosynthesis in plants, the universal energy currency of life: ATP, the enzyme process, and how the sense of smell can all be thought best in terms of quantum mechanics.
Those examples make up the first half of the book. My problem with the book is the second half. All objective knowledge can be broken down into the subatomic quantum mechanical level, but that doesn't mean they should be. The authors go off the rails and enter the land of woo with ascribing the origins of life, the genetic code in general and mutations in particular, and our consciousness as best understood by quantum mechanical processes. As much as the next person, I love the mysteries of the quantum world, but I don't want to reduce the process understudy down to that level unless it is absolutely necessary. I really get tired at how many authors (including these) refer to the problem of consciousness as the "hard problem". There have been many strides lately on understanding consciousness, but mixing it with the woo woo of physics the way a Depak Chopra would is never the right approach.
It is a pity. This book had a lot going for it in the beginning, because the authors as biologist really know how to explain the physics. The authors tell the listener in very clear terms what Feynman meant by "all the mysteries of physics are contained within the double slit experiment". (Everyone who reads books like this one should take the time and trouble and look up the Feynman Lectures on the Character of Physical Law on Youtube, seven of the happiest hours I ever spent). This book explains the double split experiment, the particle/wave duality, the measurement problem, and more specifically for the book, quantum tunneling, entanglement, coherence, and superposition. Also, the authors really knew how to explain the steps in the scientific process a biologist needs in order to reach coherent, consistent, and non-contradictory conclusions.
I'm still looking for new popular science books that teach me things I don't already know and which don't enter into the land of woo.
Those examples make up the first half of the book. My problem with the book is the second half. All objective knowledge can be broken down into the subatomic quantum mechanical level, but that doesn't mean they should be. The authors go off the rails and enter the land of woo with ascribing the origins of life, the genetic code in general and mutations in particular, and our consciousness as best understood by quantum mechanical processes. As much as the next person, I love the mysteries of the quantum world, but I don't want to reduce the process understudy down to that level unless it is absolutely necessary. I really get tired at how many authors (including these) refer to the problem of consciousness as the "hard problem". There have been many strides lately on understanding consciousness, but mixing it with the woo woo of physics the way a Depak Chopra would is never the right approach.
It is a pity. This book had a lot going for it in the beginning, because the authors as biologist really know how to explain the physics. The authors tell the listener in very clear terms what Feynman meant by "all the mysteries of physics are contained within the double slit experiment". (Everyone who reads books like this one should take the time and trouble and look up the Feynman Lectures on the Character of Physical Law on Youtube, seven of the happiest hours I ever spent). This book explains the double split experiment, the particle/wave duality, the measurement problem, and more specifically for the book, quantum tunneling, entanglement, coherence, and superposition. Also, the authors really knew how to explain the steps in the scientific process a biologist needs in order to reach coherent, consistent, and non-contradictory conclusions.
I'm still looking for new popular science books that teach me things I don't already know and which don't enter into the land of woo.
January 26, 2018
I absolutely loved this book. The subject is fascinating and it's written in an easy-to-read style that is very layman-friendly. There's a sprinkling of humour and the prose even borders on the poetic in places.
The examples the authors choose to illustrate the concepts they are trying to teach are excellently chosen and really held my attention. I recommend this book to anybody with an interest in this seriously engaging subject.
'Spooky action at a distance' still does my head in, though...
The examples the authors choose to illustrate the concepts they are trying to teach are excellently chosen and really held my attention. I recommend this book to anybody with an interest in this seriously engaging subject.
'Spooky action at a distance' still does my head in, though...
September 20, 2018
absolutely stunning. a book that, with often beautiful prose, describes key concepts of quantum physics and quantum biology in a way that is detailed and not oversimplified, but still able to be understood by a layperson such as myself who doesn’t even have an A level in physics. a fascinating exploration of what is potentially the most exciting, groundbreaking field of science presently.
Read
June 9, 2021I actually feel a bit unhappy about DNF'ing this book (at ~ 18%, if you're interested), but the sad truth is I had trouble understanding it well enough. Ok, you don't have to be genius, but a strong background in chemistry and biology is a must. And I don't have neither of them.
When there was a more simple presentation of, um, "things" in this book - or at least based only on physics, it was fun and nice to read. But the moment everything turned to chemistry and/or biology, my berserker mode kicked in and I understood nothing anymore.
I cannot rate this book, because, I didn't read it all, but I didn't read it not because I disliked it, but because I am, well, too doo-doo-dumb for it. Now I've gotta run, Forrest, run!
When there was a more simple presentation of, um, "things" in this book - or at least based only on physics, it was fun and nice to read. But the moment everything turned to chemistry and/or biology, my berserker mode kicked in and I understood nothing anymore.
I cannot rate this book, because, I didn't read it all, but I didn't read it not because I disliked it, but because I am, well, too doo-doo-dumb for it. Now I've gotta run, Forrest, run!
March 27, 2022
I had my doubts at the beginning, but it work out well in the long run.
January 23, 2016
3.5
In general I love reading about the smallest processes in biology or physics. I could read an entire book on the inner life of the mitochondria's electron transport chain, and I would be enthralled. I find it pretty exciting when authors want to understand the most in depth mechanisms at work in a each system. I love it even more if the authors take the knowledge they uncover and attempt to apply it to big systems, such as networks, systems biology, etc. The authors of tis book tried to do just that. I am not exactly sure why I didn't love this book. Perhaps, despite my constant critiques of books that are promoting sexy science at the expense of providing a more realistic understanding of the subject at hand, I wanted more sexy science from this book.
At times, even though it examined each phenomenon in great detail, it felt disjointed. I understand the overall theme, but perhaps I needed more hand holding. Even though I was interested in each subject present (I am especially interested in how particles spin, sync, and enter phase transition) the books didn't feel that new or exciting. It could be that I have read too many books that have provided some of the same material.
Regardless of my criticisms, I think the work being done in quantum biology is important. Particularly important is the focus on explaining how the same forces at work in physics are also at work in biological systems. I like the questions the authors raised. Certainly more work needs to be done to understand how action potentials lead to consciousness. Once that is established, there is more work still to be done in understanding the quantum nature of action potentials. The discussion on the hard problem of consciousness was by far my least favorite part of the book. I enjoy reading Andy Clark and the Churchlands' take on consciousness but cannot waste one more minute of life justifying Chalmers unscientific discussions on the subject. Even though these authors were arguing against the type of position Chalmers provides his readers, they went too far in validating it. Overall though, it is great that researchers are attempting to investigate and write about quantum bio. If you are unfamiliar with the field but are curious, it's worth the read.
In general I love reading about the smallest processes in biology or physics. I could read an entire book on the inner life of the mitochondria's electron transport chain, and I would be enthralled. I find it pretty exciting when authors want to understand the most in depth mechanisms at work in a each system. I love it even more if the authors take the knowledge they uncover and attempt to apply it to big systems, such as networks, systems biology, etc. The authors of tis book tried to do just that. I am not exactly sure why I didn't love this book. Perhaps, despite my constant critiques of books that are promoting sexy science at the expense of providing a more realistic understanding of the subject at hand, I wanted more sexy science from this book.
At times, even though it examined each phenomenon in great detail, it felt disjointed. I understand the overall theme, but perhaps I needed more hand holding. Even though I was interested in each subject present (I am especially interested in how particles spin, sync, and enter phase transition) the books didn't feel that new or exciting. It could be that I have read too many books that have provided some of the same material.
Regardless of my criticisms, I think the work being done in quantum biology is important. Particularly important is the focus on explaining how the same forces at work in physics are also at work in biological systems. I like the questions the authors raised. Certainly more work needs to be done to understand how action potentials lead to consciousness. Once that is established, there is more work still to be done in understanding the quantum nature of action potentials. The discussion on the hard problem of consciousness was by far my least favorite part of the book. I enjoy reading Andy Clark and the Churchlands' take on consciousness but cannot waste one more minute of life justifying Chalmers unscientific discussions on the subject. Even though these authors were arguing against the type of position Chalmers provides his readers, they went too far in validating it. Overall though, it is great that researchers are attempting to investigate and write about quantum bio. If you are unfamiliar with the field but are curious, it's worth the read.
February 19, 2018
Incredible.
While I've always had a great interest in biology and especially zooloogy, and try to read the New Scientist as and when, I have to admit that chemistry and biochemestry have rather passed me by since my GCSEs. The astonishing triumph of this book is its legibility, its clarity - Al Khalili is one of the great communicators of scientific ideas.
The chapter on the quatum mechanics which may or may not be responsible for our sense of smell was quite astonishing, a gripping, page-turning, electrifying account of intensely complex processes. The chapter on the conscious mind, meanwhile, was equally clear and gripping, but also vertigenous - I'm conscious of myself reading an essay on the processes that create my consciousness.
Astonishing.
While I've always had a great interest in biology and especially zooloogy, and try to read the New Scientist as and when, I have to admit that chemistry and biochemestry have rather passed me by since my GCSEs. The astonishing triumph of this book is its legibility, its clarity - Al Khalili is one of the great communicators of scientific ideas.
The chapter on the quatum mechanics which may or may not be responsible for our sense of smell was quite astonishing, a gripping, page-turning, electrifying account of intensely complex processes. The chapter on the conscious mind, meanwhile, was equally clear and gripping, but also vertigenous - I'm conscious of myself reading an essay on the processes that create my consciousness.
Astonishing.
August 2, 2015
This is what I said in the Wall Street Journal:
Life on the Edge:
The coming of age of quantum biology
Johnjoe McFadden & Jim Al-Khalili
There is a sense in which all of biology is quantum biology. The entangled strands of DNA, the famous double helix of the molecule of life, are held together by a quantum phenomenon known as hydrogen bonding. The way in which those strands untwist and build new double helices during the process of reproduction is at heart a quantum phenomenon, closely related to the way in which quantum entities such as electrons can be both wave and particle at the same time.
But in this remarkable book Johnjoe McFadden, an expert in molecular genetics, and Jim Al-Khalili, a quantum physicist, join forces to explain many everyday aspects of life in terms of what is often referred to as quantum weirdness. They do so, moreover, in an easily accessible style, free from jargon, which makes complex issues clear even to the non-scientist.
After teasing the reader with an introduction presenting the puzzle of how birds can detect the Earth’s magnetic field and use it for navigation, the authors lead us gently by the hand through discussions of the nature of life itself, right down to the molecular level, and the mysteries of quantum physics. This is material which has been covered in many books, but nowhere more succinctly and clearly than here.
Thus prepared, we are ready for an explanation of what they call “the quantum robin” – the workings of the magnetic sense organ in birds and other animals. It turns out that this ability is linked to a phenomenon known as “entanglement” occurring in certain molecules in the appropriate sense organ. Entanglement involves two or more quantum entities, such as electrons, being in some sense in tune with each other, so that when one of them is prodded the other one twitches. And in certain circumstances, as McFadden and Al-Khalili explain, this makes the molecules involved sensitive to the direction of a magnetic field.
This is a profound realisation, because entanglement is such a bizarre concept, to the human mind, that for decades even many physicists doubted that it could be real. Albert Einstein famously referred to it as “spooky action at a distance”. The equations tell us that once two particles have interacted, then forever afterwards, no matter how far apart they are, a measurement of one particle will instantaneously affect the properties of the other particle. As Einstein wrote to his friend Leon Rosenfeld, “is it not paradoxical? How can the final state of the second particle be influenced by a measurement performed on the first, after all physical connection has ceased between them?” He believed that this highlighted a flaw in quantum theory, and went to his grave still looking for a better description of the Universe. But he was wrong. In the 1980s (and repeatedly since), experiments involving photons, the particles if light, have proved that the spooky action at a distance is real.
In that case, it should be expected that natural processes make use of it, just as living things make use of sunlight for photosynthesis. Why should they? Because it is there. Life uses whatever is available, whether that thing is food, energy, or the laws of physics. So it should be no surprise that the phenomenon of entanglement is not used solely by European robins. Monarch butterflies and fruit flies are among the other species which make use of quantum effects in navigation. Nor are quantum processes confined to the animal world. Photosynthesis is the basic mechanism in plants which provides the energy that is used to manufacture plant material, and ultimately the food we eat, out of basic chemicals such as water and carbon dioxide. This, too, depends on quantum processes which “push” the absorbed energy of sunlight in the right direction.
Pre-quantum physics, the laws discovered by Isaac Newton, is often referred to as classical physics. “Most biologists’” the authors point out, “still believe that the classical laws are sufficient. With Newtonian forces acting [to explain photosynthesis] in strictly classical terms . . . with light acting like some golf club able to whack the oxygen golf ball out of the carbon dioxide molecule.” But, as with Einstein and spooky action at a distance, they are wrong. The key step in the process involves electrons “hopping” from one molecule to another in an orderly fashion. Some extraordinary experiments described in this book (in what is admittedly a slightly more technical passage) have revealed that energy is flowing through such a system by, in effect, following several routes simultaneously, thanks to a phenomenon known as coherence. This is a purely quantum effect.
The discovery is particularly exciting because quantum physicists working on the development of computers that operate on quantum principles incorporate quantum coherence into their designs. Not for the first time, nature got there before the scientists, and so far does a better job of “computing” the most efficient way to get energy from A to B. Not that the quantum computer scientists were quick to embrace the idea. Al-Khalili and McFadden quote one of those researchers describing his colleagues’ immediate reaction, when they saw a New York Times article suggesting that plants might operate as quantum computers: “it’s like, ‘Oh my God, that’s the most crackpot thing I’ve heard in my life’”. But they have since changed their tune.
All this is dramatic enough, and well worth the price of admission. But the authors have saved the best – if admittedly the most speculative – idea for (nearly) last. These speculations involve consciousness and the mechanics of thought, but also the processes that go on inside quantum computers and, we now know, during photosynthesis. By tracing back the process of painting a picture (they imagine an artist in Palaeolithic times painting a picture of a bison on a cave wall) from the fingertips of the artist through the muscles and neurons in the arm to the brain, they focus in on the chemistry involved. At one level, this is an entirely causal, mechanistic chain of processes, like that of a machine. But who, or what, is in charge of the machine? Who is pulling the levers?
It is an old question, going back to philosophers such as Descartes. How does mind make matter move? The new answer presented here draws from the physics behind the workings of those quantum computers. Where an “ordinary” computer can be thought of as operating through a series of switches that can be set to 0 or 1, the power of a quantum computer depends on the ability of quantum entities to be in two states at the same time, known as a superposition. So the switches in a quantum computer are both on and off (set at 0 and set at 1) at the same time. Building on ideas proposed by the Oxford physicist Roger Penrose, McFadden and Al-Khalili look at the quantum chemistry that just might be involved in conscious thought. “The scheme”, they say, “is certainly speculative, but it does at least provide a plausible link between the quantum and classical realms in the brain.” After all, if a plant can operate like a quantum computer in carrying out the process of photosynthesis, why couldn’t the human brain act as a quantum computer in carrying out the processes of thought? Given nature’s ability to make use of whatever is available, it would be surprising if it did not.
After that, almost anything would be an anticlimax – even a chapter discussing the puzzle of how life began. It would seem more natural to have this before the discussion of consciousness, since, after all, life began before it became conscious. But still, it is an important topic that could not be left out of a book such as this. For my (hopefully conscious) mind, though, this is the weakest section of the book, necessarily highly speculative, and not entirely convincing. There are clearly more questions than answers, but at least this means that there is plenty of work for the next generation of quantum biologists to do.
It may not be necessary, though to understand how life began to use an understanding of how life operates today at the quantum level to build completely artificial living organisms from the bottom up. Such a process would involve what the authors call “living technology” to manufacture from scratch organisms such as microbes which could produce antibiotics tailored to human requirements. This would be quite different from recent experiments with “artificial” life, which involve tinkering with DNA molecules, introducing them into already living cells, and persuading those cells to function in accordance with the instructions coded in the new DNA. This is inefficient because even after being “adapted” in this way, such modified cells continue to make lots of stuff that is of no use to us. The bottom up approach would result in what the authors describe as “a brave new world of quantum synthetic living organisms that could free their natural-born relatives from the drudgery of providing humanity with most of its needs.” A fine sentiment - unless, of course, those synthetic organisms turn out to be conscious.
Lifge on the Edge is a fascinating and thought-provoking book which manages to combine solid science, respectable extrapolation from the known into the unknown, and plausible speculation to give an accessible overview of a revolutionary transformation in our understanding of the living world. I will certainly look at robins with more respect in future.
John Gribbin is a Visiting Fellow in Astronomy
At the University of Sussex
And author of Computing with Quantum Cats: From Alan Turing to Teleportation
Life on the Edge:
The coming of age of quantum biology
Johnjoe McFadden & Jim Al-Khalili
There is a sense in which all of biology is quantum biology. The entangled strands of DNA, the famous double helix of the molecule of life, are held together by a quantum phenomenon known as hydrogen bonding. The way in which those strands untwist and build new double helices during the process of reproduction is at heart a quantum phenomenon, closely related to the way in which quantum entities such as electrons can be both wave and particle at the same time.
But in this remarkable book Johnjoe McFadden, an expert in molecular genetics, and Jim Al-Khalili, a quantum physicist, join forces to explain many everyday aspects of life in terms of what is often referred to as quantum weirdness. They do so, moreover, in an easily accessible style, free from jargon, which makes complex issues clear even to the non-scientist.
After teasing the reader with an introduction presenting the puzzle of how birds can detect the Earth’s magnetic field and use it for navigation, the authors lead us gently by the hand through discussions of the nature of life itself, right down to the molecular level, and the mysteries of quantum physics. This is material which has been covered in many books, but nowhere more succinctly and clearly than here.
Thus prepared, we are ready for an explanation of what they call “the quantum robin” – the workings of the magnetic sense organ in birds and other animals. It turns out that this ability is linked to a phenomenon known as “entanglement” occurring in certain molecules in the appropriate sense organ. Entanglement involves two or more quantum entities, such as electrons, being in some sense in tune with each other, so that when one of them is prodded the other one twitches. And in certain circumstances, as McFadden and Al-Khalili explain, this makes the molecules involved sensitive to the direction of a magnetic field.
This is a profound realisation, because entanglement is such a bizarre concept, to the human mind, that for decades even many physicists doubted that it could be real. Albert Einstein famously referred to it as “spooky action at a distance”. The equations tell us that once two particles have interacted, then forever afterwards, no matter how far apart they are, a measurement of one particle will instantaneously affect the properties of the other particle. As Einstein wrote to his friend Leon Rosenfeld, “is it not paradoxical? How can the final state of the second particle be influenced by a measurement performed on the first, after all physical connection has ceased between them?” He believed that this highlighted a flaw in quantum theory, and went to his grave still looking for a better description of the Universe. But he was wrong. In the 1980s (and repeatedly since), experiments involving photons, the particles if light, have proved that the spooky action at a distance is real.
In that case, it should be expected that natural processes make use of it, just as living things make use of sunlight for photosynthesis. Why should they? Because it is there. Life uses whatever is available, whether that thing is food, energy, or the laws of physics. So it should be no surprise that the phenomenon of entanglement is not used solely by European robins. Monarch butterflies and fruit flies are among the other species which make use of quantum effects in navigation. Nor are quantum processes confined to the animal world. Photosynthesis is the basic mechanism in plants which provides the energy that is used to manufacture plant material, and ultimately the food we eat, out of basic chemicals such as water and carbon dioxide. This, too, depends on quantum processes which “push” the absorbed energy of sunlight in the right direction.
Pre-quantum physics, the laws discovered by Isaac Newton, is often referred to as classical physics. “Most biologists’” the authors point out, “still believe that the classical laws are sufficient. With Newtonian forces acting [to explain photosynthesis] in strictly classical terms . . . with light acting like some golf club able to whack the oxygen golf ball out of the carbon dioxide molecule.” But, as with Einstein and spooky action at a distance, they are wrong. The key step in the process involves electrons “hopping” from one molecule to another in an orderly fashion. Some extraordinary experiments described in this book (in what is admittedly a slightly more technical passage) have revealed that energy is flowing through such a system by, in effect, following several routes simultaneously, thanks to a phenomenon known as coherence. This is a purely quantum effect.
The discovery is particularly exciting because quantum physicists working on the development of computers that operate on quantum principles incorporate quantum coherence into their designs. Not for the first time, nature got there before the scientists, and so far does a better job of “computing” the most efficient way to get energy from A to B. Not that the quantum computer scientists were quick to embrace the idea. Al-Khalili and McFadden quote one of those researchers describing his colleagues’ immediate reaction, when they saw a New York Times article suggesting that plants might operate as quantum computers: “it’s like, ‘Oh my God, that’s the most crackpot thing I’ve heard in my life’”. But they have since changed their tune.
All this is dramatic enough, and well worth the price of admission. But the authors have saved the best – if admittedly the most speculative – idea for (nearly) last. These speculations involve consciousness and the mechanics of thought, but also the processes that go on inside quantum computers and, we now know, during photosynthesis. By tracing back the process of painting a picture (they imagine an artist in Palaeolithic times painting a picture of a bison on a cave wall) from the fingertips of the artist through the muscles and neurons in the arm to the brain, they focus in on the chemistry involved. At one level, this is an entirely causal, mechanistic chain of processes, like that of a machine. But who, or what, is in charge of the machine? Who is pulling the levers?
It is an old question, going back to philosophers such as Descartes. How does mind make matter move? The new answer presented here draws from the physics behind the workings of those quantum computers. Where an “ordinary” computer can be thought of as operating through a series of switches that can be set to 0 or 1, the power of a quantum computer depends on the ability of quantum entities to be in two states at the same time, known as a superposition. So the switches in a quantum computer are both on and off (set at 0 and set at 1) at the same time. Building on ideas proposed by the Oxford physicist Roger Penrose, McFadden and Al-Khalili look at the quantum chemistry that just might be involved in conscious thought. “The scheme”, they say, “is certainly speculative, but it does at least provide a plausible link between the quantum and classical realms in the brain.” After all, if a plant can operate like a quantum computer in carrying out the process of photosynthesis, why couldn’t the human brain act as a quantum computer in carrying out the processes of thought? Given nature’s ability to make use of whatever is available, it would be surprising if it did not.
After that, almost anything would be an anticlimax – even a chapter discussing the puzzle of how life began. It would seem more natural to have this before the discussion of consciousness, since, after all, life began before it became conscious. But still, it is an important topic that could not be left out of a book such as this. For my (hopefully conscious) mind, though, this is the weakest section of the book, necessarily highly speculative, and not entirely convincing. There are clearly more questions than answers, but at least this means that there is plenty of work for the next generation of quantum biologists to do.
It may not be necessary, though to understand how life began to use an understanding of how life operates today at the quantum level to build completely artificial living organisms from the bottom up. Such a process would involve what the authors call “living technology” to manufacture from scratch organisms such as microbes which could produce antibiotics tailored to human requirements. This would be quite different from recent experiments with “artificial” life, which involve tinkering with DNA molecules, introducing them into already living cells, and persuading those cells to function in accordance with the instructions coded in the new DNA. This is inefficient because even after being “adapted” in this way, such modified cells continue to make lots of stuff that is of no use to us. The bottom up approach would result in what the authors describe as “a brave new world of quantum synthetic living organisms that could free their natural-born relatives from the drudgery of providing humanity with most of its needs.” A fine sentiment - unless, of course, those synthetic organisms turn out to be conscious.
Lifge on the Edge is a fascinating and thought-provoking book which manages to combine solid science, respectable extrapolation from the known into the unknown, and plausible speculation to give an accessible overview of a revolutionary transformation in our understanding of the living world. I will certainly look at robins with more respect in future.
John Gribbin is a Visiting Fellow in Astronomy
At the University of Sussex
And author of Computing with Quantum Cats: From Alan Turing to Teleportation
August 1, 2023
¡Impresionante!
Que buena lectura y que buen nivel el de este libro.
El libro, como seguramente sabrán si han leído la contraportada o expurgado un poco el índice, hace una relación de los fenómenos biológicos –o bioquímicos ¿hará la diferencia?– en los que la investigación científica de los últimos 70 años, en especial de las últimas dos décadas, ha revelado que podrían ser determinados directamente y no a través de una cadena compleja de propiedades emergentes– por efectos cuánticos. Desde el poder catalítico de los enzimas biológicos –¡sí! ¡así! ¡en masculino!–, las moléculas más importantes de la vida, como termine convenciéndome después de leer este libro, pasando por el funcionamiento del olfato, la fotosíntesis, la orientación de algunas aves y mariposas usando la luz y el campo magnético de la Tierra, las mutaciones genéticas –un cierto tipo de ellas que desconocía hasta leer este libro–, hasta llegar a las cuestiones más difíciles de la biología contemporánea, como lo son, el origen de la vida y la naturaleza misma de la conciencia.
Si me hubieran preguntado hace un par de semanas cuáles eran las cosas de las que hablaría el libro, le habría atinado posiblemente a dos o tres. Nunca imagine que fueran tantas.
Hay que decir honestamente que "Biología al límite" no es un libro fácil de leer. Pero tampoco es un libro estrictamente técnico. Creo que personas con una formación básica en biología –como es mi caso– y conocimientos mínimos de teoría cuántica –aunque soy físico, no encontré en el libro nada extremadamente complicado–, podrán entenderlo en su totalidad, al menos si tienen suficiente paciencia y lo leen con cuidado.
Una cosa importante: el texto no tiene una sola ecuación. A duras penas, encontrarán un par de diagramas cartesianos. Realmente me quito el sombrero delante de sus autores por lo que lograron.
El estilo de escritura es entretenido y bastante claro. Me encantaron las analogías, tanto las que usan para explicar los conceptos más difíciles de biología y química que incluye el libro, como los que usan para la parte de física –que supuestamente conozco mejor– y que me "robaré" para mis propios escritos y clase.
La explicación, por ejemplo, del experimento de la doble rendija, uno de los más importantes de la historia de la física para describir la extraña naturaleza de la teoría cuántica, es increíblemente clara y completa. ¡Me la quedo!
Todos los capítulos comienzan con una historia, en apariencia desconectada del que se espera es el contenido principal, pero que a la larga termina termina conectándose de forma inesperada con el tema. Esto le da al texto una continuidad y solidez narrativa que es propia de la buena literatura divulgativa. Por eso insisto, aunque parece un libro medianamente técnico de biología cuántica, es un gran libro de no ficción sobre la frontera entre la vida y el mundo físico.
La combinación de las especialidades de sus dos autores –Jhonjoe McFadden es biólogo y Jim Al-Khalili es físico– hace que el texto contenga referencias a fenómenos naturales de los que se ocupan muchas especialidades. Comenzando naturalmente por la biología celular, la bioquímica y la física atómica y molecular, pero sin restringirse únicamente a ellas. En él texto encontramos un poco de todo: algo de geofísica allí, un poco de astrofísica allá, física de materiales acullá. Y así: evolución biológica, neurociencias, química básica, hasta psicología. Realmente un salpicón delicioso para quiénes amamos las ciencias y la divulgación científica.
El capítulo que menos me gusto, "¿Qué es la vida?", creo yo, es uno de los más importantes del libro. También es el primero que te encuentras después de leer una excitante introducción que, en un estilo muy pedagógico, recapitula muchos de los temas que se trataran en el resto del libro. Esto me desanimo un poco al principio –después del electrificante inició– y podría desanimar a más de una persona que lo lea. Tal vez sea porque las expectativas que todos tenemos sobre esta, la pregunta de del millón de dólares, es demasiado alta. O quizás es porque creía que esta sería una de las piezas claves del rompecabezas de cómo se conecta la vida con los fenómenos cuánticos. ¡Y sí! Pero eso lo dejan para el final. Lo cierto es que este capítulo termina mucho antes de lo que hubiera querido. Esperaba que se profundizará mucho más en la definición. Aún así, a la larga, descubrí que esta sección aborda el material suficiente para lo que se necesitará en el resto del texto.
Otra analogía que me encanto fue la que usan para explicar cómo funciona la función de onda y la información que ella nos provee al menos según la regla de Born y la interpretación de Copenhague. Ya lo he dicho como tres veces pero creo que seguiré usando esta, y las demás analogías mencionadas antes, en mis artículos y cursos. ¡Gracias don Jim!
Con este libro por fin entendí que eran los puentes de Hidrógeno ¡uf! Un enlace químico en el que lo que se "comparte" es un protón y no un electrón ¡que nota!
El capítulo más duro, el que está dedicado a la fotosíntesis, "La pulsación cuántica". El capítulo más increíble, el dedicado al funcionamiento del olfato, "Buscando la casa de Nemo". El capítulo más perturbador, el de la genética, "Genes cuánticos" –tal vez estamos aquí por culpa de fluctuaciones cuánticas en el ADN de nuestros antepasados–. El capítulo más extraño, aquel que muestra cómo algunos animales usan efectos cuánticos para hacer migraciones, "La mariposa, la mosca del vinagre y el petirrojo". El capítulo imperdible, la síntesis final en "Biología cuántica" ¡que capítulo!.
Me encanto el guiño aliado que hacen los autores al feminismo, cuando en el capítulo dedicado a la consciencia, "Mente", presenta el ejemplo de una artista del paleolítico. Es todavía muy fácil caer en el estereotipo de pensar que las pinturas rupestres fueron elaboradas por varones, todo a pesar de que las evidencias demuestran que era una actividad sino más equitativa, incluso pudo haber sido mayoritariamente femenina. Pero el hecho de que los autores hayan aclarado que se imaginan a una mujer haciéndolo me demostró que son personas conscientes de los sesgos androcéntricos de la ciencia. ¡Bien por ellos!
Este libro es perfecto para montar buenos cursos de la frontera entre teoría cuántica y biología. Si son profes en Facultades de Ciencias, no duden en leerlo ya y busca partners para montar un buen curso. Estoy seguro que tantos estudiantes de física como de biología y química estarían encantadas de disfrutar de esta mezcla tan especial de sus disciplinas.
La mecánica cuántica es normal. Es el mundo que describe lo que es extraño.
Que buena lectura y que buen nivel el de este libro.
El libro, como seguramente sabrán si han leído la contraportada o expurgado un poco el índice, hace una relación de los fenómenos biológicos –o bioquímicos ¿hará la diferencia?– en los que la investigación científica de los últimos 70 años, en especial de las últimas dos décadas, ha revelado que podrían ser determinados directamente y no a través de una cadena compleja de propiedades emergentes– por efectos cuánticos. Desde el poder catalítico de los enzimas biológicos –¡sí! ¡así! ¡en masculino!–, las moléculas más importantes de la vida, como termine convenciéndome después de leer este libro, pasando por el funcionamiento del olfato, la fotosíntesis, la orientación de algunas aves y mariposas usando la luz y el campo magnético de la Tierra, las mutaciones genéticas –un cierto tipo de ellas que desconocía hasta leer este libro–, hasta llegar a las cuestiones más difíciles de la biología contemporánea, como lo son, el origen de la vida y la naturaleza misma de la conciencia.
Si me hubieran preguntado hace un par de semanas cuáles eran las cosas de las que hablaría el libro, le habría atinado posiblemente a dos o tres. Nunca imagine que fueran tantas.
Hay que decir honestamente que "Biología al límite" no es un libro fácil de leer. Pero tampoco es un libro estrictamente técnico. Creo que personas con una formación básica en biología –como es mi caso– y conocimientos mínimos de teoría cuántica –aunque soy físico, no encontré en el libro nada extremadamente complicado–, podrán entenderlo en su totalidad, al menos si tienen suficiente paciencia y lo leen con cuidado.
Una cosa importante: el texto no tiene una sola ecuación. A duras penas, encontrarán un par de diagramas cartesianos. Realmente me quito el sombrero delante de sus autores por lo que lograron.
El estilo de escritura es entretenido y bastante claro. Me encantaron las analogías, tanto las que usan para explicar los conceptos más difíciles de biología y química que incluye el libro, como los que usan para la parte de física –que supuestamente conozco mejor– y que me "robaré" para mis propios escritos y clase.
La explicación, por ejemplo, del experimento de la doble rendija, uno de los más importantes de la historia de la física para describir la extraña naturaleza de la teoría cuántica, es increíblemente clara y completa. ¡Me la quedo!
Todos los capítulos comienzan con una historia, en apariencia desconectada del que se espera es el contenido principal, pero que a la larga termina termina conectándose de forma inesperada con el tema. Esto le da al texto una continuidad y solidez narrativa que es propia de la buena literatura divulgativa. Por eso insisto, aunque parece un libro medianamente técnico de biología cuántica, es un gran libro de no ficción sobre la frontera entre la vida y el mundo físico.
La combinación de las especialidades de sus dos autores –Jhonjoe McFadden es biólogo y Jim Al-Khalili es físico– hace que el texto contenga referencias a fenómenos naturales de los que se ocupan muchas especialidades. Comenzando naturalmente por la biología celular, la bioquímica y la física atómica y molecular, pero sin restringirse únicamente a ellas. En él texto encontramos un poco de todo: algo de geofísica allí, un poco de astrofísica allá, física de materiales acullá. Y así: evolución biológica, neurociencias, química básica, hasta psicología. Realmente un salpicón delicioso para quiénes amamos las ciencias y la divulgación científica.
El capítulo que menos me gusto, "¿Qué es la vida?", creo yo, es uno de los más importantes del libro. También es el primero que te encuentras después de leer una excitante introducción que, en un estilo muy pedagógico, recapitula muchos de los temas que se trataran en el resto del libro. Esto me desanimo un poco al principio –después del electrificante inició– y podría desanimar a más de una persona que lo lea. Tal vez sea porque las expectativas que todos tenemos sobre esta, la pregunta de del millón de dólares, es demasiado alta. O quizás es porque creía que esta sería una de las piezas claves del rompecabezas de cómo se conecta la vida con los fenómenos cuánticos. ¡Y sí! Pero eso lo dejan para el final. Lo cierto es que este capítulo termina mucho antes de lo que hubiera querido. Esperaba que se profundizará mucho más en la definición. Aún así, a la larga, descubrí que esta sección aborda el material suficiente para lo que se necesitará en el resto del texto.
Otra analogía que me encanto fue la que usan para explicar cómo funciona la función de onda y la información que ella nos provee al menos según la regla de Born y la interpretación de Copenhague. Ya lo he dicho como tres veces pero creo que seguiré usando esta, y las demás analogías mencionadas antes, en mis artículos y cursos. ¡Gracias don Jim!
Con este libro por fin entendí que eran los puentes de Hidrógeno ¡uf! Un enlace químico en el que lo que se "comparte" es un protón y no un electrón ¡que nota!
El capítulo más duro, el que está dedicado a la fotosíntesis, "La pulsación cuántica". El capítulo más increíble, el dedicado al funcionamiento del olfato, "Buscando la casa de Nemo". El capítulo más perturbador, el de la genética, "Genes cuánticos" –tal vez estamos aquí por culpa de fluctuaciones cuánticas en el ADN de nuestros antepasados–. El capítulo más extraño, aquel que muestra cómo algunos animales usan efectos cuánticos para hacer migraciones, "La mariposa, la mosca del vinagre y el petirrojo". El capítulo imperdible, la síntesis final en "Biología cuántica" ¡que capítulo!.
Me encanto el guiño aliado que hacen los autores al feminismo, cuando en el capítulo dedicado a la consciencia, "Mente", presenta el ejemplo de una artista del paleolítico. Es todavía muy fácil caer en el estereotipo de pensar que las pinturas rupestres fueron elaboradas por varones, todo a pesar de que las evidencias demuestran que era una actividad sino más equitativa, incluso pudo haber sido mayoritariamente femenina. Pero el hecho de que los autores hayan aclarado que se imaginan a una mujer haciéndolo me demostró que son personas conscientes de los sesgos androcéntricos de la ciencia. ¡Bien por ellos!
Este libro es perfecto para montar buenos cursos de la frontera entre teoría cuántica y biología. Si son profes en Facultades de Ciencias, no duden en leerlo ya y busca partners para montar un buen curso. Estoy seguro que tantos estudiantes de física como de biología y química estarían encantadas de disfrutar de esta mezcla tan especial de sus disciplinas.
La mecánica cuántica es normal. Es el mundo que describe lo que es extraño.
January 15, 2016
This non-mathematical and non-specialist book by Jim Al-Khalili and Johnjoe McFadden looks at the role of quantum mechanics in the chemical processes that drive biological functions. Obviously, all of chemistry is underwritten by quantum theory but the authors are only concerned with what might be called the weirder quantum phenomena, specifically superpositioning, tunnelling and entanglement. Until relatively recently, the possibility of these effects being involved in biochemistry was dismissed because it has long been known that entanglement and superpositioning are fragile (coherent) states which are destroyed (ie, become decoherent) when any "measurement" is undertaken, which is broadly defined as any interaction with other atoms or molecules. But it is now considered that many biochemical reactions happen so quickly that there may be time for these stranger effects to occur before decoherence intervenes.
Without going into a lot of detail about processes which the authors consider involve special quantum effects, I will touch on some of the key examples they describe. There is evidence, they claim, that superpositioning is involved in photosynthesis, a process, incidentally, that has been around for more than 3 billion years. In this instance, superpositioning takes the form of the energy from excited chlorophyll molecules being transferred to the reaction centre (which is responsible for the next step in photosynthesis) by simultaneously taking many different pathways, resulting in nearly 100% transfer efficiency, rather than being transferred to the reaction centre by the equivalent of a single "drunken walk" which would be hit and miss and much less efficient.
They say that another effect, quantum tunnelling, appears to be involved in the olfactory process and the evidence suggests that our sense of smell works in a similar way to a form of chemical analysis known as inelastic electron tunnelling spectroscopy. An election is able to tunnel across a small intra-molecular gap within a receptor molecule, from a donor site to a receptor site, but only if an odourant molecule situated in the gap possesses a chemical bond with the right vibrational frequency to absorb the energy that the electron had to lose as it inelastically tunnelled through. This theory doesn't replace the older "lock and key" idea because it seems that odourant molecules must still be the right shape to fit into the site, but it does explain a link between vibrational frequencies and the smell associated with certain molecules. Clearly, more evidence is needed to underpin this theory, especially information on the structure of olfactory receptors.
The third bizarre effect of quantum mechanics, entanglement, seems, according to the authors, to be exemplified by the ability of birds, and other animals, to navigate using the inclination of the earth's magnetic field. This field is too weak to directly break chemical bonds but a mechanism has been postulated that involves entanglement. The process starts with a protein in the eye, cryptochrome, losing an electron after being struck by a photon of light. It is then proposed that a molecule of the amino acid tryptophan donates an election from an entangled pair in one of its chemical bonds to replace the ejected electron - this donated electron remains entangled with its partner but in a state of superposition, being both in single and triplet states at the same time. This superpositioning is very sensitive to small magnetic fields which may determine, after decoherence has taken place, which chemical reaction follows. Somehow, the chemical products formed act as signals to the brain which determine the direction of travel. As is pointed out in the book, there is still a lot unknown about this process!
The book progresses slowly, as if the authors struggled to find sufficient examples so have to resort to padding out the text with background information. Much of what is written is highly speculative and the supporting evidence somewhat indirect. The final chapter (Chapter 10) is essentially an addendum to what has gone before it and, according the authors, was added during the writing of the book so as to incorporate the latest findings. (As the book had not been finalised at that stage, I'm puzzled as to why the contents of Chapter 10 couldn't have been integrated with the earlier chapters.) As well as providing further evidence in support of the weirder quantum effects, Chapter 10 also returns to the question of how atoms and molecules remain in a coherent state for sufficient time for the postulated outcomes to occur. In photosynthesis, for example, it's theorised that vibrations of surrounding molecules occur at the right frequency to resonate with the coherent state and maintain its coherence.
Overall, I didn't find that this book had an awful lot to say, mainly because this is such a speculative area of research. The book may be ahead of its time, or it may turn out to be stating the blindingly obvious. After all, if you stop to think about it, is it really surprising that biochemical processes have been fine-tuned by billions of years of evolution so that they become as efficient as possible, utilising every trick that the physical world has at its disposal? Probably not, although I admit that the idea hadn't really occurred to me until I read this account so for that I'm grateful.
Finally, I should add that this is probably not a good book for someone who is new to quantum theory. Although the authors skim over the basics, for them to do so in more depth would make the volume far too long - besides which, there are plenty of other texts that provide this introduction. But for anyone who already has an elementary understanding of superpositioning, tunnelling and entanglement this is a thought-provoking read, just as long as you don't expect to find many definitive scientific conclusions.
Without going into a lot of detail about processes which the authors consider involve special quantum effects, I will touch on some of the key examples they describe. There is evidence, they claim, that superpositioning is involved in photosynthesis, a process, incidentally, that has been around for more than 3 billion years. In this instance, superpositioning takes the form of the energy from excited chlorophyll molecules being transferred to the reaction centre (which is responsible for the next step in photosynthesis) by simultaneously taking many different pathways, resulting in nearly 100% transfer efficiency, rather than being transferred to the reaction centre by the equivalent of a single "drunken walk" which would be hit and miss and much less efficient.
They say that another effect, quantum tunnelling, appears to be involved in the olfactory process and the evidence suggests that our sense of smell works in a similar way to a form of chemical analysis known as inelastic electron tunnelling spectroscopy. An election is able to tunnel across a small intra-molecular gap within a receptor molecule, from a donor site to a receptor site, but only if an odourant molecule situated in the gap possesses a chemical bond with the right vibrational frequency to absorb the energy that the electron had to lose as it inelastically tunnelled through. This theory doesn't replace the older "lock and key" idea because it seems that odourant molecules must still be the right shape to fit into the site, but it does explain a link between vibrational frequencies and the smell associated with certain molecules. Clearly, more evidence is needed to underpin this theory, especially information on the structure of olfactory receptors.
The third bizarre effect of quantum mechanics, entanglement, seems, according to the authors, to be exemplified by the ability of birds, and other animals, to navigate using the inclination of the earth's magnetic field. This field is too weak to directly break chemical bonds but a mechanism has been postulated that involves entanglement. The process starts with a protein in the eye, cryptochrome, losing an electron after being struck by a photon of light. It is then proposed that a molecule of the amino acid tryptophan donates an election from an entangled pair in one of its chemical bonds to replace the ejected electron - this donated electron remains entangled with its partner but in a state of superposition, being both in single and triplet states at the same time. This superpositioning is very sensitive to small magnetic fields which may determine, after decoherence has taken place, which chemical reaction follows. Somehow, the chemical products formed act as signals to the brain which determine the direction of travel. As is pointed out in the book, there is still a lot unknown about this process!
The book progresses slowly, as if the authors struggled to find sufficient examples so have to resort to padding out the text with background information. Much of what is written is highly speculative and the supporting evidence somewhat indirect. The final chapter (Chapter 10) is essentially an addendum to what has gone before it and, according the authors, was added during the writing of the book so as to incorporate the latest findings. (As the book had not been finalised at that stage, I'm puzzled as to why the contents of Chapter 10 couldn't have been integrated with the earlier chapters.) As well as providing further evidence in support of the weirder quantum effects, Chapter 10 also returns to the question of how atoms and molecules remain in a coherent state for sufficient time for the postulated outcomes to occur. In photosynthesis, for example, it's theorised that vibrations of surrounding molecules occur at the right frequency to resonate with the coherent state and maintain its coherence.
Overall, I didn't find that this book had an awful lot to say, mainly because this is such a speculative area of research. The book may be ahead of its time, or it may turn out to be stating the blindingly obvious. After all, if you stop to think about it, is it really surprising that biochemical processes have been fine-tuned by billions of years of evolution so that they become as efficient as possible, utilising every trick that the physical world has at its disposal? Probably not, although I admit that the idea hadn't really occurred to me until I read this account so for that I'm grateful.
Finally, I should add that this is probably not a good book for someone who is new to quantum theory. Although the authors skim over the basics, for them to do so in more depth would make the volume far too long - besides which, there are plenty of other texts that provide this introduction. But for anyone who already has an elementary understanding of superpositioning, tunnelling and entanglement this is a thought-provoking read, just as long as you don't expect to find many definitive scientific conclusions.
June 7, 2016
Not bad on how life might use specifically quantum properties, though as is often the case with electrons and molecules bouncing around, it would be a lot easier to follow with animations. Words and monochrome diagrams don't really cut it.
But the authors seem worried about scaring readers off with too much actual quantum business. They don't describe it as fully as most pop sci books, and eke out the main discoveries throughout. I think that's doing them a disservice - you can never try too hard to explain this stuff, and I'd guess most lay readers who have come across the concepts a few times will appreciate a refresher, especially if there's a different spin to it, like David Deutsch's stuff. And they steer clear of any mention of the many-worlds interpretation, in which you could see (if I'm remembering David Deutsch, again, correctly) all living organisms as spread out across infinite universes (or something similarly cool sounding, better than magnetic robin eyes, anyway).
Then they waste everyone's time with some 'imagine we can shrink and travel through this tree in a tiny submarine' exercise. This is as a book about the science of very small things and how they work, introducing a tiny submarine raises more questions than it answers. The chapter on consciousness is pretty sloppy, too. Gah.
But the authors seem worried about scaring readers off with too much actual quantum business. They don't describe it as fully as most pop sci books, and eke out the main discoveries throughout. I think that's doing them a disservice - you can never try too hard to explain this stuff, and I'd guess most lay readers who have come across the concepts a few times will appreciate a refresher, especially if there's a different spin to it, like David Deutsch's stuff. And they steer clear of any mention of the many-worlds interpretation, in which you could see (if I'm remembering David Deutsch, again, correctly) all living organisms as spread out across infinite universes (or something similarly cool sounding, better than magnetic robin eyes, anyway).
Then they waste everyone's time with some 'imagine we can shrink and travel through this tree in a tiny submarine' exercise. This is as a book about the science of very small things and how they work, introducing a tiny submarine raises more questions than it answers. The chapter on consciousness is pretty sloppy, too. Gah.
September 19, 2018
Un gran bel saggio che tratta una branca della scienza di cui non conoscevo l'esistenza: la meccanica quantistica applicata alla biologia. L'argomento è ostico in partenza, dato che i fenomeni quantistici sono del tutto contro-intuitivi (ad esempio: uno stesso elettrone può esistere contemporaneamente in due luoghi diversi distanti anche anni-luce tra loro). Dato che la divulgazione ricorre spesso al'intuizione, c'era il rischio di fare una frittata. Non è successo, ed è tutto merito di Al-Khalili che sa spiegare con chiarezza. E' ovvio, però, che serve una piccola, ma proprio piccola, base di chimica e biochimica.
La conclusione che si trae, alla fine della lettura, è che i fenomeni quantistici potrebbero essere la chiave giusta per aprire la cassaforte in cui è custodito il segreto dell'origine della vita. Ma c'è ancora tanto da studiare.
«Strano» è l’aggettivo usato più di frequente per descrivere il campo della meccanica quantistica. E lo è davvero, è strana. Qualunque teoria che prevede oggetti che passano attraverso barriere impenetrabili, si trovano in due posti diversi contemporaneamente o hanno «collegamenti misteriosi» non si può certo descrivere come ordinaria. Ma la sua struttura matematica è assolutamente logica e coerente, e descrive accuratamente il mondo a livello delle particelle fondamentali e delle forze che agiscono su di esse. La meccanica quantistica rappresenta quindi il fondamento della realtà fisica. I livelli discreti di energia, la dualità onda-particella, la coerenza, la correlazione quantistica e l’effetto tunnel non sono solo idee interessanti che riguardano esclusivamente scienziati chini al lavoro in laboratori asettici. Sono fenomeni reali e normali come la torta della nonna, e, anzi, avvengono proprio dentro la torta della nonna. La meccanica quantistica è normale. È il mondo che descrive che è strano.
La conclusione che si trae, alla fine della lettura, è che i fenomeni quantistici potrebbero essere la chiave giusta per aprire la cassaforte in cui è custodito il segreto dell'origine della vita. Ma c'è ancora tanto da studiare.
«Strano» è l’aggettivo usato più di frequente per descrivere il campo della meccanica quantistica. E lo è davvero, è strana. Qualunque teoria che prevede oggetti che passano attraverso barriere impenetrabili, si trovano in due posti diversi contemporaneamente o hanno «collegamenti misteriosi» non si può certo descrivere come ordinaria. Ma la sua struttura matematica è assolutamente logica e coerente, e descrive accuratamente il mondo a livello delle particelle fondamentali e delle forze che agiscono su di esse. La meccanica quantistica rappresenta quindi il fondamento della realtà fisica. I livelli discreti di energia, la dualità onda-particella, la coerenza, la correlazione quantistica e l’effetto tunnel non sono solo idee interessanti che riguardano esclusivamente scienziati chini al lavoro in laboratori asettici. Sono fenomeni reali e normali come la torta della nonna, e, anzi, avvengono proprio dentro la torta della nonna. La meccanica quantistica è normale. È il mondo che descrive che è strano.
April 24, 2019
What the heck is quantum biology? I have heard of quantum physics, and biology, but the combination of the two sounded weird. I mean, even weirder than quantum stuff on its own. Of course, Schrödinger’s cat probably knows exactly what it is. And does not. At the same time.
Speaking of Schrödinger: he invented the idea of quantum biology. Namely, he thought that many of the unexplained biochemical processes - such as that they are way more efficient than we can explain using classical physics - might be explained using quantum principles. Other scientists thought he was cuckoo.
Some fifty years later, other scientists proposed that quantum effects might play a role in life. Quantum physicists thought they were cuckoo.
The problem was, they said, that quantum effects - such as being in many places at once, being in multiple states at once, quantum tunneling (going through normally impregnable barriers) - can only occur when the particles are aligned, i.e. in a coherent state. Just about anything can collapse this state (known as decoherence), and quantum physicists cool their labs to close to absolute zero, and insulate them from all vibrations, to maintain coherence for mere femtoseconds (that’s very short). So the idea that quantum effects could occur long enough in the warm and messy environment of living organisms, was laughable.
Turns out life can maintain coherence just long enough that tiny quantum effects can be picked up by very highly callibrated instruments in the body, where tiny changes could push something one way or another, kind of like a block that is balanced on an edge can be effected by a fly landing on one side or another. Life has a different approach to this problem than engineers: particles are able to vibrate in unison with the quantum states. Don’t ask me for more details.
Quantum biology is so new that ideas change very fast; indeed, most people who laughed at it first are now researching it. Life’s basic processes cannot be explained without quantum effects. Photosynthesis is the biggest one: its near 100% efficiency cannot be explained with lossy chemical reactions. DNA replication is the other biggie. In addition, quantum effects are thought to be involved in smelling, sensing of the Earth’s magnetic field (in migrating birds, fish and insects), mutation of cells, and in the original creation of life itself.
I picked this up because I was curious how these two diffferent subjects connect. The book did give me a good conceptual idea. The authors included many analogies to help lay people visualize the concepts. There were also many detailed descriptions of particle physics and chemical processes, most of which were lost on me. Overall I feel that I have learned a lot, especially about quantum physics, but don’t ask me about any of the details.
I recommend this for inquiring minds who don’t mind the details even if they don’t get all of it. Or most of it. It is a good introduction into a weird (the authors’ word) and cutting edge corner of science.
Speaking of Schrödinger: he invented the idea of quantum biology. Namely, he thought that many of the unexplained biochemical processes - such as that they are way more efficient than we can explain using classical physics - might be explained using quantum principles. Other scientists thought he was cuckoo.
Some fifty years later, other scientists proposed that quantum effects might play a role in life. Quantum physicists thought they were cuckoo.
The problem was, they said, that quantum effects - such as being in many places at once, being in multiple states at once, quantum tunneling (going through normally impregnable barriers) - can only occur when the particles are aligned, i.e. in a coherent state. Just about anything can collapse this state (known as decoherence), and quantum physicists cool their labs to close to absolute zero, and insulate them from all vibrations, to maintain coherence for mere femtoseconds (that’s very short). So the idea that quantum effects could occur long enough in the warm and messy environment of living organisms, was laughable.
Turns out life can maintain coherence just long enough that tiny quantum effects can be picked up by very highly callibrated instruments in the body, where tiny changes could push something one way or another, kind of like a block that is balanced on an edge can be effected by a fly landing on one side or another. Life has a different approach to this problem than engineers: particles are able to vibrate in unison with the quantum states. Don’t ask me for more details.
Quantum biology is so new that ideas change very fast; indeed, most people who laughed at it first are now researching it. Life’s basic processes cannot be explained without quantum effects. Photosynthesis is the biggest one: its near 100% efficiency cannot be explained with lossy chemical reactions. DNA replication is the other biggie. In addition, quantum effects are thought to be involved in smelling, sensing of the Earth’s magnetic field (in migrating birds, fish and insects), mutation of cells, and in the original creation of life itself.
I picked this up because I was curious how these two diffferent subjects connect. The book did give me a good conceptual idea. The authors included many analogies to help lay people visualize the concepts. There were also many detailed descriptions of particle physics and chemical processes, most of which were lost on me. Overall I feel that I have learned a lot, especially about quantum physics, but don’t ask me about any of the details.
I recommend this for inquiring minds who don’t mind the details even if they don’t get all of it. Or most of it. It is a good introduction into a weird (the authors’ word) and cutting edge corner of science.
February 3, 2018
Life on the Edge
Jim Al-Khalili & Johnjoe McFadden
"The coming of Age of the Quantum Biology."
If Quantum Mechanics is a little known Science, Quantum Biology is so even less, at least to me.
The authors propose to give some necessary information on Quantum Biology to be intelligible even to the layman.
The primary reason for this book is the search for the origin of life.
It is the origin of the first living and reproductive cell, even before “The theory of evolution” by Charles Darwin could start to exist.
A countless number of scientists is working on this problem without anyone finding the answer, so far.
What exactly is Quantum Mechanics?
This is the question which is being explored throughout this book.
For a start, I can quote a few of the basic terminology:
-Wave-particle duality
-Quantum tunnelling
-Superposition
-Entanglement
-Measurement, is one of the most mysterious aspects of quantum mechanics, as it relates to the question; why don’t all objects we see do all these wonderful things that quantum particles can do?
The answer is that, down in the microscopic world, particles can behave in strange way’s, like doing two things at once, being able to pass through walls or possessing some spooky connections, only when no one is looking?
The question is crucial to this story because measurement lies on the borderline between the quantum and classical worlds, the quantum edge, where the authors, as you will have guessed from the title of this book, are claiming life also lies.
The following chapters:
The engines of life,
The quantum beat,
Finding Nemo’s home,
The butterfly, fruit fly, and the quantum robin
Quantum Genes,
Mind,
How life began,
Quantum biology; life on the edge of a storm.
Throughout these chapters, the authors relate and explain how, after twenty years of research they have come very close to finding the missing link to the origin of life
by including quantum biology into the elusive equation.
The book is a proposal, not a conclusion.
I enjoy reading this work because I was motivated by my recent reading of Darwin's
Origin of the Species, and as an excellent link to further reading.
It is not an entertaining story, much rather a scientific study addressed to the scientific community in search of followers of their theory.
Jim Al-Khalili & Johnjoe McFadden
"The coming of Age of the Quantum Biology."
If Quantum Mechanics is a little known Science, Quantum Biology is so even less, at least to me.
The authors propose to give some necessary information on Quantum Biology to be intelligible even to the layman.
The primary reason for this book is the search for the origin of life.
It is the origin of the first living and reproductive cell, even before “The theory of evolution” by Charles Darwin could start to exist.
A countless number of scientists is working on this problem without anyone finding the answer, so far.
What exactly is Quantum Mechanics?
This is the question which is being explored throughout this book.
For a start, I can quote a few of the basic terminology:
-Wave-particle duality
-Quantum tunnelling
-Superposition
-Entanglement
-Measurement, is one of the most mysterious aspects of quantum mechanics, as it relates to the question; why don’t all objects we see do all these wonderful things that quantum particles can do?
The answer is that, down in the microscopic world, particles can behave in strange way’s, like doing two things at once, being able to pass through walls or possessing some spooky connections, only when no one is looking?
The question is crucial to this story because measurement lies on the borderline between the quantum and classical worlds, the quantum edge, where the authors, as you will have guessed from the title of this book, are claiming life also lies.
The following chapters:
The engines of life,
The quantum beat,
Finding Nemo’s home,
The butterfly, fruit fly, and the quantum robin
Quantum Genes,
Mind,
How life began,
Quantum biology; life on the edge of a storm.
Throughout these chapters, the authors relate and explain how, after twenty years of research they have come very close to finding the missing link to the origin of life
by including quantum biology into the elusive equation.
The book is a proposal, not a conclusion.
I enjoy reading this work because I was motivated by my recent reading of Darwin's
Origin of the Species, and as an excellent link to further reading.
It is not an entertaining story, much rather a scientific study addressed to the scientific community in search of followers of their theory.
December 5, 2018
My "eh" review is based on, well, I couldn't understand some of the technical stuff. Same problem I had with Nick Lane's "Vital Question" (which I've tried twice). Here, I found clear, understandable explanations, until they're not. The good parts were really good. The bad parts, muddy and poorly written.
Here's the reco that got me to try it: https://physicsworld.com/a/bringing-t...
And see John Gribbin's 5-star review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
--and dust of your molecular-biology skills! Give it (and/or Lane) a try, and see if they take. Important and path-breaking stuff. Even if it seems to be over my head. Well, I'll keep whacking away at it. As time and energy-levels permit....
Here's the reco that got me to try it: https://physicsworld.com/a/bringing-t...
And see John Gribbin's 5-star review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
--and dust of your molecular-biology skills! Give it (and/or Lane) a try, and see if they take. Important and path-breaking stuff. Even if it seems to be over my head. Well, I'll keep whacking away at it. As time and energy-levels permit....
November 4, 2022
كتاب الحياة على الحافة (العصر القادم لعلم الاحياء الكمومي )
بسؤال لماذا علم الحياة الكمومي يوحد جونجو ماكفادين ، الخبير في علم الوراثة الجزيئية ، وجيم الخليلي ، عالم الفيزياء الكمومية ، قواهما لشرح دور ميكانيكا الكم في الكائنات الحية. يبحث هذا المجال الجديد من الاحياء الكمومي أن الحياة تقع على الحافة بين الفيزياء الكلاسيكية والفيزياء الكمومية ، يشرح المؤلفان دون التطرق الى الرياضيات الظواهر المتعلقة بالعالم الكمومي (متضمنا رسومات تضيف وضوحا إلى الموضوع الذي يتم تناوله( ازدواجية موجه -جسيم ، والأنفاق الكمومية ، والتراكب والتشابك
كيف يهتدي طائر ابي الحناء الأوروبي(بالفصل السادس البوصلة الكمومية ) طريقه كل عام من الدول الاسكندنافية إلى البحر الأبيض المتوسط والعودة لمكانه الاول؟ كيف تشق الفراشة الملكية طريقها عبر أمريكا الشمالية إلى مخبأها الشتوي في جبال المكسيك؟ تستخدم الفراشة الملكية وابي الحناء بروتين الكريبتوكروم الذي يمكنهم من التنقل باستغلال المجال المغناطيسي للأرض. لاحظ المؤلفان أن العديد من الحيوانات والنباتات وحتى الميكروبات تستخدم الكريبتوكروم للكشف عن المجال المغناطيسي.
يوضح ماكفادين والخليلي التعقيد المذهل للحياة من خلال الخلية الحية الواحدة. في المجال الناشئ للبيولوجيا التركيبية عندما يخلق العلماء حمضا أمينيا أو سكرا ، فإنهم يخلقون منتجا واحدا في كل مرة. ويتابع المؤلفان: "هذه ليست مهمة سهلة وتتطلب تحكما دقيقا في العديد من الظروف المختلفة داخل القوارير المخصصة والمكثفات وأعمدة الفصل وأجهزة الترشيح وغيرها من الأجهزة الكيميائية المتقنة ... ومع ذلك ، تقوم كل خلية في اجسامنا باستمرار بتوليف الآلاف من المواد الكيميائية الحيوية المتميزة داخل غرفة تفاعل مليئة ببضعة ملايين فقط من ميكرولتر من السوائل. كيف تسير كل ردود الفعل المتنوعة هذه في وقت واحد؟ وكيف يتم تنسيق كل هذا العمل الجزيئي داخل خلية مجهرية؟"
من بين العديد من المواد الهامة التي تصنعها الخلايا هي الإنزيمات. وهي محفزات بروتينية تسرع العديد من التفاعلات الكيميائية للخلية. على سبيل المثال انزيم الكولاجيناز ضروري لتفكيك الكولاجين غير الضروري أو التالف وبناء كولاجين جديد. وتجري عملياتها في نانوثانية بكفاءة مذهلة. يرى المؤلفان أن الأنفاق الكمومية او التسرب tunneling ) )تستخدم أيضا لنقل الإلكترونات إلى موضعها. ويرى الباحثان أن الأنفاق الكمومية تستخدم أيضا في التنفس الخلوي، وهي عملية معقدة للغاية تستخدمها الخلايا لاستخلاص الطاقة من الطعام.
يستكشف المؤلفان تفاصيل ميكانيكا الكم ويستعرضان بالتفصيل تجارب الشق المزدوج التي تظهر ازدواجية الموجة والجسيمات. كما أنها تفسر التماسك ، وهي الحالة التي تحافظ فيها الجسيمات على طبيعتها الكمومية. عدم التماسك هو الحالة التي تعمل فيها الجسيمات بطريقة كلاسيكية. بانهيار دالتها الموجية ماان يتم ملاحظتها. وهكذا افترضا أن الجسيمات التي تشكل الكائنات الحية المعبأة بكثافة تعمل كجسيمات كلاسيكية وليست كجسيمات كمومية. ثم يستعرض المؤلفان أمثلة على التماسك ، وأبرزها التمثيل الضوئي في النبات. في عملية التمثيل الضوئي تعمل بعض الجسيمات في الواقع كحواسيب كمومية تستكشف جميع المسارات الممكنة في وقت واحد لتوجيه الإلكترونات بأسرع طريقة إلى وجهتها. يبحث ماكفادين والخليلي في حاسة الشم والنظريات التي تحكم هذه الحاسة المهمة ومقارنة تلك النظريات ما بين الكمومية والكلاسيكية يستكشف المؤلفان في الفصل السابع التأثيرات الكمومية على طفرات الحمض النووي من خلال الروابط الهيدروجينية الضعيفة بين أزواج القواعد من النيوكليوتيدات التي تشكل الحمض النووي.
من الرؤية الى الوعي وسؤال كيف بدأت الحياة وما مستقبل هذا العلم تنتهي رحلة قراءة الكتاب الماتع جدا
بسؤال لماذا علم الحياة الكمومي يوحد جونجو ماكفادين ، الخبير في علم الوراثة الجزيئية ، وجيم الخليلي ، عالم الفيزياء الكمومية ، قواهما لشرح دور ميكانيكا الكم في الكائنات الحية. يبحث هذا المجال الجديد من الاحياء الكمومي أن الحياة تقع على الحافة بين الفيزياء الكلاسيكية والفيزياء الكمومية ، يشرح المؤلفان دون التطرق الى الرياضيات الظواهر المتعلقة بالعالم الكمومي (متضمنا رسومات تضيف وضوحا إلى الموضوع الذي يتم تناوله( ازدواجية موجه -جسيم ، والأنفاق الكمومية ، والتراكب والتشابك
كيف يهتدي طائر ابي الحناء الأوروبي(بالفصل السادس البوصلة الكمومية ) طريقه كل عام من الدول الاسكندنافية إلى البحر الأبيض المتوسط والعودة لمكانه الاول؟ كيف تشق الفراشة الملكية طريقها عبر أمريكا الشمالية إلى مخبأها الشتوي في جبال المكسيك؟ تستخدم الفراشة الملكية وابي الحناء بروتين الكريبتوكروم الذي يمكنهم من التنقل باستغلال المجال المغناطيسي للأرض. لاحظ المؤلفان أن العديد من الحيوانات والنباتات وحتى الميكروبات تستخدم الكريبتوكروم للكشف عن المجال المغناطيسي.
يوضح ماكفادين والخليلي التعقيد المذهل للحياة من خلال الخلية الحية الواحدة. في المجال الناشئ للبيولوجيا التركيبية عندما يخلق العلماء حمضا أمينيا أو سكرا ، فإنهم يخلقون منتجا واحدا في كل مرة. ويتابع المؤلفان: "هذه ليست مهمة سهلة وتتطلب تحكما دقيقا في العديد من الظروف المختلفة داخل القوارير المخصصة والمكثفات وأعمدة الفصل وأجهزة الترشيح وغيرها من الأجهزة الكيميائية المتقنة ... ومع ذلك ، تقوم كل خلية في اجسامنا باستمرار بتوليف الآلاف من المواد الكيميائية الحيوية المتميزة داخل غرفة تفاعل مليئة ببضعة ملايين فقط من ميكرولتر من السوائل. كيف تسير كل ردود الفعل المتنوعة هذه في وقت واحد؟ وكيف يتم تنسيق كل هذا العمل الجزيئي داخل خلية مجهرية؟"
من بين العديد من المواد الهامة التي تصنعها الخلايا هي الإنزيمات. وهي محفزات بروتينية تسرع العديد من التفاعلات الكيميائية للخلية. على سبيل المثال انزيم الكولاجيناز ضروري لتفكيك الكولاجين غير الضروري أو التالف وبناء كولاجين جديد. وتجري عملياتها في نانوثانية بكفاءة مذهلة. يرى المؤلفان أن الأنفاق الكمومية او التسرب tunneling ) )تستخدم أيضا لنقل الإلكترونات إلى موضعها. ويرى الباحثان أن الأنفاق الكمومية تستخدم أيضا في التنفس الخلوي، وهي عملية معقدة للغاية تستخدمها الخلايا لاستخلاص الطاقة من الطعام.
يستكشف المؤلفان تفاصيل ميكانيكا الكم ويستعرضان بالتفصيل تجارب الشق المزدوج التي تظهر ازدواجية الموجة والجسيمات. كما أنها تفسر التماسك ، وهي الحالة التي تحافظ فيها الجسيمات على طبيعتها الكمومية. عدم التماسك هو الحالة التي تعمل فيها الجسيمات بطريقة كلاسيكية. بانهيار دالتها الموجية ماان يتم ملاحظتها. وهكذا افترضا أن الجسيمات التي تشكل الكائنات الحية المعبأة بكثافة تعمل كجسيمات كلاسيكية وليست كجسيمات كمومية. ثم يستعرض المؤلفان أمثلة على التماسك ، وأبرزها التمثيل الضوئي في النبات. في عملية التمثيل الضوئي تعمل بعض الجسيمات في الواقع كحواسيب كمومية تستكشف جميع المسارات الممكنة في وقت واحد لتوجيه الإلكترونات بأسرع طريقة إلى وجهتها. يبحث ماكفادين والخليلي في حاسة الشم والنظريات التي تحكم هذه الحاسة المهمة ومقارنة تلك النظريات ما بين الكمومية والكلاسيكية يستكشف المؤلفان في الفصل السابع التأثيرات الكمومية على طفرات الحمض النووي من خلال الروابط الهيدروجينية الضعيفة بين أزواج القواعد من النيوكليوتيدات التي تشكل الحمض النووي.
من الرؤية الى الوعي وسؤال كيف بدأت الحياة وما مستقبل هذا العلم تنتهي رحلة قراءة الكتاب الماتع جدا
May 1, 2021
This book is basically composed of ‘case studies’ of processes in living organisms, which have been shown to be dependent on quantum phenomena. The idea that living organisms utilise quantum mechanics is pretty mind-blowing. I liked Life on the Edge, because it introduces concepts I have never heard of before and tries to do it in a digestible way. It also feels exciting to be reading about something, that has only been discovered in the recent years.
I got a better idea about how the quantum world works. Still, I think I would have liked the book a bit more, if the physics were a little less schematic. But in that case, one might as well read a textbook. And I wouldn’t probably understand that anyways. I guess that’s the fate of non-fiction science books - they can never really get the best of both worlds.
I got a better idea about how the quantum world works. Still, I think I would have liked the book a bit more, if the physics were a little less schematic. But in that case, one might as well read a textbook. And I wouldn’t probably understand that anyways. I guess that’s the fate of non-fiction science books - they can never really get the best of both worlds.
June 27, 2020
Fascinating subject, but it reads like a textbook. Typically, I love non-fiction, but never found myself emotionally attached to this. Could maybe go three stars. I respect the authors work. Amazing topic. 📚
April 3, 2020
2016.12.27–2016.12.29
Contents
McFadden J & Al-Khalili J (2014) (11:47) Life on the Edge - The Coming of Age of Quantum Biology
About the Authors
Acknowledgments
01. Introduction
• A hidden spooky reality
• Quantum biology
• If quantum mechanics is normal, why should we be excited about quantum biology?
02. What is life?
• The "life force"
• Triumph of the machines
• A molecular billiard table
• Life as chaos?
• Peering deeper into life
• Genes
• Life's curious grin
• The quantum revolution
• Schrödinger's wave function
• The early quantum biologists
• Order all the way down
• The estrangement
03. The engines of life
• Enzymes: between the quick and the dead
• Why we need enzymes and how tadpoles lose their tails
• Changing the landscape
• Jiggling and wiggling
• Does transition state theory explain it all?
• Pushing electrons around
• Quantum tunneling
• Quantum tunneling of electrons in biology
• Moving protons around
• The kinetic isotope effect
• So does this establish the quantum in quantum biology?
04. The quantum beat
• The central mystery of quantum mechanics
• Quantum measurement
• Voyage to the center of photosynthesis
• The quantum beat
05. Finding Nemo's home
• The physical reality of odors
• Unlocking the odor key
• Smelling with a quantum nose
• Battle of the noses
• Physicists take a sniff
06. The butterfly, the fruit fly and the quantum robin
• The avian compass
• Quantum spin and spooky action
• A radical sense of direction
07. Quantum genes
• Fidelity
• Infidelity
• The giraffe, the bean and the fruit fly
• Coding with protons
• Quantum jumping genes?
08. Mind
• How odd is consciousness?
• The mechanics of thought
• How mind moves matter
• Computing with qubits
• Computing with microtubules
• Quantum ion channels
09. How life began
• The gunk problem
• From gunk to cells
• The RNA world
• So, can quantum mechanics help?
• What did the first self-replicator look like?
10. Quantum biology: life on the edge of a storm
• Good, good, good vibrations (bop bop)
• Reflections on the motive force of life
• Life on the quantum edge of a classical storm
• Can we exploit quantum biology to make new living technology?
• Building life from the bottom up
• Launching the primordial quantum protocell
Epilogue: quantum life
Contents
McFadden J & Al-Khalili J (2014) (11:47) Life on the Edge - The Coming of Age of Quantum Biology
About the Authors
Acknowledgments
01. Introduction
• A hidden spooky reality
• Quantum biology
• If quantum mechanics is normal, why should we be excited about quantum biology?
02. What is life?
• The "life force"
• Triumph of the machines
• A molecular billiard table
• Life as chaos?
• Peering deeper into life
• Genes
• Life's curious grin
• The quantum revolution
• Schrödinger's wave function
• The early quantum biologists
• Order all the way down
• The estrangement
03. The engines of life
• Enzymes: between the quick and the dead
• Why we need enzymes and how tadpoles lose their tails
• Changing the landscape
• Jiggling and wiggling
• Does transition state theory explain it all?
• Pushing electrons around
• Quantum tunneling
• Quantum tunneling of electrons in biology
• Moving protons around
• The kinetic isotope effect
• So does this establish the quantum in quantum biology?
04. The quantum beat
• The central mystery of quantum mechanics
• Quantum measurement
• Voyage to the center of photosynthesis
• The quantum beat
05. Finding Nemo's home
• The physical reality of odors
• Unlocking the odor key
• Smelling with a quantum nose
• Battle of the noses
• Physicists take a sniff
06. The butterfly, the fruit fly and the quantum robin
• The avian compass
• Quantum spin and spooky action
• A radical sense of direction
07. Quantum genes
• Fidelity
• Infidelity
• The giraffe, the bean and the fruit fly
• Coding with protons
• Quantum jumping genes?
08. Mind
• How odd is consciousness?
• The mechanics of thought
• How mind moves matter
• Computing with qubits
• Computing with microtubules
• Quantum ion channels
09. How life began
• The gunk problem
• From gunk to cells
• The RNA world
• So, can quantum mechanics help?
• What did the first self-replicator look like?
10. Quantum biology: life on the edge of a storm
• Good, good, good vibrations (bop bop)
• Reflections on the motive force of life
• Life on the quantum edge of a classical storm
• Can we exploit quantum biology to make new living technology?
• Building life from the bottom up
• Launching the primordial quantum protocell
Epilogue: quantum life
July 23, 2020
I first came across the field of Quantum Biology in a Biophysics lecture that was examining the role of energy landscapes in protein folding, particularly incorrect protein folding in the context of amyloid plaque formation, a pivotal turning point in the development of Alzheimer’s disease. I was immediately fascinated.
This book succeeded in heightening that fascination even further.
“Life on Edge” argues that biological systems manage to sustain quantum systems and their properties at temperatures that were previously thought to be too high to maintain quantum coherence. Furthermore, it argues that living systems have evolved to manipulate these properties, such as quantum superposition, entanglement, and tunnelling to do work in highly efficient ways. Be it magnetoreception in the migratory robin, electron transfer between enzymes involved in respiration, photon capture by chloroplasts in plants, olfactory perception, DNA replication and even (largely speculatively) consciousness, the authors argue that life lives on the quantum edge.
Humorous, sometimes verging on poetic, the style of writing is accessible and requires only a basic knowledge of biology and physics for understanding.
This book succeeded in heightening that fascination even further.
“Life on Edge” argues that biological systems manage to sustain quantum systems and their properties at temperatures that were previously thought to be too high to maintain quantum coherence. Furthermore, it argues that living systems have evolved to manipulate these properties, such as quantum superposition, entanglement, and tunnelling to do work in highly efficient ways. Be it magnetoreception in the migratory robin, electron transfer between enzymes involved in respiration, photon capture by chloroplasts in plants, olfactory perception, DNA replication and even (largely speculatively) consciousness, the authors argue that life lives on the quantum edge.
Humorous, sometimes verging on poetic, the style of writing is accessible and requires only a basic knowledge of biology and physics for understanding.
October 9, 2017
I’ve been meaning to read this for a while now, though also somewhat afraid of the idea — quantum biology?! Do y’all have to bring quantum (which I don’t understand) into biology (which I mostly do understand)? How rude! But this book is really clear about the concepts it describes, and there’s nothing too mind-boggling in it. Sometimes, in fact, the patience the authors had with explaining a concept I already understood was a little frustrating — but will open the book up to a bigger audience.
Do they have a point? Yes, I think so. I’m not sure it’s proven that quantum effects have a major impact on all the biological processes they discuss, but it seems pretty clear from the research they reference that quantum effects are there and might even solve some of the problems we still have in biology.
More research is needed, though — and this is one field you won’t find me trying to join, I think! It’s fascinating stuff, but I’m not a quantum fan.
Reviewed for The Bibliophibian.
Do they have a point? Yes, I think so. I’m not sure it’s proven that quantum effects have a major impact on all the biological processes they discuss, but it seems pretty clear from the research they reference that quantum effects are there and might even solve some of the problems we still have in biology.
More research is needed, though — and this is one field you won’t find me trying to join, I think! It’s fascinating stuff, but I’m not a quantum fan.
Reviewed for The Bibliophibian.
December 16, 2014
Although the subject is very interesting, the attempts to make it readable for those without a scientific background make it hard to follow at times. I agree that maybe not everyone is familiar with the concept of chirality, so this makes an introduction necessary. Going over the concept of elasticity maybe not so much, more so since the explanation is incomplete and misleading.
While the book is certainly filled with very interesting information, the delivery lacks a more adequate language and depth. If you have a scientific background, expect to skip quite a few pages. If not, then maybe you'd be better off with a different book to give you some fundamentals.
While the book is certainly filled with very interesting information, the delivery lacks a more adequate language and depth. If you have a scientific background, expect to skip quite a few pages. If not, then maybe you'd be better off with a different book to give you some fundamentals.
January 7, 2020
To quote Josepth Joestar, "OH MY GOD!"
April 19, 2023
No sé muy bien cómo calificar este libro, la verdad.
El propósito del libro es mostrar cómo los principales procesos relacionados con lo vivo están íntimamente relacionados, en último término, con proceso puramente cuánticos.
En este viaje recorre la respiración celular, la fotosíntesis, las mutaciones génicas, el olfato, la orientación animal por el campo magnético...
El viaje es ameno (describe los anteriores procesos de una manera clara y didáctica) pero no llega al destino. El vincular los mecanismos que aún quedan por conocer en estos procesos con la mecánica cuántica es tan difuso y especulativo que uno se pregunta si un libro así tiene sentido para el gran público.
No me arrepiento de haber leído este libro, pero se me hace difícil recomendarlo.
El propósito del libro es mostrar cómo los principales procesos relacionados con lo vivo están íntimamente relacionados, en último término, con proceso puramente cuánticos.
En este viaje recorre la respiración celular, la fotosíntesis, las mutaciones génicas, el olfato, la orientación animal por el campo magnético...
El viaje es ameno (describe los anteriores procesos de una manera clara y didáctica) pero no llega al destino. El vincular los mecanismos que aún quedan por conocer en estos procesos con la mecánica cuántica es tan difuso y especulativo que uno se pregunta si un libro así tiene sentido para el gran público.
No me arrepiento de haber leído este libro, pero se me hace difícil recomendarlo.
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