Summary
Title: Life Evolving: Molecules, Mind, and Meaning
Author: Christian de Duve
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0195156056
Pro:
• Provides great introduction for average readers into modern biology
• Explains what has been learned, what needs to be learned, and where we are likely to go
Con:
• A few more diagrams and illustrations might have been helpful
Description:
• Exploration of the development of modern biology
• Explanation of how life and cells work and evolve
• Argues that natural explanations are sufficient
Book Review
Life Evolving: Molecules, Mind, and Meaning was written by Christian de Duve to explain to people just how far we have come, why we have accomplished so much, and what directions of research still remain for those interested in pushing the boundaries of the biological sciences even further. The last couple of decades of the 20th century were an exciting time for biology — and as a 1974 Nobel Prize winner, de Duve knows very well what it's been like. The future, however, could be even more interesting.
This book serves as something of a testament both to his life's work and to the progress made in biology. De Duve reviews issues such as the origins of cells and even life itself, the evolution of cells and life, the question of how complexity develops in living organisms, and whether it is necessary to invoke supernatural and religious explanations for life and biology. There is a lot of potential here for the text to overwhelm an average reader with scientific details and technical explanations, but de Duve is a capable author with an elegant style who manages to convey his information in a manner that is both helpful and enlightening.
As a result, this book may do more for readers in introducing them to the basics of biology and cellular evolution than many standard texts. Hopefully people will avail themselves of sources such as this because the future development of biology will have many profound implications for how we live and what the nature of humanity will be. People really do need to learn more about the nature of life, genetics, and biology. For those unable or uninterested in taking regular classes, this book would serve as a good introduction.
This is not to say, however, that de Duve's book should be read uncritically and some of the things he writes are controversial in the scientific community. For example, unlike many biologists, de Duve believes that it was inevitable that life would develop and he argues that it probably occurred over the course of a few tens of thousands of years, not a few million years. If he is right, this has serious implications not just for the origin of life here, but also for the existence of life elsewhere in the universe.
His views on issues like the origins of language, consciousness, and altruism are also subject to a great deal of debate and disagreement in their respective fields. On such topics de Duve may well be right, or at least more right than others, but his status as a scientist should not lead readers to accept his conclusions automatically. On the other hand, his conclusions should be seriously considered because he argues for them in a coherent and forceful manner which requires that those who do disagree offer even better rebuttals.
Another issue where many readers, both atheists and theists, may disagree is with de Duve's views on religion and God. He doesn't believe in the existence of any gods, but he does feel that the existence of priests and religion are appropriate because of humanity's apparent need to believe in God. He hopes that, eventually, the myths of religion will be replaced with some other form of spiritual and moral guidance. In the meantime, though, he insists that religion needs to find a way to engage in dialogue with science and overcome the incompatibility between the two:
As long as this incompatibility persists, the dialogue between the two will remain impossible. For dialogue, a common language is needed. This does not exist. And yet, such a dialogue has become more necessary than ever before. Science is in the process of transforming the world by its applications. And, especially, it is upsetting all our ideas about the nature of things. Religions, on the other hand, go on influencing human behavior in an extraordinary fashion, pervading all levels of society. It is urgent for the two to speak with each other. ...If there is conflict between what science and what religion believes, the latter must give in.
Whether they will have this dialogue or not remains to be seen, but it will be interesting to see what biology will have to say on the matter.
