MythicalZoan

Awesome book, good audio, NO ACCOMPANY8NG PDF

Reviewed: 05-23-23

Loved this comprehensive overview on the science of longevity from someone whos been obsessed with it for years and dedicated to the science-based approach.

It's easy to digest, and most importantly, easy to draw a prescriptive plan for your own long term health. No matter your exact situation, you get a lot out of it and know where you can begin to start or improve significantly.

The only drawback is from Audibles side - I could NOT find the accompanying pdf (easily found it in other books). I even complained to Audible and no reply for 2 weeks.

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Worth it, despite the hefty chemistry

Reviewed: 11-02-22

Transformer by Nick Lane would be a great listen for anyone interested in science, biology, origins of life, metabolism and the general nature of interconnected metabolic cycles that is life itself. He explains how these metabolic cycles tie us to the very first stirrings of chemistry that the crossed the hazy boundary between non-life and life. It's a fascinating point of view that brings together disparate fields within biology and biochemistry to give a compelling narrative of how life came to be and how that engine still spins inside each and every living cell.

The voice performance is great, delivering a dense subject in as digestible a form as is possible for a layman. Some of the descriptions of the biochemical steps can get a little clody, but the author doesn't shy away from showing you just enough of the complexity to let you truly appreciate its breathtaking beauty.

Overall, I absolutely lived the book and it's one I'll probably come back to again and again over the years.

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15 people found this helpful

Great tour of science's quest to define life

Reviewed: 08-16-22

I have read/listened to many popular books on evolution, life, consciousness etc., so ai wasn't sure if this would contain enough new material to enjoy. I was wrong.

While any of the concepts and experiments described were familiar to me, the author reports about his talks to the actual scientists themselves about these ideas. The author also switches between the historical development of ideas about life and their scientific underpinnings through out the book. I found it quite enjoyable.

There are many stories of individual scientists and their struggles and triumphs. This keeps the book from being too abstract. The descriptions of the establishment's reaction to various ideas and discoveries about life are fascinating and even insightful of the current status quo.

The concepts and thought experiments are quite engaging on their own as well.

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Ok; sporadically dull and *overly* Anglophilic

Reviewed: 08-03-22

I'm about halfway through and the constant British chest-thumping is getting tiring. Seems that the author considers the Serbs barbarians, the Russians sub-human and the colonial soldiers brave but hardly effectual and of course "tribal" as opposed to the "civilized" Western fighters.

But even if you don't care about the not-so-subtle colonialist and imperialist bent, the story is delivered more like a list of facts than a coherent narrative (with the exception of the pre-war geopolitical and cultural atmosphere and military thinking). The audio experience suffers a lot from not being able to refer to maps. You better get your detailed geography of Belgium, France, Poland and Austria straight before listening.

Overall 2.5 stars.

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1 person found this helpful