
Life Ascending
The Ten Great Inventions of Evolution
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Narrated by:
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Graeme Malcolm
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By:
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Nick Lane
Where does DNA come from? What is consciousness? How did the eye evolve? Drawing on a treasure trove of new scientific knowledge, Nick Lane expertly reconstructs evolution's history by describing its 10 greatest inventions - from sex and warmth to death - resulting in a stunning account of nature's ingenuity.
©2010 Nick Lane (P)2010 Audible, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...




















Critic reviews
- Royal Society Prize for Science Books, 2010
"Original and awe-inspiring . . . an exhilarating tour of some of the most profound and important ideas in biology." (New Scientist)
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Captivating
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It was particularly good on the theories origins of life/DNA, photosynthesis, and eukaryotic cells. Not so great on consciousness (I think it's hard to make a case that that is one of the greatest "inventions" of evolution from the overall picture of life) and death (really a chapter about how we can avoid the degenerations/infirmations of old age--SPOILER: eat less).
I thought I had, at last, a science book that doesn't try to persuade us that evolution is true but, alas, in the final chapter the author made his pitch. It was a powerful one, though, so I'll excuse it.
Definitely moments where I started to drift off but, overall, this is a good read for those who love biology.
technical but enlightening
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Any additional comments?
Lane provides an excellent and enjoyable narrative. It contains interesting and informative facts on evolution and genes in an easily understood manner.excellent
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And then, in moments, Lane seems to give up on any pretence of speaking to a wider audience, using terminology few outside of biology will follow. I found it baffling, because elsewhere, he takes such care to explain things in terms anyone could grasp. It's unclear to me whether he truly didn't realize what concepts others wouldn't know, or whether he just got lazy in places. From reading reviews of his other books, this seems to be an ongoing problem he has.
Unfortunately, these moments are most common in the earlier chapters, when he's discussing metabolism, the origin of life and photosynthesis. My advice? Just let the tangled bits glide past you, because there is a TON of fascinating material throughout the book, and the latter chapters offer few hiccups.
I do absolutely recommend this book, despite the caveats. Learning about the origin of life alone was worth the price, and the chapter on eyes is brilliant. The section on consciousness is also a nice speculative bonus.
Brilliant writing + lapses of impenetrable writing
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Well worth the listen
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Great book !
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Excellent treatment of life's drivers
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Before this book my only biology knowledge came from HS and a few YouTube videos here and there. I wanted a book that got into the details on a variety of biological topics as a starting off point. And on that this books seriously delivered.
Make no mistake, this book is dense. I had to listen to a chapter or even part of a chapter and then go watch YouTube videos and read articles to better understand what I just learned. But that is what I wanted. Biology is an enormous discipline and having this book gave me various grounding points so I could get started which is exactly what I needed.
I feel in the last month I’ve gone from a total biology noob to a biology novice. I cannot wait to learn more. As soon as I am done with this review I plan on listening to the entire book again, this time armed with considerable more knowledge before but undoubtedly i will find more detail that will send me on many more learning adventures.
As for the narration, once I bumped it to 1.25x speed it was perfect. I swear they slowed it down .25 as nobody talks THAT slow.
Absolutely Amazing
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Remarkable book!
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Here's a bit from my favorite passage:
"Life must have evolved a surprising degree of sophistication in its rocky hatchery. This paints an extraordinary portrait of the last common ancestor of all life on earth. If [William] Martin and [Michael] Russell are right, and I think they are, she was not a free living cell, but a rocky labyrinth of mineral cells lined with catalytic walls composed of iron, sulfur, and nickel, and energized by natural proton gradients. The first life was a porous rock that generated complex molecules and energy right up to the formation of proteins and DNA itself."
Life Began As a Porous Rock
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