Nick Lane

Biochemist and writer

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The Vital Question: Why is Life the Way it Is? (2015)

"The Vital Question” is a stunning inquiry into the origin of life. I loved this book

— Bill Gates

The Vital Question: Why is Life the Way it Is? (2015)

One of the deepest, most illuminating books about the history of life to have been published in recent years

— ECONOMIST

The Vital Question: Why is Life the Way it Is? (2015)

A strikingly unconventional view of biology… Dr. Lane’s broad perspective, which attempts to address the origins of life, sex and death, is seductive and often convincing.

— Tim Requarth (NEW YORK TIMES)

The Vital Question: Why is Life the Way it Is? (2015)

He is an original researcher and thinker and a passionate and stylish populariser. His theories are ingenious, breathtaking in scope, and challenging in every sense ... intellectually what Lane is proposing, if correct, will be as important as the Copernican revolution.

— Peter Forbes (GUARDIAN)

The Vital Question: Why is Life the Way it Is? (2015)

A bold, eloquent, confident book… Nick Lane is not only a master storyteller, but this is his research… he’s that rare species, a scientist who can illuminate the bewildering complexities of biology with clear, luminous words

— Adam Rutherford (OBSERVER)

The Vital Question: Why is Life the Way it Is? (2015)

Comes triumphantly close to cracking the secret of why life is the way it is, to a depth that would boggle any ancient philosopher's mind.

— Matt Ridley (TIMES)

The Vital Question: Why is Life the Way it Is? (2015)

Nick Lane is emerging as one of the most imaginative thinkers about the evolution of life on Earth... A scintillating synthesis of a new theory of life.

— Clive Cookson (FINANCIAL TIMES)

The Vital Question: Why is Life the Way it Is? (2015)

Succeeds brilliantly… I cannot recommend The Vital Question too highly. Lane's vivid descriptions and powerful reasoning will amaze and grip the reader.

— Caspar Henderson (TELEGRAPH)

The Vital Question: Why is Life the Way it Is? (2015)

This is a book of vast scope and ambition, brimming with bold and important ideas... The arguments are powerful and persuasive... an incredible, epic story.

— Michael Le Page (NEW SCIENTIST)

The Vital Question: Why is Life the Way it Is? (2015)

An exciting tale, thrillingly told... This is a potent book, one that not only brings you up to date with biology but also stuns you with the wonder of it all.

— Bryan Appleyard (SUNDAY TIMES)

The Vital Question: Why is Life the Way it Is? (2015)

A tour de force of inventive science.

— Philip Ball (PROSPECT)

Life Ascending: The Ten Great Inventions of Evolution (2009)

Original and awe-inspiring... an exhilarating tour of some of the most profound and important ideas in biology

— NEW SCIENTIST

Life Ascending: The Ten Great Inventions of Evolution (2009)

Nick Lane is one of the most exciting science writers of our time.

— THE INDEPENDENT

Life Ascending: The Ten Great Inventions of Evolution (2009)

With its vast scope, page-turning revelations and elegant prose, Nick Lane's Life Ascending is everything one could hope for in a science book.

— THE TELEGRAPH

Life Ascending: The Ten Great Inventions of Evolution (2009)

This is a science book that doesn't cheat: the structure is logical, the writing is witty, and the hard questions are tackled head on.

— Tim Radford (THE GUARDIAN)

Life Ascending: The Ten Great Inventions of Evolution (2009)

Excellent and imaginative... full of surprises.

— Lewis Wolpert (NATURE)

Life Ascending: The Ten Great Inventions of Evolution (2009)

With clarity and vigor... Lane smoothly pulls in evidence to show how the critical components and mechanisms of complex life could have developed.

— NEW YORK TIMES

Power, Sex, Suicide: Mitochondria and the Meaning of Life (2005)

Magnificent... explains life's workings, fabric and inner logic with a previously unapproachable coherence.

— PROSPECT

Power, Sex, Suicide: Mitochondria and the Meaning of Life (2005)

Audacious... For anyone interested in some of the most profound questions of twenty-first century science. Clearly and forcefully propounded.... This is a new take on why we are here. Do, please, read this book.

— John F. Allen (NATURE)

Power, Sex, Suicide: Mitochondria and the Meaning of Life (2005)

Impressive… readable, provocative and often persuasive… undoubtedly important. An exciting and unusual book.

— Jonathan Hodgkin (TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT)

Power, Sex, Suicide: Mitochondria and the Meaning of Life (2005)

Full of startling insights into the nature and evolution of life as we know it.

— THE ECONOMIST, Books of the Year 2005

Oxygen: The Molecule that Made the World (2002)

Highly ambitious.... Oxygen is a piece of radical scientific polemic, nothing less than a total rethink of how life evolved between about 3.5 billion and 543 million years ago, and how that relates to the diseases we suffer from today.... This is science writing at its best

— FINANCIAL TIMES

Oxygen: The Molecule that Made the World (2002)

Lane's book is an extraordinary orchestration of disparate scientific disciplines, connecting the origins of life on earth with disease, age and death in human beings.

— John Cornwell, SUNDAY TIMES, Books of the Year, 2002

Oxygen: The Molecule that Made the World (2002)

Lane has written a wonderful book about the dual role of oxygen in life and death.... This is a scientific saga as compelling as any creation myth and Lane tells it with appropriate zeal.

— Tim Lenton, TIMES HIGHER EDUCATIONAL SUPPLEMENT

Oxygen: The Molecule that Made the World (2002)

Enthralling.... An excellent book. It held me spellbound for a 7 hour plane flight. I recommend it unreservedly.

— Barry Halliwell, FREE RADICAL RESEARCH

Books

All books

  • The Vital Question. Why is life the way it is?

    2015

  • Life Ascending: The Ten Great Inventions of Evolution

    2009

  • Book cover: Power, Sex, suicide. Mitochondria and the meaning of life

    Power, Sex, Suicide: Mitochondria and the Meaning of Life

    2005

  • Oxygen: The Molecule that made the World

    2002

© Nick Lane, 2016

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