-
Your next favorite book
is waiting.
The Physics of Life's Emergence
by Sara Imari Walker
An intriguing new scientific theory that explains what life is and how it emerges.
What is life? This is among the most difficult open problems in science, right up there with the nature of consciousness and the existence of matter. All the definitions we have fall short. None help us understand how life originates or the full range of possibilities for what life on other planets might look like.
In Life as No One Knows It, physicist and astrobiologist Sara Imari Walker argues that solving the origin of life requires radical new thinking and an experimentally testable theory for what life is. This is an urgent issue for efforts to make life from scratch in laboratories here on Earth and missions searching for life on other planets.
Walker proposes a new paradigm for understanding what physics encompasses and what we recognize as life. She invites us into a world of maverick scientists working without a map, seeking not just answers but better ways to formulate the biggest questions we have about the universe. The book culminates with the bold proposal of a new theory for identifying and classifying life, one that applies not just to biological life on Earth but to any instance of life in the universe. Rigorous, accessible, and vital, Life as No One Knows It celebrates the mystery of life and the explanatory power of physics.
"Bracingly original...This has the potential to be a game changer." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"An honorable addition to a small genre that began with Noble Prize–winning physicist Erwin Schrodinger's What Is Life?...Ingeniuous." —Kirkus Reviews
"With wit and clarity, Walker outlines a radical new approach to bridge the conceptual gap between non-life and life." —Paul Davies, author of What's Eating the Universe and The Demon in the Machine
"Reading Life as No One Knows It is like engaging in a mind-bending conversation about the biggest questions of all." —Tim Urban, creator of Wait But Why
"A masterfully crafted and engaging account of Assembly Theory. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in fundamental physics, the origins of life, and pursuing a better understanding of the structure underlying all of the universe's creations." —Annaka Harris, author of Conscious
This information about Life as No One Knows It was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Sara Imari Walker is an astrobiologist and theoretical physicist interested in the origin of life and discovering alien life on other worlds. She is deputy director of the Beyond Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science and a professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University. She is also a fellow of the Berggruen Institute and a member of the external faculty at the Santa Fe Institute. She is the recipient of the Stanley L. Miller Early-Career Award for her research on the origin of life, and her research team at ASU is internationally regarded as being among the leading labs aiming to build a fundamental theory for understanding what life is. Her research has been featured in Scientific American, Quanta Magazine, and a variety of other international outlets.
If you liked Life as No One Knows It, try these:
by Lisa Kaltenegger
Published 2025
Riveting and timely, a look at the research that is transforming our understanding of the cosmos in the quest to discover whether we are alone.
by Ferris Jabr
Published 2025
A vivid account of a major shift in how we understand Earth, from an exceptionally talented new voice. Earth is not simply an inanimate planet on which life evolved, but rather a planet that came to life.
by Nell Greenfieldboyce
Published 2024
An astonishing debut from the beloved NPR science correspondent: intimate essays about the intersection of science and everyday life.
A classic is a book that has never finished saying what it has to say
Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!
Can you name the title?
Test your book knowledge with our daily trivia challenge!
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
