The Equations of Life

Riveting... Cockell is not only a fine scientist but a fine writer too. * Sir Martin Rees – Astronomer Royal and former President of the Royal Society *
An intriguing and enthralling adventure into the physics of life that is all around us and inside us. Cockell provides a reminder of the seeming rarity of all this beauty but also an invitation to look up to the skies and ask 'where else might something like this be? * Robin Ince – Presenter of BBC Radio 4’s Infinite Monkey Cage *
Magisterial and collegial, this may be the biology book of the year * Booklist *
Fascinating . . . Cockell offers surprising insights * Sean Carroll, author of The Particle at the End of the Universe *
A lucid, provocative argument that the dazzling variety of organisms produced by 4 billion years of evolution may seem unbounded, but all follow universal laws. * Kirkus *
An invaluable guide... Life is generally described as a matter of contingency: what we find in nature is the result of countless historical accidents. In The Equations of Life, Charles Cockell provides an important counterbalance to that picture. * Philip Ball, author of Critical Mass *
Enlightening and entertaining... Whether on this third rock from the Sun or another planet in a far-distant galaxy, creatures should share forms and behaviours shaped by the forces of natural selection and the fundamental laws of physics that reign throughout the universe. * Lee Billings, author of Five Billion Years of Solitude *
Fascinating. A profound exploration of the deep nexus between physics and biology. * Andreas Wagner, professor of evolutionary biology at the University of Zürich and author of Arrival of the Fittest *