This is Life - Christophe Galfard *****

There have been some excellent books on the origins of life, notably Philip Ball's How Life Works and Henry Gee's A Very Short History of Life on Earth, taking distinctive approaches. The field might feel overcrowded - except Christophe Galfard managed to come along with a whole new, highly entertaining take on the project with a physicist's-eye-view.

We begin with evolution. An excellent example of Galfard's sideways take on the topic is the short chapter entitled 'Why alien fish don't fly'. This starts with the reader picturing themselves lying by a river in a forest clearing. A fish jumps out of the river... but doesn't swim towards the clouds, it drops back in. We then pivot to Aristotle dividing the universe into the bit with the Earth and the bit outside the Moon's orbit - and giving us the concept of natural laws (including that a jumping fish will drop back). Then Newton breaks Aristotle's barrier between Earthly things and the heavens, bringing everywhere into the aegis of all natural laws (including those alien fish). Finally, the section transitions into evolution by natural selection. It's mesmerising.

That's just one, four-page chapter of nine in the evolution section alone, each as scattergun and beguiling. We then get on to sections on extinction, the history of Earth, the structure of biological entities, domains of life and ideas on origins of life. All have the same mix of immersing the reader as a character and short chapters with distinct jumps of context. I can honestly say this is one of the most marmite-like (some will love it, some will hate it) books I've read.

I do have a couple of personal issues that admittedly won't be a problem for many readers. It's too long for me - I've never yet read a circa 500 page book that couldn't be usefully edited down a bit. And I sometimes found Galfard boundless enthusiastic mateyness, abruptness and rapid changes of context a little hard going. Quite often, for example, we get a sequence of ultra-short paragraphs, such as:

No nucleus.

Nothing.

Just a membrane with molecules inside.

Hundreds of thousands of molecules busy keeping that strange, simple cell alive.

This approach is central to the nature of the book, but I still have a bit too much British reserve not to find it occasionally grating. 

Even so, I can’t remember when I last enjoyed a biology book so much as a pure reading experience. Galfard brings to life his exploration of where we come from a species with remarkable storytelling.

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Review by Brian Clegg - See all Brian's online articles or subscribe to a weekly email free here