Besides strongly endorsing this book for those, like me, with a modicum of a scientific background or interest, I want to characterize it in relation to other books in the field of origin of life studies.
If you read any two books on the origin of life, you are likely to get two rather different views on the subject and the status of the field. This possible discouragement is also an indication that the field is effectively many blind men using their hands describing different parts of the elephant – scientists have a blind spot for the origin of life and yet there are many different research teams currently exploring different potential pathways to the origin of life. But this elephant is a big deal; understanding the blind spot of the nature/ origin of life is as important a goal as there could be in science. If you are attracted to a field that is messy but important, read on.
In this context I want to float two criteria that I think can be used to evaluate any book on the origin of life and why I think that Assembling Life does an excellent job in a readable and well organized 150 pages to meet those criteria. The criteria are complementary. A good origin of life book should both 1) give a broad view of the theories of many research traditions and 2) give their opinion on the best theory with hopefully some novel contribution of their own. One without the other risks being either scattered vagueness or a personal theory out on a limb. On the broad score I would rate Assembling Life as an 8 (1-10) and on the contribution score I would rate also an 8. Both are high among this literature IMO and balanced. I can’t think of any other book that does as well, certainly not in such a concise and well organized form.
Lastly, I want to make a plug for the origin-of-life elephant and the books that explore it. The blind spot in science of the nature of life is not just a scientific gap but is a confused lens to understand our own place in nature and the world. The field is flourishing now and deserves our support and attention. Supporting good writers like the author of this book and following others who are making exploratory leaps and trying to roam over the entire elephant of this research is both fascinating and a contribution to this needed research. This book is a gem from that literature.
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