Johnjoe McFadden - Quantum Evolution - Life in the Multiverse

JOHNJOE McFADDEN

William Collins

An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk

Published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2000

Copyright © Johnjoe McFadden 2000

Johnjoe McFadden asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

HarperCollins Publishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication.

Source ISBN: 9780006551287

Ebook Edition © FEBRUARY 2016 ISBN: 9780007481972

Version: 2016-02-29

‘A highly enjoyable read with clear explanations of molecular biology and quantum physics – and then speculations in search of a borderland between them. It is not a question of whether quantum mechanics is needed to understand biochemical processes, but exactly where, and at what level. For sure we need quantum ideas to understand in detail how enzymes work. Maybe we need them too for those two great puzzles of evolution: the origin of life and the physical roots of conscious experience.’

GRAHAM CAIRNS-SMITH, author of Seven Clues to the Origin of Life

‘If you want a short course in the greatest scientific insights of the last two centuries – evolution in the nineteenth and quantum mechanics in the twentieth – Quantum Evolution is the ideal primer. Its purpose, though, isn’t to rescue the scientifically undereducated, it’s far, far more ambitious … Patient, clear and logical, a masterful job … [and] a hard, wild and amazing trip.’ DAVID BROWN, Washington Post

To the memory of

Roly, Tom and Alice

COVER

TITLE PAGE QUANTUM EVOLUTION Life in the Multiverse JOHNJOE McFADDEN

COPYRIGHT COPYRIGHT COPYRIGHT PRAISE DEDICATION 1 What Is Life? 2 The Limits of Life 3 Life’s Biggest Action 4 How Did We Get Here? 5 Life’s Actions 6 What Makes Bodies Move? 7 What is Quantum Mechanics? 8 Measurement and Reality 9 What Does It All Mean? 10 The Beginning 11 The Quantum Cell 12 Quantum Evolution 13 Mind and Matter BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABOUT THE AUTHOR NOTES ABOUT THE PUBLISHER William Collins An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF www.harpercollins.co.uk Published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2000 Copyright © Johnjoe McFadden 2000 Johnjoe McFadden asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books. HarperCollins Publishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication. Source ISBN: 9780006551287 Ebook Edition © FEBRUARY 2016 ISBN: 9780007481972 Version: 2016-02-29

PRAISE PRAISE PRAISE DEDICATION 1 What Is Life? 2 The Limits of Life 3 Life’s Biggest Action 4 How Did We Get Here? 5 Life’s Actions 6 What Makes Bodies Move? 7 What is Quantum Mechanics? 8 Measurement and Reality 9 What Does It All Mean? 10 The Beginning 11 The Quantum Cell 12 Quantum Evolution 13 Mind and Matter BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABOUT THE AUTHOR NOTES ABOUT THE PUBLISHER ‘A highly enjoyable read with clear explanations of molecular biology and quantum physics – and then speculations in search of a borderland between them. It is not a question of whether quantum mechanics is needed to understand biochemical processes, but exactly where, and at what level. For sure we need quantum ideas to understand in detail how enzymes work. Maybe we need them too for those two great puzzles of evolution: the origin of life and the physical roots of conscious experience.’ GRAHAM CAIRNS-SMITH, author of Seven Clues to the Origin of Life ‘If you want a short course in the greatest scientific insights of the last two centuries – evolution in the nineteenth and quantum mechanics in the twentieth – Quantum Evolution is the ideal primer. Its purpose, though, isn’t to rescue the scientifically undereducated, it’s far, far more ambitious … Patient, clear and logical, a masterful job … [and] a hard, wild and amazing trip.’ DAVID BROWN, Washington Post

DEDICATION DEDICATION DEDICATION 1 What Is Life? 2 The Limits of Life 3 Life’s Biggest Action 4 How Did We Get Here? 5 Life’s Actions 6 What Makes Bodies Move? 7 What is Quantum Mechanics? 8 Measurement and Reality 9 What Does It All Mean? 10 The Beginning 11 The Quantum Cell 12 Quantum Evolution 13 Mind and Matter BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABOUT THE AUTHOR NOTES ABOUT THE PUBLISHER To the memory of Roly, Tom and Alice

1 What Is Life?

2 The Limits of Life

3 Life’s Biggest Action

4 How Did We Get Here?

5 Life’s Actions

6 What Makes Bodies Move?