World Beyond Physics: The Emergence And Evolution of Life

How did life start? Is the evolution of life describable by any physics-like laws? Stuart Kauffman's latest book offers an explanation-beyond what the laws of physics can explain-of the progression from a complex chemical environment to molecular reproduction, metabolism and to early protocells, and further evolution to what we recognize as life. Among the estimated one hundred billion solar systems in the known universe, evolving life is surely abundant. That evolution is a process of "becoming" in each case. Since Newton, we have turned to physics to assess reality.

The ancient Greeks, more than any other early people or culture, have given us the template for Western civilization. An amazing number of the cultural, civic, and intellectual institutions that we take for granted in today’s world were first fleshed out by the Greeks, including phenomenal achievements in the fields of political theory, law, philosophy, science, and art. ancient Greece was the birthplace of drama, as well as democracy.