Biologie v pěti lekcích - Co je život? – Nurse Paul (2021)

The question of the origin and essence of life has been posed by people since time immemorial, but the answer has largely been carried through history in the spirit of conjecture and more or less substantiated speculation. With the development of genetics, evolutionary, molecular, and cellular biology, however, scientists have gained new tools that allow them to seek answers to these eternal questions directly at the borders between the living and the non-living, enabling them to explore the most fundamental features that make life, life. The progress we have made in this field is presented in a popular science book by British geneticist and Nobel laureate Paul Nurse, who attempts to climb the stairs built from five fundamental ideas of biology to reach the top and answer the cardinal question: What is life? The aim of his brief yet profound treatise, interwoven with numerous personal memories, is not only to familiarize readers with some of the latest biological findings but also with the functioning of science and research itself. Through his book, Nurse also seeks to highlight how breathtaking, unique, and interconnected earthly life is, which should prompt us to value it, care for it, and not overlook the problems it faces, partly due to us.