Every year, the University of Arizona’s College of Sciences puts on a public lecture series; this year’s theme is “Life in the Universe”. Given my ability to deliver good entertainment (my ancestors were in vaudeville), I have been asked to present the opening lecture, “What is life?”My background is extraterrestrial geology, not biology. When biologists define life as the chemistry of complex long-chain hydrocarbons, I think of my favourite complex framework silicate mineral crystals, like plagioclase. If life were nothing more than complicated chemistry, then why not offer a seven-part lecture series on Plagioclase in the Universe? Of course, no one would show up.Yes, life is complex chemistry. But to limit one’s view to mere chemistry misses th
22 January 2015, The Tablet
The meaning of life
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