Book · 2009 · DNA
Life Ascending
- mentions
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- 2
- episodes
- 5
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The other one that he wrote which is called life ascending those two books you must read.
Chamath Palihapitiya · All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg · Dec 2022 Listen at 2:09:55 The best things said about it
Really, we can go back to the entire history of life on Earth, and a previous podcast guest, Nick Lane, does a great job of this in his book, "Life Ascending," listing these 10 major inventions throughout the evolution of life on Earth, like DNA, photosynthesis, complex cells, sex, movement, sight, all those kinds of things.
Lex Fridman Lex Fridman Podcast · Jun 2025 I used to think origin of life was very um it was this magical rare event but then you read books like for example McLean um the vital question a life ascending Etc and he really gets in and he really makes you believe that this is not that rare basic chemistry.
Why people recommend it
Life Ascending by Nick Lane is an exploration of the ten greatest evolutionary inventions that shaped the history of life on Earth, ranging from DNA and photosynthesis to complex cells and consciousness. Lex Fridman recommended the book on the Lex Fridman Podcast during a conversation with Sundar Pichai, highlighting how the author breaks down major evolutionary milestones. Chamath Palihapitiya also strongly endorsed the title on All-In, urging listeners to read it alongside the author's other works. Fridman revisited the book in subsequent episodes, including a discussion with Sara Walker, to examine the origin of life and hereditary genetic instructions. Andrej Karpathy shared on the podcast that reading Nick Lane's work shifted his perspective, convincing him that the origin of life emerged from plausible basic chemistry rather than a magical, extremely rare event. Additionally, Nick Lane himself discussed his bibliography with Fridman, reflecting on how Life Ascending fits into his broader scientific inquiry into biology, biochemistry, and the deep chemistry underlying life and death. Across multiple conversations, podcast guests and hosts emphasized the book's capacity to make complex biological evolution accessible and deeply compelling.
Every mention
Lex Fridman Really, we can go back to the entire history of life on Earth, and a previous podcast guest, Nick Lane, doe… 3
“Really, we can go back to the entire history of life on Earth, and a previous podcast guest, Nick Lane, does a great job of this in his book, "Life Ascending," listing these 10 major inventions throughout the evolution of life on Earth, like DNA, photosynthesis, complex cells, sex, movement, sight, all those kinds of things.”
“Nick Lane has a book called, "Life Ascending," where he lists the 10 great inventions of evolution, the origin of life being first, and DNA, the hereditary material that encodes the genetic instructions for all living organisms.”
“Then, "Life Ascending: The Ten Great Inventions of Evolution." "The Vital Question," the first book I've read of yours, "The Vital Question: Why is Life the Way it is?" And the new book "Transformer: The Deep Chemistry of Life and Death."”
Chamath Palihapitiya the other one that he wrote which is called life ascending those two books you must read 1
“the other one that he wrote which is called life ascending those two books you must read”
Andrej Karpathy I used to think origin of life was very um it was this magical rare event but then you read books like for… 1
“I used to think origin of life was very um it was this magical rare event but then you read books like for example McLean um the vital question a life ascending Etc and he really gets in and he really makes you believe that this is not that rare basic chemistry”
Other mentions (2: passing, ad reads, own books)
“Life Ascending”
“And I wrote about it in the epilogue to my last book, because 10 years ago, I wrote a chapter in a book called "Life Ascending" about consciousness. And the subtitle of "Life Ascending" was "The Ten Great Inventions of Evolution," and I couldn't possibly write a book with a subtitle like that that did not include consciousness”