Life Ascending

Author: Nick Lane
Publisher: Profile Books
ISBN: 1847652220
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 353

Book Description
Winner of the 2010 Royal Society Prize for science books Powerful new research methods are providing fresh and vivid insights into the makeup of life. Comparing gene sequences, examining the atomic structure of proteins and looking into the geochemistry of rocks have all helped to explain creation and evolution in more detail than ever before. Nick Lane uses the full extent of this new knowledge to describe the ten greatest inventions of life, based on their historical impact, role in living organisms today and relevance to current controversies. DNA, sex, sight and consciousnesses are just four examples. Lane also explains how these findings have come about, and the extent to which they can be relied upon. The result is a gripping and lucid account of the ingenuity of nature, and a book which is essential reading for anyone who has ever questioned the science behind the glories of everyday life.

Power, Sex, Suicide

Author: Nick Lane
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 9780191513015
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 370

Book Description
Mitochondria are tiny structures located inside our cells that carry out the essential task of producing energy for the cell. They are found in all complex living things, and in that sense, they are fundamental for driving complex life on the planet. But there is much more to them than that. Mitochondria have their own DNA, with their own small collection of genes, separate from those in the cell nucleus. It is thought that they were once bacteria living independent lives. Their enslavement within the larger cell was a turning point in the evolution of life, enabling the development of complex organisms and, closely related, the origin of two sexes. Unlike the DNA in the nucleus, mitochondrial DNA is passed down exclusively (or almost exclusively) via the female line. That's why it has been used by some researchers to trace human ancestry daughter-to-mother, to 'Mitochondrial Eve'. Mitochondria give us important information about our evolutionary history. And that's not all. Mitochondrial genes mutate much faster than those in the nucleus because of the free radicals produced in their energy-generating role. This high mutation rate lies behind our ageing and certain congenital diseases. The latest research suggests that mitochondria play a key role in degenerative diseases such as cancer, through their involvement in precipitating cell suicide. Mitochondria, then, are pivotal in power, sex, and suicide. In this fascinating and thought-provoking book, Nick Lane brings together the latest research findings in this exciting field to show how our growing understanding of mitochondria is shedding light on how complex life evolved, why sex arose (why don't we just bud?), and why we age and die. This understanding is of fundamental importance, both in understanding how we and all other complex life came to be, but also in order to be able to control our own illnesses, and delay our degeneration and death. 'An extraordinary account of groundbreaking modern science... The book abounds with interesting and important ideas.' Mark Ridley, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford

Eros Ascending

Author: John Maxwell Taylor
Publisher: North Atlantic Books
ISBN: 1583944265
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 418

Book Description
***FINALIST, USA Best Books 2010 Awards – Spirituality & Self-Help: Relationships The quest for lasting love is one of life’s essential pursuits, in some ways the most essential. But it’s also a quest that’s impossible to separate from spiritual and sexual needs. In Eros Ascending, author John Maxwell Taylor offers a wide-ranging study of sexual dysfunction in society and explains how healthy sexuality can be an entryway to universal love and higher consciousness. Based on Taylor’s twenty-three-year experience with Taoist practices, the book presents an engaging analysis of love, relationships, and sexuality from spiritual, romantic, and sexual perspectives. Taylor melds essential ideas by Jung, Gurdjieff, and Taoist Master Mantak Chia with science, biology, spiritual tradition, and current popular culture to shed new light on this eternal yet misunderstood subject. Not just for couples, the book is equally useful for single people who want to understand the methods for “learning to love yourself ” in preparation for a fulfilling, long-term relationship. Taylor draws on his eclectic background as a successful playwright, composer, actor, and musician in this persuasive plan for converting ordinary sexual energy into food for the soul.

Who Shall Ascend the Mountain of the Lord?

Author: L. Michael Morales
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
ISBN: 0830899863
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 354

Book Description
How can creatures made from dust become members of God's household "forever"? In this New Studies in Biblical Theology volume, Michael Morales explores the narrative context, literary structure and theology of Leviticus, following its dramatic movement from the tabernacle to the temple—and from the earthly to the heavenly Mount Zion in the New Testament.

Lithuania Ascending

Author: S. C. Rowell
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107658764
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 417

Book Description
This book, first published in 1994, studies the rise of a pagan state in late medieval Christendom against a background of crises in Europe.

The Vital Question

Author: Nick Lane
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781781250372
Category : Cells
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
A game-changing book on the origins of life, called the most important scientific discovery 'since the Copernican revolution' in The Observer.

The Life We Lead

Author: George Nagle
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780986247231
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 425

Book Description

Ascending Spiral

Author: Robert Rich
Publisher: Loving Healing Press
ISBN: 1615991867
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 249

Book Description
Join us on an epic journey older than civilization itself Dr. Pip Lipkin has lived for 12,000 years, incarnated many times as man, woman, and even as species beyond our world and senses. But he's here for a reason: to pay restitution for an ancient crime by working to save humanity from certain destruction. "Ascending Spiral" is a book that will take the reader to many different places and times, showing, ultimately, that our differences and divisions, even at their most devastating, are less important than our similarities. Reviewers' Acclaim: "Bob Rich powerfully evokes the wounded healer archetype in "Ascending Spiral," taking readers on Pip's painful and insightful journey through lifetimes that serve as a shining example of how to turn misery into virtue." --Diane Wing, author, Coven: Scrolls of the Four Winds "Dr. Bob Rich's "Ascending Spiral" is a true genre-buster, incorporating elements of historical fiction, literary fiction, science fiction, and even a hint of nonfiction to create an entertaining novel with an important message." Magdalena Ball, CompulsiveReader.com "The way of karma rings true for many people, and this book is a very well written and thoughtful explanation of its message. It is also an exciting, historically accurate series of linked stories that will hold the reader in his chair for a single sitting. Highly recommended." Frances Burke, author of Endless Time From Marvelous Spirit Press www.MarvelousSpirit.com "Books that maximize empowerment of mind and spirit"

Ascend

Author: Amanda Hocking
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
ISBN: 1429956488
Category : Young Adult Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 269

Book Description
Amanda Hocking is an indie publishing sensation whose self-published novels have sold millions of copies all over the world. Ascend is the final chapter in her bestselling Trylle trilogy—and you'll never guess how it ends! Wendy Everly is facing an impossible choice. The only way to save the Trylle from their deadliest enemy is by sacrificing herself. If she doesn't surrender to the Vittra, her people will be thrust into a brutal war against an unbeatable foe. But how can Wendy leave all her friends behind...even if it's the only way to save them? The stakes have never been higher, because her kingdom isn't the only thing she stands to lose. After falling for both Finn and Loki, she's about to make the ultimate choice...who to love forever. One guy has finally proven to be the love of her life—and now all their lives might be coming to an end. Everything has been leading to this moment. The future of her entire world rests in her hands—if she's ready to fight for it.

Ascending

Author: James Alan Gardner
Publisher: Open Road Media
ISBN: 149761225X
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 510

Book Description
Left to languish on the planet of no return, an alien teams up with a professional smuggler to save her people in this sci-fi adventure. Four years after Festina Ramos left Melaquin, the “planet of no return,” Uclodda Unorr arrives. Unorr is a hired smuggler tasked with gathering evidence of misconduct of the Technocracy’s Outward Fleet. Much to his surprise he discovers that Oar, a resident of the planet and last of her kind, is still alive. Though Oar’s glass-like body is indestructible, her mind grows weak and will soon fall victim to “apathetic hibernation.” Along with her old friend Admiral Festina Ramos, Oar must reveal the true history of Melaquin and expose the ugly deeds of the Outward Fleet before her weary mind surrenders.