Living and Non-Living: In Search of the Definition of Life

How to distinguish the living from the non-living? Where is the boundary between them? At first glance, children's questions. Nevertheless, for many centuries, scientists and philosophers have been unable to arrive at a satisfying answer for everyone. This topic—what is life—is the subject of a new book by Carl Zimmer. The author believes that there is no other object of scientific knowledge that has been given so many definitions. And is there a single and absolutely correct one? After all, there are countless manifestations of life. The COVID-19 virus has changed our world, but can it be considered alive? And what about a red blood cell or an apple picked from a tree? Is a fertilized egg alive? Can we declare the death of a person whose brain has died, but whose body is functioning? How did life originate on Earth, and will we understand that aliens are alive when we finally meet extraterrestrial forms of existence? Dark questions! A brilliant popularizer of science, already beloved by the Russian-speaking audience, invites the reader to search for answers.
Will it be possible to find them, will the author achieve his goal? An intriguing narrative awaits us!