What is life? This is among the most difficult open problems in science right up there with
the nature of consciousness and the existence of matter. All the definitions we have fall
short. None help us understand how life originates or the full range of possibilities for what
life on other planets might look like. In LIFE AS NO ONE KNOWS IT physicist and
astrobiologist Sara Imari Walker argues that solving the origin of life requires radical new
thinking and an experimentally testable theory for what life is. This is an urgent issue for
efforts to make life from scratch in laboratories here on Earth and missions searching for life
on other planets. Walker proposes a new paradigm for understanding what physics encompasses
and what we recognize as life. She invites us into a world of maverick scientists working
without a map seeking not just answers but better ways to formulate the biggest questions we
have about the universe. The book culminates with the bold proposal of a new theory for
identifying and classifying life one that applies not just to biological life on Earth but to
any instance of life in the universe. Rigorous accessible and vital LIFE AS NO ONE KNOWS IT
celebrates the mystery of life and the explanatory power of physics.
