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Life Itself: Its Origin and Nature Hardcover – January 1, 1981

by Francis Crick (Author)

3.9 55 ratings

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Addresses the ultimate scientific question of the nature of life, using the hypothetical scenario that life originated on earth when a rocket carrying primitive spores was sent to earth by a higher civilization

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Simon and Schuster (January 1, 1981)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 192 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0671255622
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0671255626
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.4 ounces

Best Sellers Rank: #538,459 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #31,756 in Science & Math (Books)

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3.9 55 ratings

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3.9 out of 5

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jw wright

I've noticed that many great scientists have tried to resolve certain issues but they ...

Reviewed in the United States on December 8, 2014

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Is one of several Crick books directed at the confluence of science and non-science. I've noticed that many great scientists have tried to resolve certain issues but they are driven by religious definitions of God and God's processes.
IMO, Crick falls into the trap of having to prove things that are not provable. Very interesting ideas, but I think calling him an atheist, e.g., is not correct. He is simply trying to answer problems in light of a religious existence.

For example only, surely we die but where does the soul go and how? That assumes there is a soul and that it must travel, a given from religion.

As a scientist, I ask where is the soul in the body and I guess the mind. Where is the mind, and I guess in the DNA molecule and if that molecule can travel into another human it can live forever.

But where is the part of the DNA representing the mind/soul? Surely, personality is part of the mind/soul and we can see some of that in our offspring.

Fermi's question was; "If they came from another planet, where are they", and Szilard answers: "They are among us but they call themselves, Hungarians”.
They are us. Is that hard to believe?

In this book, Crick is waylaid by several ideas off the main subject of life origin and nature, delving into religion.

2 people found this helpful

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A. L. White

doesn't work on Kindle

Reviewed in the United States on August 12, 2020

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the Kindle version is illegible. Or rather, the text consists of a narrow column (about 1/6th) the normal width with characters that are a fraction of the size. And the text doesn't go past the first few pages.

4 people found this helpful

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David Saunders

Couldn't be happier

Reviewed in the United States on January 15, 2023

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I'm very pleased. Delivery was fast, the book's condition is excellent. thank you so much.
Dave Saunders

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Riley James

It explains nearly everything

Reviewed in the United States on October 14, 2006

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This book is brilliant. Its perspective on time, matter, the universe, our lives, and aliens is all interesting and clear. What's funny about Francis Crick is that he's insanely clear while insanely deep and intelligent. He comes up with great metaphors for complex and abstract thoughts that make them simple and fun to read. This book will blow your mind and make you think. I am not totally sold on this book's wisdom, but it sure beats the religious takes on how we got here. "And god said, 'Let there be Crick!'"

10 people found this helpful

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Red-Eyed Reader

Interesting because of who wrote it.

Reviewed in the United States on March 14, 2014

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This was a ground-breaking idea for its time, and it was written by a man of outstanding scientific credentials. Francis Crick, though, pooh-poohs the ideas of UFOs and ancient astronauts, and he later joined the debunking organization CSICOP. This is strange given the theory he presents (at times well): that an advanced extraterrestrial society had deliberately seeded Earth with life by sending elemental life forms on a rocket ship over a vast distance. He was of the old school that believed distances between Earth and other inhabitable worlds is too vast for any advanced life forms to travel personally, and this antiquates part of his theory, but his observations about DNA and other aspects of life on Earth are thought-provoking.

8 people found this helpful

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J. Buss

Nice summary

Reviewed in the United States on May 31, 2019

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Idk why it took so long for me to find this book, but I’m glad I did. It’s a very nice high-level summary of all things biology.

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Rahasya-Lotus Guide

Directed Panspermia and a few upgrades along the way

Reviewed in the United States on September 26, 2015

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You really have to admire any academic who steps out beyond the boundaries of what is expected, although, he had a little help by taking LSD every week which what gave him some of the original insights for the DNA molecule. A good read, although there are many books that are more updated with information on this subject. Personally, I think 'who we are' has a lot more to do with something else, but the subject of directed panspermia could explain how we arrived here in the first place. But it really appears like we have had some upgrades along the way, which I cover in my book To Believe Or Not To Believe: The Social and Neurological Consequences of Belief Systems

Rahasya Poe, Lotus Guide

3 people found this helpful

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G. Black

No Depth and No Evidence

Reviewed in the United States on November 18, 2020

I have been a fan ever since reading The Double Helix for the first time. I finally read this and was shocked by the lack of depth. Molecular biology is elementary. More complex topics are written off as being beyond the intent of the book. Ideas are presented then disparaged. Crick has no real evidence to support his contention of alien life randomly sending microbes to colonize virgin planets. He repeatedly relies on advances in technology to solve his own doubts about the feasibility of such an experiment. His only possible support is the argument that several episodes of evolution may have occurred during the time between the initial Big Bang and the formation of our solar system. All speculation with nothing to support it. He also fails to mention that organic substances have been delivered by extraterrestrial means such as meteorites. Given 3.5 by of time, I would prefer to believe that life began here and only here. One issue that Crick only mentions in the Epilogue is the moral dilemma of one species of intelligent life introducing their evolutionary success into another planet. Yes, the book was written almost 40 years ago but I would have expected much more from a Nobel laureate. Add this to the science fiction shelf.

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Ian Juby

Corrupted file - unreadable

Reviewed in Canada on May 28, 2020

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Alas, the Kindle version of this book is corrupted and unreadable in all versions of Kindle reader I tried. They all show the same errors of random text, no pages, no titles, etc... Even in Kindle cloud reader. And there was much sadness.

Javier

Posiblemente incompatible con algunos teléfonos móviles

Reviewed in Spain on December 3, 2020

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Tal y como lo he comprado lo he tenido que devolver porque no se podía leer, el contenido aparecía fragmentado e ilegible. Es la primera vez que me pasa con Kindle.

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SqueakyMcClean

Everyone should read this book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 29, 2020

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A fascinating and thought-provoking theory on the origin of life on earth (and throughout the galaxy), written by the co-discover of the DNA molecule. This book is for the layperson, and reads like it was just published, despite being in print for 4 decades. Essential reading.