The FIFTH MIRACLE: The Search for the Origin and Meaning of Life 1st Edition

by Paul Davies (Author)

45 customer reviews

ISBN-13: 978-0684863092

ISBN-10: 068486309X

Why is ISBN important?

Have one to sell? Sell on Amazon

Added to

Unable to add item to List. Please try again.

Share <Embed>

Condition: Used - Good

In Stock. Sold by Jenson Books Inc, Fulfilled by Amazon

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.

84 Used from $6.50

FREE Shipping on orders over $25.

Deliver to France

Turn on 1-Click ordering

Only 7 left in stock (more on the way).

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

This item ships to France. Want it Friday, Oct. 19? Order within and choose AmazonGlobal Priority Shipping at checkout. Learn more

List Price: $16.00
Save: $1.15 (7%)

46 New from $5.24

Deliver to France

Turn on 1-Click ordering

More Buying Choices

46 New from $5.24 84 Used from $6.50

130 used & new from $6.50

See All Buying Options

Free Two-Day Shipping for College Students with Amazon Student

Are We Alone in the Universe?

In this provocative and far-reaching book, internationally acclaimed physicist and writer Paul Davies confronts one of science's great outstanding mysteries -- the origin of life.

Three and a half billion years ago, Mars resembled earth. It was warm and wet and could have supported primitive organisms. If life once existed on Mars, might it have originated there and traveled to earth inside meteorites blasted into space by cosmic impacts?

Davies builds on recent scientific discoveries and theories to address larger questions of existence: What, exactly, is life? Is it the inevitable by-product of physical laws, as many scientists maintain, or an almost miraculous accident? Are we alone in the universe, or will life emerge on all earthlike planets? And if there is life elsewhere in the universe, is it preordained to evolve toward greater complexity and intelligence?

Through his search for answers to these questions, Davies explores the ultimate mystery of mankind's existence -- who we are and what our place might be in the unfolding drama of the cosmos.

Frequently bought together

Total price: $74.32

Some of these items ship sooner than the others. Show details

Buy the selected items together

This item:The FIFTH MIRACLE: The Search for the Origin and Meaning of Life by Paul Davies Paperback $14.85
Only 7 left in stock (more on the way).
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
FREE Shipping on orders over $25. Details
Life's Origin: The Beginnings of Biological Evolution by J. William Schopf Paperback $31.45
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
FREE Shipping. Details
Emergence of Life on Earth: A Historical and Scientific Overview by Iris Fry Paperback $28.02
Only 2 left in stock (more on the way).
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
FREE Shipping. Details

Customers who bought this item also bought

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.

Paul Davies

41

Paperback
$15.68
Paul Davies

80

Paperback
$9.98
J. William Schopf

8

Paperback
$31.45
Iris Fry

7

Paperback
$28.02
Paul Davies

57

Paperback
$13.66
Paul Davies

22

Paperback
$18.54

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Davies makes accessible a subject growing increasingly arcane." -- Leonard Shlain, San Francisco Chronicle Book Review

"Paul Davies has been writing excellent books about science for so long that it is hard to believe that he is still getting better. But on this evidence, he is.... Delightful." -- John Gribbin, author of In Search of SchrÖdinger's Cat

About the Author

PAUL DAVIES is Director of the Beyond Center at Arizona State University and the bestselling author of more than twenty books. He won the 1995 Templeton Prize for his work on the deeper meaning of science. His books include About Time, The Fifth Miracle, and The Mind of God.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product details

Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster; 1 edition (March 16, 2000)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 068486309X
ISBN-13: 978-0684863092
Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.9 x 8.4 inches
Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 45 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #736,279 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #329 in Books > Textbooks > Humanities > Philosophy > Metaphysics
- #854 in Books > Science & Math > Astronomy & Space Science > Cosmology
- #1436 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Philosophy > Metaphysics

Would you like to tell us about a lower price?
If you are a seller for this product, would you like to suggest updates through seller support?

Be the first video

Your name here

Try the Kindle edition and experience these great reading features:

See Kindle Edition

Customer reviews

1 star (0%)

Write a customer review

See all 45 customer reviews

Top customer reviews

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Matthew RapaportTop Contributor: Philosophy

How did life begin and what was the nature of the earliest life?

November 16, 2015

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

This is a book about the origin of life. Paul Davies is a physicist but his interests are wide and one of those interests happens to be the question of life's beginning.

Dr. Davies begins by noting that the probability of the self-assembly, by sheer random accident, of even the most primitive life found on Earth today (what biologists now call Archaea) is vanishingly small. So how did life begin? He explores the possibility of life originating on other worlds and being carried to Earth in meteorites. He notes that Mars was probably much more Earth-like some billions of years ago, and we also know that Martian rocks have fallen to Earth. Some of those rocks even have fossil like structures within them, but that they are actually fossils is debatable. He also looks into speculation that there may be other mechanisms by which life might physically distribute itself about the galaxy, a hypothesis called 'Panspermia'. But while these possibilities remain open questions Davies notes that they don't answer the fundamental question. Even if life came from somewhere else, how did the original life get going?

So he next explores the possibility of some "life friendly" forces being built into physics. That is, what look (to us) like purely contingent (random) events throughout the history of the universe are, by some as yet undetected mechanism, not entirely random, but are rather pushed toward life assembly whereever physical conditions (presumably contingent) condusive to it appear in the universe. He leaves this possibility open while admitting that nothing in physics or cosmology today suggests that this sort of pressure, distorting contingency towards life, has ever been found in physics. Besides, such a notion entails some teleology (purpose) in physical mechanisms, something strongly resisted (right or wrong) by today's scientists.

He ends his review with a middle-of-the-road possibility. First that chaotic physical systems, quantum phenomena, or both together might have intrinsic properties that raise the likelihood of life's self assembly. Second, that the first self-assembled life might have been considerably simpler than even the primitive Archaea on Earth today. The upshot, in combination, might have resulted in the self-assembly of such ultra-primitive life that the vanishingly small probably of self-assembly becomes a little less improbable.

What is left out of the account is what such ultra-primitive life might look like? Neither biology or philosophy has determined how simple something can be and yet be alive and therefore subject to Darwinian selection. Although I understand this it leaves the author's speculation at just that. Both the nature of such ultra-primitive life or the likelihood of its self-assembly are assessable.

So we are left there, a nice review of the possibilities, but little purchase on evaluating them.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Not Helpful

Comment

Ronald Davidson

I have already reviewed Thifs ibook

May 24, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I gave this book a 5 star rating because I have read other books on this subject and though every one of them was great in their own way coming to the same conclusion , this particular read was the easiest one for me as I was always under the belief of chapter 2 of Genesis . I recommend this version to all those who are not sure that we have a creator.

Comment

March 1, 2018

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Great read reasearching the ultimate question.

Helpful

Not Helpful

Comment

Dr. Gerd Doeben-Henisch

15 Years later: Still Very Intriguing

September 4, 2012

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

BEGINNING

After reading several books about astrobiology finally I started to read 'The 5th Miracle' from Paul Davies. In the past the words 'The 5.th Miracle' have been very deceptive for me, because these words somehow hided the real content ' The Search for the Origin and Meaning of Life'. But luckily I got around these words and could dig into the text.

SUMMARY
I will not talk about all the rich content of this book here, but only about my personal resume at the end of the book.

STILL VERY INTRIGUING

Although the scientific discussions have clarified some of the details in chemistry, biochemistry etc. during the years, the 'bigger picture' which Davies offers the reader is still breathtaking and somehow unique. Beyond the many details in the field of astrobiology Davies introduces many theoretic concepts like 'information', 'self-organization', 'autocatalysis', 'complexity theory', 'algorithmic computability', 'quantum theory', 'gravity theory', 'thermodynamic' (and more), which on their own are not really new but in this context of the emergence of life they shed some new light on the whole scene. You see some new possibilities how to look at the phenomena but at the same time Davies stays critical and points to the still open questions.

HOW TO PROCEED FURTHER?

Davies himself is unclear at the end of the book how to proceed further. The final impression is, that there are several important concepts in the air which altogether are true, but what is missing is the 'key' to make them 'interacting' in the right way. This is intriguing, challenging. Personally I think that the observation of Davies, that the emerging structures beyond the parts reveal a logical structure, a kind of information, is fundamental. Additionally we have the fact that the information stored in DNA/ RNA molecules has the format of a 'random' structure although it works 'against' randomness. Both things have to be brought together. This leads to the assumption, that the structure of matter has to be re-thinked. Something we probably have 'overseen'. As I see, Davies has published meanwhile two more books with exactly these themes. Perhaps there we can find some more answers which will produce further questions. I have not yet read tem.

One person found this helpful

Comment

July 21, 2018

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

excelent

Helpful

Not Helpful

Comment

Set up an Amazon Giveaway

Amazon Giveaway allows you to run promotional giveaways in order to create buzz, reward your audience, and attract new followers and customers. Learn more about Amazon Giveaway

This item: The FIFTH MIRACLE: The Search for the Origin and Meaning of Life

Set up a giveaway

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.

Paul Davies

80

Paperback
$9.98
Paul Davies

41

Paperback
$15.68
Paul Davies

70

Paperback
$15.26
Paul Davies

22

Paperback
$18.54
Paul Davies

57

Paperback
$13.66
Paul Davies

87

Paperback
$16.95

Pages with related products. See and discover other items: origin of life, origins of life

The FIFTH MIRACLE: The Search for the Origin and Meaning of Life 1st Edition

Turn on 1-Click ordering

Turn on 1-Click ordering

Frequently bought together

Customers who bought this item also bought

Sponsored products related to this item (What's this?)

Editorial Reviews

Review

About the Author

Product details

Related Video Shorts (0)

Be the first video

Sponsored products related to this item (What's this?)

Try the Kindle edition and experience these great reading features:

Customer reviews

Filter by popular topics in reviews

Top customer reviews

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Most recent customer reviews

Set up an Amazon Giveaway

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

The FIFTH MIRACLE: The Search for the Origin and Meaning of Life 1st Edition

Sorry, there was a problem.

Sorry, there was a problem.

Buy used On clicking this link, a new layer will be open $6.50 On clicking this link, a new layer will be open

Turn on 1-Click ordering

Buy new On clicking this link, a new layer will be open $14.85 On clicking this link, a new layer will be open

Turn on 1-Click ordering

Frequently bought together

Customers who bought this item also bought

Sponsored products related to this item (What's this?)

Editorial Reviews

Review

About the Author

Product details

Related Video Shorts (0)

Be the first video

Sponsored products related to this item (What's this?)

Try the Kindle edition and experience these great reading features:

Customer reviews

Filter by popular topics in reviews

Top customer reviews

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Most recent customer reviews

Set up an Amazon Giveaway

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Buy used On clicking this link, a new layer will be open

$6.50 On clicking this link, a new layer will be open

Buy new On clicking this link, a new layer will be open

$14.85 On clicking this link, a new layer will be open