The Origins of Life: From the Birth of Life to the Origin of Language

by John Maynard Smith, Eörs Szathmáry

When John Maynard Smith and Eors Szathmary published The Major Transitions in Evolution , it was seen as a major work in biology. Nature hailed it as a book of "grand and daunting sweep.... A splendid and rewarding tour de force ." And New Scientist wrote that it captured "the essence of modern
biology," calling it "an extremely significant book which, as a bonus, is very readable."
Now, in The Origins of Life , Maynard Smith and Szathmary have completely rewritten Transitions to bring their ideas to a wider audience of general readers. Here is a brilliant, state-of-the-art account of how life evolved on earth, focusing primarily on six major transitions--dramatic
breakthroughs in the way that information was passed between generations. The authors offer illuminating explorations of the origin of life itself, the arrival of the first cells with nuclei, the first reproduction by sexual means, the appearance of multicellular plants and animals, the emergence of
cooperation and of animal societies, and the birth of language.
The Origins of Life represents the thinking of two leading scientists on questions that engage us all--how life began and how it gradually evolved from tiny invisible cells into whales and trees and human beings.

Genres: Science, Biology, Evolution, Nonfiction, History, Popular Science, Language

190 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

John Maynard Smith FRS was a British theoretical and mathematical evolutionary biologist and geneticist. Originally an aeronautical engineer during the Second World War, he took a second degree in genetics under the well-known biologist J. B. S. Haldane

Reviews

[Anton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very difficult, but worth it, as it's totally amazing in its chain of reasoning and speculation: demonstrates the possibility of life evolving from inert chemicals to the present day via accident alone. Essential reading for anyone trying to really understand how we might have come into existence (without resorting to theology or mysticism).

[Dietmar · Rating 4 out of 5]

A comprehensive review of key events that are proposed by the two authors during the evolution of life. Apparently the target of the book is all readers with interests in biology and the formation of complexity of life. Therefore there are some passages in the book that are basic biology that can be easily jumped over by biologists. Nevertheless, the book gives a quite up-to-date review on both theoretical and practical aspects of research about origin of life.

Part of the discussion is rather theoretical (or even philosophical), without much technical aspect involved. For readers with more background in biology (molecular biology, biochemistry, and evolutionary biology), and for readers that need more details about revolution, Ernst Meyr's "What is evolution" can be an interesting companion to this book.

The most inspiring fact mentioned by the authors (though a basic one) is that although there is a one-to-one correspondence between triplets of bases in the gene and amino acids, there is no such correspondence between genes (genotype) and parts of the body (phenotype). As the authors pointed out, "there is not a gene responsible for the nail on your left little finger, and another for the fifteenth eyelash of your right eye". Instead, most structures (a specialized form of phenotype) are influenced by many genes, and most genes influence several structures.

This suggests that so-far the most prevalent method of single-gene based analysis is bound to fail. Though it is statistically appealing to assume genes are independent from each other, the assumption poses a very strong constrain on how we interpret biological data and understand biology with them.

[Taveri · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a disappointment. It gave a bunch of descriptive aspects of lifeforms but not much on how the diversity came about. For instance saying an early eurkoyote might have accidently swallowed some nutrious particle which led to mouths. That is like saying if someone ran into the back of a VW Beetle it might take the shape of the rear end of a VW Rabbit. And then if there was another impact it might knock the engine from the rear to the front. Another calamity might have something fall on the roof going from curved to flat and hence after a series of such bashes viola > an evolved VW. You could cry foul and point out that changes have to ocur at the manufacturing stage and so with the organism the change has to be with the DNA not some accidental crumbling of a cell wall. The authors shamelessly use examples from human technology (which are intellectually guided). It is like saying it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, swims like a ducs and looks like a duck but its not a duck. Having to choose between Creationism and Evolutionary Theory is like having to decide if a rainbow is black or white; they are both two dimensional solutions to a five dimensional problem. The chapter on the Origins of Language is a misnomer; it might have been called tidbits on language; there is little about origins much less explain how human language became intricate and embedded in our psyche.

[Petros · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this book, published in 1999, biologists John Maynard-Smith (wifey regarded as one of the most important biologists of the 20th century) and Eörs Szathmáry provide their account of the origin and evolution of life on earth, focusing on what the major evolutionary transitions must have been (e.g. from prokaryotes to eukaryotes, from single-called to multicellular organisms, from self-reproduction to sexual reproduction, etc.) and how it is they may have taken place.

The book has a somewhat formal tone and often goes into technical details (e.g. regarding the molecular properties of RNA, cellular membranes and organelles, etc.), but also provides a connected picture of the course of evolution. If found that its more interesting chapters were the ones regarding sociality (from insect eusociality to human societies). The authors also offer some interesting thoughts on the gene-centered vs multi-level selection debate. Another interesting point, that is a theme throughout the book, is the relation between information (e.g. information coded in DNA or in linguistic form) and the physical/“real” world.

[DrosoPHila]

This is the popular science version of The Major Transitions in Evolution, with largely the same content, less technically presented.

[Clydas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book kindled my interest in evolutionary biology. I have a science degree but no specific training in biology, and I found it to be pitched at an appropriate level. It's great at giving the big picture and putting all the pieces in their conceptual positions, and would serve well as a prelude to a (layman's) study of evolution.

As a popular condensed version of the authors' magnum opus The major transitions of evolution, the book moves sequentially through the 8 so-called major transitions of evolution: single replicators -> groups of replicators; groups of replicators -> chromosomes; RNA -> DNA & proteins; prokaryotes -> eukaryotes; asexual -> sexual; protists -> animals, plants & fungi; individuals -> colonies; primate societies -> human societies & language.

At only 170 pages, it's not too much of a commitment for the casual reader. While not exactly light reading, the writing style is clear and concise, so I give it high marks on readability. Nevertheless, some sections were obscure and probably could have been written better (particularly the chapter on the evolution of sexual reproduction). Given when the book was written, some of the theories favoured by the authors may or may not be outdated now, but I still consider it a worthwhile read and one which has given me much to think about.

[Santhosh Totiger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very concise, not a single word is superfluous. A must read for anyone who is willing to understand how life originated be it on earth or extra terrestrial planet. Now I plan to read their Major transitions. For me this book served its purpose of understanding fundamental ideas behind origin of life.

[Dhananjay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too dense. Many concepts are heavy so would have preferred more illustrations/explanations.
But still overall important book.
Might be outdated about a few chapters/ points.

[Betsy Curlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good chronological account of how life began and evolved, up through humans and the origin of language.

[Kev Nickells · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this a lot. I'm not particularly good at science-y works and this scratched a particular itch - it's pitched at people who aren't necessarily well-versed in chemistry / evolution / etc and it hits that mark. There's a lot that needed a smidge of concentration but that's the nature of subjects I'm not already immersed in - it's certainly not unbearable.

One of the reasons I wanted to look at this was political - understanding the nature of reproduction and identity is important. I wouldn't say I do understand this but this definitely pointed to a few important points, in today's political climate - genetics are not a guarantee of outcome and cultural transmission is important to how we form identities. Moreover, the nature of sex in nature is hugely complex and irreducible to facile understandings. Good stuff.

I was less comfortable with the section on linguistic transmission - I appreciate the notion that language development is imperative to contemporary humans but I'm dubious of the leaning on Chomsky's universal grammar. I don't know the current vogue in linguistics is but I'm uncomfortable with the notion of a kind of teleological grammar (as opposed to a neurological framework which is able to interpret language). This book's from the end of the last century though, so that's my pinch of salt.

Definitely a worthy contended for a sophisticate and wide-ranging primer on evolution and genetics. Goes into a lot of detail about the chemical relationships and very clearly delineates what is speculative and what is evidential - which isn't always true of science-for-non-science-reader books.

[Rhys Lindmark · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book provides an extremely unique perspective on the evolution of life on earth.

It exists at the intersection of "big history" books (Sapiens, WEIRD) and "selfish gene / information theory" books (The End of Infinity, The Information).

This book looks at ~10 major evolutions in human history, including how genes themselves evolved and how language evolved. It provides a differentiated perspective on how things transition and evolve. It'll be a crucial part of understanding society's current transition in the Information Age.

fwiw, this is the "dumbed down" version of a 400+ page scientific book—https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6.... I still found it rigorous and challenging. If you don't have a evo bio background, read this, not their other book.

[Serhat · Rating 3 out of 5]

okuması oldukça zor bir kitap olmasına rağmen genel itibariyle hakim olduğum konular olması sebebiyle biraz daha rahat okudum.

kitabın yaklaşımı, çeşitliliği sağlayan evrim mekaniklerinin işleyişini en temel adımlarından itibaren aktarmak. bunu yaparken detaylarıyla anlatmasının ortalama okuyucularına negatif bir etkisinin olduğunu düşünüyorum, çünkü her ne kadar temel bir biyoloji düzeyiyle anlatmaya çalışsa da; kesinlikle anlaşılması zor bir konu. konular ilerledikçe okumasının kolaylaştığını söylemek doğru olur. en son dilin oluşumu ile tamamlanan kitabın belki en kolay anlaşılan kısmı bu son kısmı.

ufuk açıcı bir eser olmadığı açık ve evrimle ilgili daha iyi alternatifler okunabilir.

[Jacob Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read mostly for the first two and last three chapters. Even for a "simplified" book I found this quite a challenging read. Tons of technical terms that need to be remembered via often very obscure latin or greek roots. Still, first two and last three chapters were fantastic and interesting. An excellent look at the state of evolutionary biology a few decades ago, and very interesting insights into the trajectory of human evolution.

[Ariadna · Rating 4 out of 5]

The scope of this book is really extensive for being 170 pages long. The authors really tried to give an overview of the origins of life, from RNA world to the origin of language. Great book to get in touch with a lot of concepts important in evolutionary theory.

[Jon Pennycook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating, if lacking in depth

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Too hard for me at the moment in many places (my lack of biological knowledge). But fascinating nonetheless.

[Gazi Tuğrul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Zorlu ve nefes kesici bir kitap. Bizi evrimin son halkasının dil olduğu gerçeğine adım adım, temelden götürüyor.

[Suat Aydin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good but tough one.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Objectively, a great book. Personally, not the best one to read after taking the MCAT and stressing about science for months.

[Sean McNamara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perhaps overly ambitious considering its rather short 170 page count, JMS covers major evolutionary transitions of life ranging from molecular biology to behavior. Given the scope, not a single word is wasted, and thus this is a book that requires the reader’s undivided attention. While JMS does acknowledge that it is intended for the general audience, it is in no way shape or form an easy read. It does however seem properly suited for the college level introductory biology student. What I adored about the book is that JMS does not shy away from delving into analogies or philosophical applications. This helps in deconstructing the barriers that often make scientific reading imposing for the layman, which is certainly something we need more of in a modern context.

The first half to ¾ of the book does seem a bit stronger than the later chapters, although this may be a reflection of tackling a complex topic like behavior in a small number of chapters, and thus succinctness cannot do the topic justice. There are some topics that struck me as be a bit outdated; most notably group selection which seemingly has a resurgence (and corresponding rebuttal) every decade or so. Some of topics that I found to be particularly amusing include: the paradox between size of early information based molecules and their required enzymes, the evolutionary progression of parasitic relationships towards commensalism, the myriad of conundrums that come up due to reductionism (most notably point to point correspondence in accordance with biological scale), and the modular viewpoint of intellect in its potential ability of break down evolutionary barriers affiliated with behavior.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's hard to write good, clear general science books. A very interesting premise, but somehow didn't grab me very well...but I had just read a really great novel, so that's hard to match with non-fiction.

[Xin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful book about evolution, especially the major evolutionary transitions such as the emergence of self-replicating molecules and the first multiceullar organisms. The author is a famed evolutionary biologist.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a light read by any stretch, but informative and a great compendium of current research on how complex life developed.