Virtual Event: Paul Nurse

Harvard Book Store's virtual event series, the Harvard University Division of Science, and the Harvard Library welcome PAUL NURSE—Nobel Prize–winning biologist and director of the Francis Crick Institute—for a discussion of his latest book, What Is Life?: Five Great Ideas in Biology.

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About What Is Life?

The renowned biologist Paul Nurse has spent his career revealing how living cells work. In What Is Life?, he takes up the challenge of describing what it means to be alive in a way that every reader can understand.

It is a shared journey of discovery; step-by-step Nurse illuminates five great ideas that underpin biology—the Cell, the Gene, Evolution by Natural Selection, Life as Chemistry, and Life as Information. He introduces the scientists who made the most important advances, and, using his personal experiences in and out of the lab, he shares with us the challenges, the lucky breaks, and the thrilling eureka moments of discovery.

Nurse writes with delight at life’s richness and with a sense of the urgent role of biology in our time. To survive the challenges that face us all today—climate change, pandemic, loss of biodiversity and food security—it is vital that we all understand what life is.

Praise for What Is Life?

"A nearly perfect guide to the wonder and complexity of existence." —Bill Bryson

"A beautifully written exploration of perhaps the most important question in science." —Brian Cox

"In this vibrant, lively book, Paul Nurse, discoverer of some of the crucial genes that control the division of cells, takes a deep dive into biology by illuminating five of the essential characteristics of ‘life.’ The writing is so spirited and knowledgeable—and the five sections so full of wondrous revelations—that I could not put it down. This is a book that will inspire a generation of biologists." —Siddhartha Mukherjee