The 5th Miracle: The Search for the Origin and Meaning of Life

Paul Davies

Sep 2015 · Simon and Schuster

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“Davies makes a persuasive case that advances in biology and astronomy are turning the origin of life from a mystery into a solvable problem.” —The New York Times Book Review

Are we alone in the universe?

In his latest far-reaching book, The Fifth Miracle, 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 the latest scientific discoveries and theories to address the larger question: 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 Earth-like planets? And if there is life elsewhere in the universe, is it preordained to evolve toward greater complexity and intelligence?

On the answers to these deep questions hinges the ultimate purpose of mankind—who we are and what our place might be in the unfolding drama of the cosmos.

“Davies makes accessible a subject growing increasingly arcane.” —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 Schrodinger’s Cat

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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.