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The Origins of Life:

From the Birth of Life to the Origin of Language
Front Cover
4 Reviews
Oxford University Press, Nov 26, 2000 - Science - 180 pages
When John Maynard Smith and Eörs Szathmáry 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 Szathmáry have completely rewritten Transitions to bring their ideas to a wider audience of general readers. Here is a brilliant, original picture of how life evolved on earth, focusing primarily on six major transitionsdramatic 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 cooperative animal societies, and the birth of language.

The Origins of Life represents the thinking of two leading scientists on questions that engage us allhow life began and how it gradually evolved from tiny invisible cells into whales and trees and human beings.

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

User Review  - Xin - Goodreads

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. Read full review

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

User Review  - Jen - Goodreads

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

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Other editions - View all

The Origins of Life:From the Birth of Life to the Origin of Language
The Origins of Life:From the Birth of Life to the Origin of Language
John Maynard Smith,Eors Szathmary
Limited preview - 2000
The origins of life: from the birth of life to the origin of language
The origins of life: from the birth of life to the origin of language
John Maynard Smith,Eörs Szathmáry
Snippet view - 1999
The Origins of Life:From the Birth of Life to the Origin of Language
The Origins of Life:From the Birth of Life to the Origin of Language
John Maynard Smith,Eors Szathmary
No preview available - 2000

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References from web pages

The Origins of Life: From the Birth of Life to the Origin of ...
The Origins of Life: From the Birth of Life to the Origin of Language. John Maynard Smith and Eörs Szathmáry. Oxford University Press, Oxford. 1999. ...
www.nature.com/ hdy/ journal/ v82/ n4/ full/ 6885361a.html

Maynard Smith and Szathmary, The Origins of Life
The Origins of Life. From the Birth of Life to the Origin of Language. by John Maynard Smith and Eörs Szathmáry. Oxford University Press, 1999 ...
www.cscs.umich.edu/ ~crshalizi/ reviews/ origins-of-life/

JSTOR: The Origins of Life: From the Birth of Life to the Origin ...
THE ORIGINS OF LIFE: FROM THE BIRTH OF LIFE TO THE ORIGIN OF LANGUAGE. By John Maynard Smith and Eors Szathmary. Oxford and New York: Oxford University ...
links.jstor.org/ sici?sici=0033-5770(200009)75%3A3%3C306%3ATOOLFT%3E2.0.CO%3B2-O

Trends in Ecology & Evolution : A brief history of the past three ...
The Origins of Life: From the Birth of Life to the Origin of Language by John Maynard Smith and Eörs Szathmáry. Steven Pinker E-mail The Corresponding ...
linkinghub.elsevier.com/ retrieve/ pii/ S0169534799017978

John Maynard Smith - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A popular science version of the book, entitled The Origins of Life: From the birth of life to the origin of language was published in 1999. ...
en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ John_Maynard_Smith

Interview with John Maynard Smith FRS
the evolutionist talked to him about his new book, The Origins of Life: From the birth of life to the origin of language, discussing such perrenial ...
www.lse.ac.uk/ collections/ evolutionist/ jms.htm

Science and Evolution - Books and Reviews: Books by John Maynard ...
The Origins of Life: From the Birth of Life to the Origin of Language By John Maynard Smith, Eors Szathmary. Description. Life is a long weird trip, ...
evomech5.blogspot.com/ 2007/ 01/ books-by-john-maynard-smith-part-1.html

Steven Pinker - 2000 - A brief history of the past three billion ...
Pinker, S. (2000) A brief history of the past three billion years: Review of ``The Origins of Life: From the Birth of Life to the Origin of Language'', ...
www.isrl.uiuc.edu/ ~amag/ langev/ paper/ pinker00bookreview.html

KLI Theory Lab - Authors - John Maynard Smith
The Origins of Life: From the Birth of Life to the Origin of Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Review by C. Rehmann-Sutter. Maynard Smith, J. 1998. ...
www.kli.ac.at/ theorylab/ AuthPage/ M/ Maynard_SmithJ.html

ingentaconnect A brief history of the past three billion years ...
A brief history of the past three billion years - The Origins of Life: From the Birth of Life to the Origin of Language by John Maynard Smith and Eors ...
www.ingentaconnect.com/ content/ els/ 01695347/ 2000/ 00000015/ 00000003/ art01797;jsessionid=6aiq7ndhu00pi.alexandra?forma...

About the author (2000)

\
John Maynard Smith is an internationally renowned biologiest, widely respected for the originality of his ideas and quality of his thinking. He is a Professor in the School of Biological Sciences, University of Sussex. Eors Szathmary is a Professor at the Collegium Budapest, in Hungary.

Bibliographic information

QR code for The Origins of Life
TitleThe Origins of Life: From the Birth of Life to the Origin of Language
Popular Science
AuthorsJohn Maynard Smith, Eörs Szathmáry
Editionillustrated, reprint
PublisherOxford University Press, 2000
ISBN019286209X, 9780192862099
Length180 pages
Subjects ›  › 

Science / General
Science / Life Sciences / Biology
Science / Life Sciences / Evolution
Science / Life Sciences / General
Science / Philosophy & Social Aspects
  
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