A review by jasonfurman
What Is Life?: Investigating the Nature of Life in the Age of Synthetic Biology by Ed Regis

4.0

Not the most original book, but then again you might have guessed that from a book that repeats the title of a classic 60 year old book and has chapters that repeat the titles of some classic papers (e.g., The Spandrels of Saint Marco).

But it is a thoughtful, excellent, enjoyable, if occasionally journalist, overview of the title question. And most important it is completely up-to-date, having been published this year (2008) and including substantial reflections motivated by recent progress in synthetic biology.

At 173 pages it is worth reading it yourself. And if you don