This Is Life

I have rarely enjoyed clinging to life after an asteroid collision quite as much. An entertaining, expert guide to the precarious, miraculous and wondrous journey to where we are now – Dara Ó Briain
What a fun book! Reading Christophe Galfard feels like you’re having a chat with a friendly scientist over a coffee – a chat that ends with a grand appreciation for how the physical universe enables our own existence – Steve Brusatte, bestselling author of The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs
A gorgeous, glorious romp through the sciences to address the biggest question of all: What is life? The reader is in safe hands with Christophe Galfard, whose charming, expressive writing leads you gently through some of the greatest discoveries humans have ever made – David Tong, Professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of Cambridge
I can’t remember when I last enjoyed a biology book so much. Christophe Galfard brings to life with remarkable storytelling his exploration of where we come from as a species – Brian Clegg, author of The Universe Inside You
The whole shebang of life sciences in one book, from Aristotle to mRNA vaccines. Every page is a startling revelation in who we are and what life truly is – Daniel M. Davis, author of and The Beautiful Cure
Simple, personal, alluring, Galfard’s prose teaches as it pulls you in. A history of science that celebrates, rather than neglects, women – Dorion Sagan, author of What is Life?
A wonderful, compelling read. Few popular science books are so unputdownable – David Beerling, author of The Emerald Planet
With child-like curiosity, Galfard sets out to explain just about everything we know about the world and how it began, from the birth of the sun to the microbiology of our own cells. He is a marvellously irrepressible guide, the science teacher you’ll wish you’d had. This hugely ambitious book reminds us of the wonderments of life – Michael Bond, author of Animate
A thoroughly original, enjoyable read, written with much humanity and humour, Christophe Galfard’s book takes the reader across eons of time from the first chemical building blocks to the emerge of the vast zoo of life on Earth we know today, capturing all the trials and challenges along the way – Charles Cockell, author of The Equations of Life
Peppered with delightful and unexpected anecdotes … The editors of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy would do well to base their next entry for Earth on this book – Felix Flicker, author of The Magick of Matter

Christophe Galfard holds a Ph.D. in theoretical physics from the University of Cambridge. He was Stephen Hawking’s graduate student from 2000 to 2006, researching the black hole information paradox. With Stephen Hawking and his daughter Lucy Hawking, he co-authored George’s Secret Key to the Universe. His own book, The Universe in Your Hand, has been translated into over twenty languages.

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