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Jeremy England. Every Life is on Fire: How Thermodynamics Explains the Origins of Living Things. New York, NY: Basic Books Hachette Book Group, 2020. 259 pp. $28.00, ISBN 1541699017.
The question of how life began strikes at the heart of the intersection of philosophy and science. Every Life is on Fire: How Thermodynamics Explains the Origins of Living Things presents a complete overview of England's theoretical model of dissipative adaptation and how it relates to the origin of life. Unlike other books written on the origin of life, England uses an approach based primarily on physics, instead of biology. Another differentiating factor is that England is not analyzing a summary of different theories developed by other scientists and philosophers on the origin of life; he is presenting his own scientific work on the matter along with his thoughts on its philosophical implications, with a focus on refuting secular arguments that life from inanimate matter discredits the notion of a Creator. This makes it a unique read among the wealth of literature on the subject.
The book is primarily about the theory of dissipative adaption. This is a theory that proposes to explain how life could stem from lifeless matter. Dissipative adaption comes from the study of thermodynamics and entropy. In this theory, matter self-organizes in a way that allows for the greatest absorption of energy. This in turn leads to inanimate matter arranging into a pattern that has a life-having arrangement. Based on the laws of entropy this leads to irreversible processes that England theorizes could lead to understanding how life came to be. This book is an extended version of his 2015 paper on the subject.20 Simply, the theory begins with matter. When energy is added to that matter, it begins to self-arrange into a state that becomes alive.
In the introduction, England anticipates the implications of the theory of dissipative adaption within the atheist community. For many secularists, evidence that life can arise from previously lifeless matter is a much sought-after result that in their minds discards the need for God. Richard Dawkins is cited as one such individual.21 Thus, England brings in the miracles of Moses. In these miracles, God brings life from lifeless...