Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Preview
  • Transformer

  • The Deep Chemistry of Life and Death
  • By: Nick Lane
  • Narrated by: Richard Trinder
  • Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (33 ratings)

£0.00 for first 30 days

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Transformer

By: Nick Lane
Narrated by: Richard Trinder
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Summary

For decades, biology has been dominated by information—the power of genes. Yet in terms of information there is no difference between a living cell and one that died a moment ago. What really animates cells and sets them apart from non-living matter? This question goes back to the flawed geniuses and heroic origins of modern biology. The answer could turn our picture of life on Earth upside down.

In Transformer, Nick Lane captures a scientific renaissance that is hiding in plain sight. At its core is a cycle of reactions that transforms inorganic molecules into the building blocks of life, and the reverse—the iconic Krebs cycle that sits at the heart of metabolism. This conflicted merry-go-round of energy and matter has long taunted true understanding. Nick Lane is in the vanguard of scientists now tracing its ramifications across the tree of life.

To grasp the Krebs cycle is to fathom the deep coherence of biology. It connects the first photosynthetic bacteria with our own peculiar cells. It links the emergence of consciousness with the inevitability of death. And it puts the subtle differences between individuals in the same grand story as the rise of the living world itself.

Life is at root a chemical phenomenon: this is its deep logic.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2022 Nick Lane (P)2022 Profile Books Ltd
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

Oxygen cover art
Mitochondria and the Future of Medicine cover art
Ketones: The Fourth Fuel cover art
The Dawn of Language cover art
The Fabric of the Cosmos cover art
Enzymes cover art
Astrophysics for People in a Hurry cover art
Cosmos cover art
So Simple a Beginning cover art
What Is Life? cover art
Darwin's Black Box cover art
Life's Engines cover art
The Quantum Labyrinth cover art
Is This Wi-Fi Organic? cover art
The Biology of Belief cover art
The Universe Within cover art

What listeners say about Transformer

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    21
  • 4 Stars
    6
  • 3 Stars
    4
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    2
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    17
  • 4 Stars
    5
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    6
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    27
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Yet another briljant book by Nick Lane

Best book of the year, but really needs a PDF with the figures, even I, a trained molecular microbiologist / system biologist would have liked some illustrations, the layperson definitely would want one.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Terrible narration

Content of the book and Nick lanes ideas area absolutely fascinating. The narration is so bad it’s actually off putting.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Narration!

I have no idea what to say about this book as the narrator's cadence was so weird, distracting and slow I couldn't put up with it. Absolutely unlistenable. Apologies to the author. He sounded fascinating on the Event Horizon podcast which put me on to this book but honestly, he needs to speak to his lawyer about this one...I sped it up, slowed it down...everything I could think of. Finally, the only thing that made the pain stop was deleting the thing.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Makes a complex subject legible

Really interesting .. culminates with some interesting reflections on consciousness; important with the emergence of ai as this question will become more important

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent book but narration rather robotic

Another mind blowing book from Nick Lane that takes you on an incredible journey of the chemistry of life.

The only drawbacks are
1. The narration is strangely robotic - it was quite off-putting
2. Without the illustrations the audio version loses a lot vs the book

Probably one to read rather than listen to.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The worst narration ever.

I’ve listened to 200 audiobooks and this is the only one I had to stop because I just couldn’t handle the narration. It…is…so…in-credibly…..slow…and…ponderous that it’s just impossible to get on board with. How the production team let this through is beyond me. I’m currently reading the book and it’s fantastic - buy the book, avoid this.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Interesting book, awful narration

Nick Lane’s writing is brilliant and he explains clearly and creatively the subject - however this book’s narrator is flat and monotonous - it sounds computer generated. Listening at 1.2x speed took the edge of that and made it bearable but please don’t use this narrator for future works.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Robotic painful narration.

The subject matter is fascinating and Nick Lane through his books and lectures delivers an enthralling story about abiogenesis. That said the robotic, staccato narration made this impossible to listen to without pain. I tried different speeds, different volume through speakers, through headphones nothing made this anything less than torture. I gave up after several excruciating sessions and fruitless attempts and bought the book. I suggest everyone does the same.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Incredibly poor narration

The narration is so poor the content cannot be enjoyed. Sounds like it’s computer generated

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful