Buy new:
-86% $4.64
FREE delivery Thursday, May 16 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Ships from: Amazon.com
Sold by: Amazon.com
$4.64 with 86 percent savings
List Price: $34.00

The List Price is the suggested retail price of a new product as provided by a manufacturer, supplier, or seller. Except for books, Amazon will display a List Price if the product was purchased by customers on Amazon or offered by other retailers at or above the List Price in at least the past 90 days. List prices may not necessarily reflect the product's prevailing market price.
Learn more
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns
FREE delivery Thursday, May 16 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Only 2 left in stock - order soon.
$$4.64 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$4.64
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Ships from
Amazon.com
Ships from
Amazon.com
Sold by
Amazon.com
Sold by
Amazon.com
Returns
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Read full return policy
Returns
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Read full return policy
Payment
Secure transaction
Your transaction is secure
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
Payment
Secure transaction
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
$2.40
Very Good - Crisp, clean, unread book with some shelfwear/edgewear, may have a remainder mark - NICE Standard-sized. Very Good - Crisp, clean, unread book with some shelfwear/edgewear, may have a remainder mark - NICE Standard-sized. See less
$3.99 delivery May 16 - 22. Details
Or fastest delivery May 14 - 17. Details
Only 2 left in stock - order soon.
$$4.64 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$4.64
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.
Ships from and sold by midtownscholarbookstore.
Amazon book clubs early access
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access

Join or create book clubs

Choose books together

Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Explore Amazon Book Clubs
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

Andreas Wagner
+ Follow
More books from this author
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

Paradoxical Life: Meaning, Matter, and the Power of Human Choice Paperback – June 28, 2011

by Andreas Wagner (Author)
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 8 ratings
See all formats and editions
{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$4.64","priceAmount":4.64,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"4","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"64","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"6DPuJx%2BCVoAJ58lF%2FM1ej9im%2BHlPpxiYrvfF8IDXgR%2FHZY6MMMpBEAB9emCXTqut7hP1l2NLc1yEUCy0TMbAGAJSeUf3Ayc267IcXqB8F8PaNl31cXfuZfHHQnyo5m%2Bgy1h6XbwWlnvdOoxvYSXcBA%3D%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$2.40","priceAmount":2.40,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"2","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"40","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"6DPuJx%2BCVoAJ58lF%2FM1ej9im%2BHlPpxiYGL3rgfFLK%2BUUO%2BMWTjoVDKg1peF%2FbQFtAEKJAYUUJM5UIE%2Bk3zWiNBFFwW%2FrkHY1uaJAW4BgHIqspvqwKL7NGMIhYTK3DuUxET0wslULUpxCUlcaMs00A9kQKI4C40MF82EU%2B66f5P0%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

For readers of Hofstadter’s Gödel, Escher, Bach, a fascinating look at the hidden meaning in matter

What can a fingernail tell us about the mysteries of creation? In one sense, a nail is merely a hunk of mute matter, yet in another, it’s an information superhighway quite literally at our fingertips. Every moment, streams of molecular signals direct our cells to move, flatten, swell, shrink, divide, or die. Andreas Wagner’s ambitious new book explores this hidden web of unimaginably complex interactions in every living being. In the process, he unveils a host of paradoxes underpinning our understanding of modern biology, contradictions he considers gatekeepers at the frontiers of knowledge.

Though we tend to think of concepts in such mutually exclusive pairs as mind-matter, self-other, and nature-nurture, Wagner argues that these opposing ideas are not actually separate. Indeed, they are as inextricably connected as the two sides of a coin. Through a tour of modern biological marvels, Wagner illustrates how this paradoxical tension has a profound effect on the way we define the world around us. Paradoxical Life is thus not only a unique account of modern biology. It ultimately serves a radical—and optimistic—outlook for humans and the world we help create.

Read more Read less
Previous page
  1. Print length
    272 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Yale University Press
  4. Publication date
    June 28, 2011
  5. Dimensions
    5.86 x 0.6 x 8.94 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0300171528
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0300171525
  8. See all details
Next page
Amazon First Reads | Editors' picks at exclusive prices

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Andreas Wagner is a professor in the department of biochemistry at the University of Zurich and an external faculty member at the Santa Fe Institute. Educated at Yale University and at the University of Vienna, Wagner focuses his research on the evolution and evolvability of biological systems. He lives in Zurich.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Yale University Press (June 28, 2011)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 272 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0300171528
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0300171525
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 13.6 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.86 x 0.6 x 8.94 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 8 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Andreas Wagner

Andreas Wagner

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
4.1 out of 5
8 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

W. Cheung
4.0 out of 5 stars The importance of choosing a perspective
Reviewed in the United States on October 16, 2011
Verified Purchase
It is a simple book but it does meander a bit. The gist is: concepts like identity, mortality, continuity, meaning, and certainty are "paradoxical". Take identity as an example. How do you define the "boundary" of "an organism"? Are individual polyps that make up corals to be considered "individual organisms" or should the whole colony be considered one "single organism"? Take mortality. Without deaths, evolution could not proceed and everything would just die out - an apparent "paradox". The author goes on (and on) and provides numerous fascinating examples, primarily drawn from biology (even though he insists, probably correctly, that these paradoxes also exist in physics and chemistry). He argues that these paradoxes cannot be solved but human beings are endowed the ability to choose different perspectives so as to view the world with meaning but there will always be many, albeit not arbitrary, choices. I must say I don't agree with the author's conclusion but I do enjoy the book. It is, I have to admit, slightly long-winded. Four stars.
4 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Mark A Heifner
5.0 out of 5 stars Andreas though presents an excellent biologist's perspective and does so in the terms of ...
Reviewed in the United States on March 19, 2018
Verified Purchase
As is typical of Andreas, his writing is meticulous and thoughtful. I had just read Sean Carroll's book "The Big Picture" which deals with meaning of existence from a physicist's point of view. But being a biologist I felt Sean did not represent the biological perspective on the meaning of existence very well. Andreas though presents an excellent biologist's perspective and does so in the terms of the almost limitless array of paradox present in biology. He speaks to choice in biological organisms from bacteria to humans and, to some extent, how those paradoxical processes differ in creating a different kind of meaning in biology than is derived from examining in terms of physics. Philosophy differs from each of these in some ways and I suspect other thinking perspectives would could up with their own perspective that may link to all others but still maintain some degree of independence. This is a fine work of scientific and philosophical thinking with the view of a molecular biologist coloring in the voids produced by the lines and coming up with a bit different picture than a theoretical physicist steeped in quantum theory comes up with. It gets one to wondering whether the late Stephen Hawking was maybe on the right track in his quest for a theory of everything. For the layman though, this is a fairly deep book, but Andreas' style is casual enough and illustrated well enough to be quite readable for the non-biologist. Highly recommended.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
BR
5.0 out of 5 stars Mind-blowing
Reviewed in the United States on July 6, 2019
Verified Purchase
The single best science book I've ever read. I could say more, but I wouldn't know where to begin. It was about so much more than I ever thought it would be when I bought it. And about so much more than I've ever thought about before. Wow.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Jan Lelie
5.0 out of 5 stars "If you see what i mean.."
Reviewed in the United States on August 31, 2010
This book explains clearly how life is the paradoxical result of creating meaning - or the other way around. With simple examples it shows how in different 'systems' the same processes are at work. How different systems, like cells, have their own way of working with meaning. The writer knows what he is talking about, the notes are very clear. I can recommend this book for everybody interested in paradoxes and meaning.
4 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars how survivable is random mutation?
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 19, 2015
Verified Purchase
This author has attempted, with the help of a number of students, to show likely simple viable life forms are when their genetics are varied through random:mutation. There are two strands of viability: metabolism of food and functionality. Searching exhaustively in gene space using computer simulation produces the surprising results that most genetic variations are viable, so life is quite robust when mutations happen. I'm not expert enough to know how significant all this is, it seems to be looking at just a tiny subset of the whole problem.
He has tried to write for the totally uninformed reader and the descriptions of nearest neighbors computations in gene-space are very labored and confusing. It could go much quicker if the level of presentation was upped a bit.
Report