He doesn’t just explain how things work; he explains why they happened. Why do we have two sexes? Why do we age? Why do we die? Lane links all of these back to mitochondrial energy constraints.
Nick Lane’s Power, Sex, Suicide is one of those rare science books that manages to be both incredibly dense and absolutely exhilarating. It tackles the history and function of mitochondria, arguing that these tiny organelles are the unsung architects of complex life. The Big Idea Power, Sex, Suicide - Mitochondria and the Mean...
Lane moves past the "powerhouse of the cell" cliché we all learned in high school. He argues that the symbiotic merger between two single-celled organisms—which created the first mitochondrion—was the single most important event in evolutionary history. Without it, life would have remained as simple bacteria. Key Strengths He doesn’t just explain how things work; he