Science Uncoiled

Whilst programming early PET and IBM computers, I thought our brains must be better designed. If someone hit the wrong button, computers instantly forgot everything you’d written. I still recall sharing Aristotle’s delight and shouting ‘eureka’ 48 years ago when I discovered how life originated. This book grew from the idea that uncoiled DNA held flat by proteins formed a molecular abacus called a ‘minion’. Minions have nine answers to any question, they don’t just answer yes or no. Only Human explains how minions account for different ways of thinking. They index knowledge, relate artistic, scientific and philosophical ideas and resolve disputes. They embrace all human knowledge, store it in 18-character words and account for relationships and aesthetics. ‘We see through a glass, darkly’ says the Bible, I offer a vision of how the 21st century will be different. What’s Natural? describes mind and body working together and how trace element supplements can prevent common maladies. Genes encoding enzymes don’t explain everything. We also inherit molecular pumps made of DNA, establishing life’s rulebook. Understanding them and adopting my proposals could simplify medical and psychiatric care, freeing resources for managing rare conditions and foreign aid. Origin of life relates my discovery of ice crystallizing in liquid nitrogen, explaining it. Allowing for the way minions warp perception reinterprets relativity, big bang cosmology and quantum mechanics; research needs redirecting to humanitarian projects. Mimicking life’s energy efficiency would reduce the fuel consumption and pollution threatening our environment. Theories evolve, as Newton did ‘I have stood on the shoulders of giants’.