
Transformer: The Deep Chemistry of Life and Death

To perform its thermodynamic function, life must acquire
Bobby Azarian • The Romance of Reality: How the Universe Organizes Itself to Create Life, Consciousness, and Cosmic Complexity
What then is the thermodynamic purpose of biology? To open new channels for planetary energy flow in an effort to more efficiently dissipate gradients and achieve thermodynamic stability.
Bobby Azarian • The Romance of Reality: How the Universe Organizes Itself to Create Life, Consciousness, and Cosmic Complexity
What distinguishes inanimate objects like rocks from birds and bees and leaves is the level of energy, or the “excitability” of electrons within those atoms that make up the molecules in matter. The more easily and often electrons can be transferred between molecules, the more “desaturated” matter becomes, the more alive it is.23
James Nestor • Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art
They argued that tiny differences between the concentrations of protons—charged hydrogen ions—on opposite sides of the membrane-thin chamber walls created electrical potential—energy that could be tapped to form organic compounds. Astonishingly, this looked remarkably similar to how our own cells create energy. Our cells rely on small circulating
... See moreDan Levitt • What's Gotten Into You: The Story of Your Body's Atoms, from the Big Bang Through Last Night's Dinner
The history of the life-Earth system can be divided into five “energetic” epochs, each featuring the evolution of life forms that can exploit a new source of energy. These sources are: geochemical energy, sunlight, oxygen, flesh and fire.