Endless Endings

A scientific exploration of the varied forms, origins, and meanings of death While death may be one of life's most predictable surprises, it has also proved itself to be one of the most fascinating and cutting-edge areas of scientific inquiry. Our bodies and lives tell a story of cellular creation and destruction that can be traced back to Earth's primordial oceans. Yet when we follow the interwoven thread of beginnings and endings in an effort to discover death's origins, nature, and meaning, we find that we cannot settle on a single definition of death or even a single interpretation of it. It would seem that there is not one death, but an endless variety of forms, each of which raises further questions about how well we understand death's counterpoint-life. Using death as a connecting theme, in Endless Endings, Ricard Solé explores the differing meanings of death in varied forms, reflecting on questions that are pushing forward the frontiers of scientific understanding. What is the physical basis of inevitable decay? Can we manipulate cellular rules to avoid death? What does death mean if life occurs inside a computer? Can a conscious machine save itself from death? Is immortality possible? What does it mean for language, thought, or information to die? As Solé reveals, life's endings can be just as fascinating and varied as life itself.

Ricard Solé is the ICREA Research Professor at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, where he is head of the Complex Systems Lab, and external professor at the Santa Fe Institute. He is the author of Phase Transitions and coauthor of Viruses as Complex Adaptive Systems, Self-Organization in Complex Ecosystems (all Princeton), and Signs of Life.