# Bookclub: How Life Works by Philip Ball

- Show: [Oxide and Friends](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends)
- Published: 2024-05-22
- Length: 1h 50m
- Episode: 13
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2024-05-22-bookclub-how-life-works-by-philip-ball
- Listen: https://share.transistor.fm/s/353c5a00

## Summary

Bryan Cantrill and Adam Leventhal of Oxide Computer Company are joined by biologist Greg Cost to discuss Philip Ball's book, How Life Works. The conversation explores the fundamental differences between deterministic computer systems and stochastic biological systems, highlighting concepts like Turing patterns, RNA's role as a precursor to DNA, and the robustness of life. They also discuss specific biological phenomena including Xenopus frogs, xenobots, and the Anton supercomputer used for molecular dynamics simulations.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2024-05-22-bookclub-how-life-works-by-philip-ball#t=0) Introduction: Bryan Cantrill, Adam Leventhal, and Greg Cost
- [4:29](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2024-05-22-bookclub-how-life-works-by-philip-ball#t=269) Greg Cost's Background: From Lab Aid to Biologist
- [8:33](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2024-05-22-bookclub-how-life-works-by-philip-ball#t=513) Transposons, Junk DNA, and Retrotransposons
- [12:54](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2024-05-22-bookclub-how-life-works-by-philip-ball#t=774) The Book's Core: Metaphor, Computation, and Life vs. Machines
- [19:48](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2024-05-22-bookclub-how-life-works-by-philip-ball#t=1188) Complexity, Height, and Genetic Determinism
- [27:08](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2024-05-22-bookclub-how-life-works-by-philip-ball#t=1628) Thermodynamics, Entropy, and Information Preservation
- [34:28](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2024-05-22-bookclub-how-life-works-by-philip-ball#t=2068) The Immune System and Biological Complexity
- [40:20](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2024-05-22-bookclub-how-life-works-by-philip-ball#t=2420) Multicellularity, Evolvability, and the E. Coli vs. Human Genome
- [51:07](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2024-05-22-bookclub-how-life-works-by-philip-ball#t=3067) Prions, Misfolding, and Disease
- [1:01:11](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2024-05-22-bookclub-how-life-works-by-philip-ball#t=3671) Alan Turing, Turing Patterns, and the Origin of Life
- [1:20:22](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2024-05-22-bookclub-how-life-works-by-philip-ball#t=4822) Xenobots, Xenopus Frogs, and Synthetic Biology
- [1:37:52](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2024-05-22-bookclub-how-life-works-by-philip-ball#t=5872) Molecular Dynamics and the Anton Supercomputer
- [1:45:27](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2024-05-22-bookclub-how-life-works-by-philip-ball#t=6327) Book Recommendations and Conclusion

## Topics

- [AI & machine learning](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/ai-and-machine-learning)
- [Microcontrollers & dev platforms](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/microcontrollers-and-platforms)
- [Careers & education](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/engineering-careers-and-education)
- [Chips, FPGAs & semiconductors](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/chips-and-fpgas)
- [Starting a product company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/starting-a-company)

## Most relevant to

large enterprises

## Mentioned

- Oxide Computer Company (company)
- Philip Ball (other)
- How Life Works (other)
- Greg Cost (other)
- Bryan Cantrill (other)
- Adam Leventhal (other)
- Alan Turing (other)
- Xenopus (other)
- xenobots (product)
- Anton (tool)
- Addition Therapeutics (company)
- Red Hat Summit (other)
- Oakland Pollers (other)
- Gaurav Venkataraman (other)
- Dennis Noble (other)
- Nature (other)
- The Imitation Game (other)
- Leslie Valiant (other)
- Carl Woese (other)
- David Shaw (other)
- Susan Lindquist (other)
- Erwin Schrodinger (other)
- What is Life (other)
- The Microbe Hunters (other)
- Richard Rhodes (other)
- Deadly Feasts (other)
- Fast Food Nation (other)
- Jack in the Box (company)
- Wendy's (company)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [97: Bubblesort Yourself](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2015-04-15-97-bubblesort-yourself) (Embedded.fm)
- [Episode 83: Life-like artificial systems - Estelle Raffy](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/robot-talk/2024-05-03-episode-83-life-like-artificial-systems-estelle-raffy) (Robot Talk)
- [275: Don't Do What the Computer Tells You (Repeat)](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2021-10-07-275-dont-do-what-the-computer-tells-you-repeat) (Embedded.fm)
- [48. How Robots Can Reproduce and Create Organs](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-next-byte-podcast/2021-12-14-48-how-robots-can-reproduce-and-create-organs) (The Next Byte Podcast)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2024-05-22-bookclub-how-life-works-by-philip-ball. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to Oxide and Friends.