Johnjoe McFadden.
Quantum Evolution.
Flamingo. 2000
Living organisms are controlled by a single molecule – DNA.
Yet physics tells us that the behaviour of single molecules is controlled
not by classical laws but by quantum mechanics.
The implications of this for biology have never been fully explored. Until now.
In this brilliant debut,
Johnjoe McFadden puts forward a startling new theory of quantum evolution.
He shows how quantum mechanics gives living organisms
the ability to initiate specific actions including new mutations.
Thus evolution may not be random at all but directed –
cells may, in certain circumstances, be able to choose to mutate particular genes
that provide an advantage in the environment in which the cell finds itself.
This property of living organisms to direct their actions has startling implications.
It must be at the root of both consciousness and free will:
Quantum Evolution provides a new understanding of the origin of life
and the meaning of death.
Life, this brilliant book argues, is a quantum phenomenon.
Quantum Evolution provides a new biology for the new millennium.
A technical review explaining why McFadden’s ideas do not work as claimed; the quantum control needed is possible in principle, but in practice would be even more difficult to achieve than what it attempts to explain:
- Matthew J. Donald (2001) A review of Johnjoe McFadden’s book “Quantum Evolution”