Book: The Vital Question

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INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

humanistic --------------------------------------- mechanistic

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

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Book: THE VITAL QUESTION

"We are nothing special. Bacteria such as E coli can divide every 20 minutes. To fuel its growth E coli consumes about 50 billion ATPs per cell division, some 50-100 times each cell's mass. That's about four times our rate of ATP synthesis. Convert these numbers into power measured in watts and they are just as incredible. We use about 2 milliwatts of energy per gram - or some 130 watts for an average person weighing 65kg, a bit more than a standard 100 watt light bulb. That may not sound like a lot, but per gram it is a factor of 10,000 more than the sun (only a tiny fraction of which, at any moment, is undergoing nuclear fusion). Life is not much like a candle; more a rocket launcher." p. 64.

Lane, N. (2015) The Vital Question: why is life the way it is? London: Profile Books. p.64 (Paperback)