How to assemble life

An image made from data collected by the European Space Agency’s Huygens probe in 2005 of the surface of Saturn’s moon Titan, a candidate for life outside of our planet. In a new book, physicist Sara Walker argues that assembly theory can explain what life is, and even help scientists create new forms of it. — ©2024 The New York Times Company

FOR generations, physicists have puzzled over life.

Their theories about matter and energy have helped them understand how the universe produced galaxies and planets. But physicists have struggled to understand how lifeless chemical reactions give rise to the complexity stored in our cells.