energy 69, 123–8
energy-matter conversion 69–70
entropy 376–7
environmental cues 292
environmental degradation 337–8
environmental drivers, personality traits 355–71
enzymes 124–8, 178, 184–5
epochs of life 297
equations 48, 104
erosion 161
Escherichia coli 215–16, 219, 399–400
ethics, evolutionary explanations 408
Eudemus 19
Eukarya 215, 217, 220, 297
eukaryotes 240–1, 397, 398
Europa 149, 395
evidence 23, 32, 32–44
human evolution 35–42, 44
leprechauns 33
Orang pendek 33–5
evil 407, 411
evolution 6, 170, 175, 184, 187–8, 375, 397, 402
advantageous mutations 229
and biological diversity 213
of brain 293–6
cells 217
challenges of concept 213–14
coco-de-mer palm 29–30
complex animal life 247–53
consciousness 293–6, 400
diverging lineages 57, 309
drivers 227, 258, 259
emergence of life 203–5, 211
eukaryote 240–1
explanations of ethics and morality 408–11
fish 249–50
genetic change 214, 222
of head 248
imperfect replication 203–5
insects 249
language 312, 401, 412
mammals 258–9, 297, 298
of movement 293–4
multicellularity 242–7, 397–8
mutation 228–32, 237, 399–400
natural selection 226–8, 237, 245–6, 258, 400
plants 249, 250
quantum mechanics role in 383–4
and randomness 385–6, 388
reality of 212
of sex 241–2
sexual selection 227, 237, 258
speed of 214
and threats 214
too-complex-to-have-evolved argument against 411–12
see also human evolution
evolutionary biologists 212, 304
evolutionary success 214
exoplanets 140–1, 168, 394, 414
exosphere, the 151, 157
exothermic reactions 124
expansion 62, 63–4
experiences, and personality traits 355–71
experiments 6–7, 25–8, 47, 263, 421
explosives 94
exponential growth 202–3, 216
extraterrestrial life 414–16
eyes 271
Fa Hien cave, Sri Lanka 326
facts, rejecting 22
faith 405, 420
fastest object produced 61
fatty acids 206
feedback loops 179
fertilizers 337
fire use 297, 304, 325
first law of thermodynamics 376
fish 234, 249–50
fish farming 333
Fisher, Ronald 45
fishing 326–7
flight-or-fight hormones 412
fluorine, reactivity 121–2
fluoroantimonic acid 121
food
acquiring 254–5
detection 254
digestion 255–6
energy allocation 256–8
utilization 255–8
variety 255–6
food security 334
force carrier particles 67–8
force fields 67–8
fossil fuels 250–1, 337
fossils and fossilization 21–2, 126–7, 234–5
Cambrian explosion 247–8
human evolution 307, 309, 310, 313, 315–16, 322, 416
soft tissue 235
frames of reference theory 282–3
Franklin, Rosalind 3
Frankopan, Peter 337
free will 293, 380, 381–3
friends, and happiness 288–9
frozen peas, fear of 359
fundamental forces 64–7, 168, 372, 394, 418
emergence of 86–7
force fields 67–8, 72–3
interaction 67–73
just right 390–1, 403
and star formation 134–5
strength 129
fundamental particles 61, 73–5, 74
behaviour 62
decay 75
early interactions 70
first generation 73–4
formation of 5
mass 77
as probability distributions 381
randomness 381–2
scale of interaction 62
second generation 74–5
stochastic behaviour 381–3
third generation 75
fungi 292
future
deterministic 2
predicting 296
stochastic 2
galactic year 138
galaxies 82
clusters 135
collisions 135–6
dead 136
distribution of 393
formation of 88, 135
heavy elements 136
James Webb Space Telescope photos 413–14
movement 63, 135–6, 139
number of 130–1
spin 82–3, 135
star formation 136–7
star numbers 401
gamma rays 87
Ganymede 149
gardens 320–1
Gauss, Carl Friedrich 342
Gaussian distribution 342
gene editing technology 54, 56
gene-by-environment interactions 352–3
general relativity, theory of 78–83, 392
genes 178–9
and brain development 234, 347
and development 346–8
expression 180
GPR143 345–6, 348–9
and the human body 344–6
MAOA 410
NAT2 353
nucleotide sequence 344–5
and phenotypic traits 347–9
switching on and off 234, 244
unpredictable impacts 349–50
genetic change 222
genetic code 124, 209, 217–20, 344, 346, 352, 401
genetic differences 214, 222
genetic engineering 348
genetic revolution 348
genetic routes 399–400
genetic sequences 39–42, 176–7, 177–8, 184
genetics 39–42, 50–5
Genghis Khan 174–5, 183
genome 171, 178, 347
comparing similarity 232–3
complexity 187–8
nucleobase numbers 231–2
sequences 39–42
uniqueness 180
glucose 239, 244
gluons 67, 70, 73, 75, 86
God 407, 411
god of the gaps argument 411–12
GPS 8
Graeber, David 305
Grand Tack hypothesis 147–8
gratitude diary 289
gravitational waves 55
gravitons 67
gravity 20, 66, 67, 72–3, 84, 134, 391
emergence of 86, 90
force carrier particle 67
formation of stars 90–1
and formation of the planets 145
in general theory of relativity 81–2
impacts 66
and space 81–2
strength 73, 129
theory of 78, 84
and time 81–2
gravity wells 81–2
great dying, the 251–2
Greece, ancient 19, 20, 101, 234, 338
Greenland 173
GroEL 233–4
ground state, atoms 117–18
guppies 225, 256–8, 302
Haber, Fritz 337
hands 307, 308
happiness 287–92
baseline level of 288
and friends 288–9
and sense of fulfilment in work 289–92
and sense of purpose 292
Harry, Prince, marriage 371
Hart’s killifish 250
heat 69
heavy elements 91, 92, 136
Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle 109
helium 65, 72, 87, 92, 96, 116
Helix Nebula 136–7
herbivores 254, 255–6
Herodotus 19
heterotrophs 330
hierarchical societies 335–6
Higgs boson 48, 75–8
homeopathy 22
Homo erectus 38, 304, 305, 313–17, 318, 412
Homo floresiensis 38, 304, 314
Homo habilis 310–13, 315, 318
Homo naledi 317, 319
Homo sapiens 305
art 321
classification 215
dispersal out of Africa 38, 321–5
genome size 41–2
interspecies breeding 35–42, 323–4
negative impact on nature 329–32
population growth 328–30, 333–4
technological advances 325–8, 330, 333–4
honesty 408
Hooke, Robert 368–9
hormones 412
horses, domestication 333
Hubble Space Telescope 136
human body
bone growth 348
development 346–51, 417
differences between individuals 342–3
environmental impacts 350–2
genetic differences 344–50
measurements 341–3
phenotypic traits 341–3, 345, 347–9, 351, 352
statistical approach 343
unpredictable impacts 349–50
human evolution 6, 35–42, 44, 298, 300–1, 303–5, 307–18, 319
agriculture 332–3
anti-predation behaviours 318
Australopithecine species 308–10, 311, 313, 317, 318
Australopithecus afarensis 309