Wetware: A Computer in Every Living Cell

As an EE/CS I found these book fascinating as it opened my mind to understand new forms of networks and associated computation. It also provided me with a better understanding of many aspects of biology that I found more obscure until now. Not all the parallels with electronic circuits are correct in the form, but are certainly correct in the significance. What is now really easy for me is to see these biological mechanisms within cells and/or assembly of cells, as control system, which behavior has been studied for more than a century and can be tackled with powerful mathematic and algorithmic tools. I can certainly see how future development in biologic understanding could further benefit bringing in known techniques that have been used in the EE/CS.

This is one of the most well written books by a premiere scientist of his field.If the biomechanical operations on the cellular scale garnered the interest on par with astrophysics, this would be the "Brief history of time" in this field.I've read a lot of nonfiction science books, generally to get good research ideas from seemingly unrelated subjects, but this is one of the best. Not limited by the burdens of an academical paper to provide the gritty details, yet sufficiently broad while in depth to commandeer the breadth and scope of the field. Not as cumbersome as Penrose's "road to reality", less fanciful than "Godel Escher Bach", not as lightweight as "Elegant universe".This is a truly great work in how to convey science to the general public.And No, it won't teach you everything. The examples are selective and not generally applicable. Things work differently in different organisms and in different viewpoints. This is not a book for the professional. This is just to let you grasp an idea of the field. Take it with a grain of salt, as you should do with ALL reading.

This book is full of fascinating information. Wetware is a book about the cell, it discusses the mechanics of signal transmission, the relationships between the various parts of the cell and the emergent phenomenon that result from a cell's architecture on a case by case basis from protazoa and amoeba to our nerve cells. The commentary describes both the complexity of the cell in terms of its adaptability to a diverse ecosystem as well as the plausible origins of how such complexity evolved. The book argues a strong evolutionary case about life and its origins.Most of the book is very readable and gives the non-expert an insight into how through diffusion cells react and signals are processed. Cases are studied and the strategies of such single celled organisms such as the ameoba are discussed in strong detail. Examples of environmental sensitivity are discussed and "intelligence" to the extent that even single cells have architecture that allow them to dynamically adapt are explored. The exploration of the single cell is the most interesting, likely because it can be studied in isolation and thus its easier to discuss a single cells properties than a multi-celled organism. The book goes through a lot of interesting material, it discusses RNA, protein structures and dynamics and neural networks. The Neural networks portion is a good overview of how they work and how they can be used in a machine setting to obtain interesting results. As the book gets into the multicelled aspect, the quality doesnt go down so much as the material can be slightly overwhelming. Despite that, the themes of the book can still be gleaned despite some of the specifics being a bit hard to follow.One reads this book and really mavels at the complexity of the single cell. The author gives a good example at the end - the fruitfly is able to, with negligble energy, navigate efficiently, the computing power required for humans to replicate that is of a very different order of magnitute. The cell is of microscopic size but astronomical complexity and that is where one must stop in awe and appreciate the amazing depth of life. This book takes the reader on that journey. The author tries to only take what can be observed and doesnt try to fill the gaps with intelligent design. He shows how genetic programming results show that solutions to complicated problems show up unexpectedly in evolutionary settings and that is no evidence of design. I found this book to really revitalize the idea that life is truly astonishing. It is not only astonishing from the perspective of muticelled organisms and our own self awareness, but more foundationally, from the single cell and up. I highly recommend this, it should be read by all.

This is a beautiful book, and Bray is an uncommonly good writer. He explains the inner workings of a cell, and the relationships between cells and their environments, with clarity and elegance, no mean feat given their complexity. He also does a nice job of comparing how cells work with how a computer works, and is also clear that while there are definite parallels, living cells outstrip human-made computers in complexity, flexibility and adaptability, and even, in some ways, in computing, though not mathematical, power.Another thing I liked about this book is Bray's curiosity. He takes Barbara McClintock's 1983 suggestion "To determine the extent of knowledge the cell has of itself" as a point of departure in explaining how the cell works and as a goal and goad for future scientists. How does a cell know what to do, which decision to make at any given time? As Bray shows, each cell has a lot of possible choices; there's a lot going on in the primordial soup of a cell's world. And as we come to understand how to answer those questions and others like them, what implications do the answers have, if any, on human psychology and the way we consciously and unconsciously make decisions? Bray is clear that he doesn't know, but also clear and prescient in asking the questions and encouraging others to ask. We know a great deal about cell biology but there is still much, much more to learn.Near the end of the book, Bray quotes French writer Andre Gide: "One doesn't discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time." So true and so inspiring!I very highly recommend this book: 5 stars.

I'm fascinated by the overlap between biology, genetics and computing, so I must admit I had high hopes for this book - it promised to link up these disciplines. It's a great idea, but I don't think the book delivered on the promise.The author does a good job of explaining a lot of complex biological processes, but I didn't feel there was continuity between the different chapters; and some of the parallels drawn with computing seemed quite tenuous and superficial. So I finished the book knowing a lot more facts about living processes, but not having a strong insight into the "computer in every cell" thesis. This might be because I have a computing background and the author is a zoologist; and so I found it heavy on the biology, and light on the computing, and no real synthesis between the two.So I'd say that if you have a computing background, you might be disappointed. A better name for the book might be "Wetware: Biological Machines".

dennis bray has written a fabulous book which i recommend every biology graduate or whoever is interested in computing in biology to read! except for one chapter on robotics everything else in the book is just thought inspiring and i was reading the book throughout and finished within one day. the general public would love this book if they want to be amazed.excellent writing on genetic circuits and cell biology...... the major theme of the book seems to be the importance of the proteins which is excellent.....and its relation was made to the transistor etc..excellent book..must read!!!!!!

Loved the book, it's rare to find a work that explains deeply scientific stuff so clearly and using such a plain language. The parallel to current day computers is amazing and the questions posed would keep boredom away from even a knowledgeable cytologist.

Stuffed full of knowledge. Compares living cells with what goes on in a computer. It does what it says on the book cover and succeeds. Mostly plain English so it's relatively easy to understand. I was recommended this book through New Scientist and was not disappointed. Well worth a read.

There may be some interesting points buried in this book but the writing is poor. The author spends time at the beginning of the book explaining how it nearly wasn't published due to people misinterpreting what he was saying about single celled organisms having a consciousness. He then points out that it was a misinterpretation but then appears to contradict this throughout the first half of the book.I would avoid this a find a better book on the topic.