The author is a physics teacher/professor who applies physics to processes in nature and in society. He emphasizes the use of thermodynamics and the S curve associated with growth patterns. He makes valid points regarding how many processes follow the principles described in physics. I appreciate his initial chapter on what life is. I was not really interested in some of his analysis but much of it is still interesting. ( )

Initially, I was inclined to write this book off as a bad choice on my part: sucked-in by the title which suggested to me that I would find out more about the physics driving the evolution of DNA. But, in the spirit of trying to give the author a decent hearing, I started reading a bit about it and about the author. The initial results were not promising. I realised that I already had another book by him: "Design in nature" and my reaction to it was negative. He seems to be one of those individuals who believes they have found the "key to the universe" or if not the universe to some major issues facing humankind. In the case of the latter book Bejan had developed his "Constructal law of design"...which he seemed to think was the equivalent of Darwin's postulation of the survival of the fittest species as the basis of evolution.
The current book, is really more of the same. It's all a bit over the top. I think he over claims, yet there are a few nuggets in there...so hard to just dismiss out of hand ....even though I put his books right up there with "Music of the spheres" by Guy Murchie....kind of philosophical, pseudo-science.
So what are the nuggets? Well, one is his fundamental principle that rivers in a watershed take on a tree-like shape with many small tributaries leading to a few large rivers....feeding into one larger river. Why does this happen?....Bejan claims, basic physics: and it's all about efficiency and coverage. OK, I accept that. Another nugget is that transport around the nation tends to do the same thing.....a few large haulers between major hubs and then many smaller distributors with small trucks. Why? Because that's the most efficient way to arrange transport. And he has some interesting stuff there about designing buildings so that people can escape in an emergency....yet he doesn't appear to have the technique that I saw somewhere else....about having things like two doors ...one for entrance and one for exits and other design techniques. He develops a lot of his theory on th back of comparisons between GDP and energy consumption: the richer the country the more energy they consume per capita. OK seems reasonable. But also the more energy, the better the health outcomes. Kind of using correlation to prove association. Bottom line is that richer countries can invest more in health per capita so get better health outcomes on average....and yes they consume more energy. But it doesn't demonstrate that by burning a lot of fuel you will necessarily get good health outcomes. Rather the reverse might be true. (Certainly doesn't work on a micro scale ...say around a steel town where lots of energy is consumed but lots of toxic emissions also result...plus it's dangerous working around molten metal).
But I'm not sure that I really buy his idea that life is movement (at least that's what I take him to be claiming). Yes it is hard to define life....especially when we now have artificial life existing in computers.....but generally life has something about self-reproduction and Bejan's definition simply side-steps this. I guess, one can define life as movement and most life has to have some movement....even an oyster. But I think he reckons he is on to something BIG with his constructal law of design (note it's a LAW...not just a theory....that's a bit of a give away that he's over-claiming). Sorry, but I don't agree that you are onto something big...and sorry Adrian, but I ended up just skimming your book...and I think this was as much as is warranted. I give it one star. ( )

Just a placeholder, but this looks like it's going to be great. Jared Diamond Guns Germs and Steel great. Richard Feynman great. Wheeler on Special Relativity great.

For Bejan, a specialist in engineering thermodynamics, it's all about not just things like water, heat and energy, but about their flows. Flows and channels. ( )