Dennis Bray

The main, unifying purpose of this book is to demonstrate that biology can most parsimoniously be explained as a series of computations. These aren't the computations we are used to with our PCs and Macs, but instead a fuzzier, less accurate version, which garners its un-bridled power via the sheer volume of computational units involved, and the seemingly infinite interactions and variability between them. From the ways that genes, RNA and proteins interact within the cell, to the ways that show more cells communicate in simple bacterial cultures or animal and plant organs, all the way up to the human brain, molecular computations are ubiquitous.

The arguments of the book are compelling, with vast amounts of evidence from many fields brought to bear to demonstrate the main thesis. Wetware is largely a very well structured, coherent book, full of rich detail, occasionally fun and inventive sidelines, and an unwavering sense of authority. Occasionally there are sections that seem somewhat superfluous, especially those involving computer or robotic simulations of nature. But on the whole the content seems very tight and although a small increase in pointers to the overall landscape would have been useful, the length and pace of this shortish book seemed just about right. It also benefits from occasionally gloriously written sections of sparkling narrative (such as on page 154 where we are taken to the first moments of life in poetic, intensely imaginative detail).

It is not the easiest science book to read in the world, though. It is heavily and unnecessarily laden with jargon, and at times seems somewhat too detailed for the point required. Much of the book is very heavy going, but perhaps this is unavoidable given the intricate molecular machinery under description. But this difficult journey is very well worthwhile because the scientific viewpoint is relatively novel, highly profound and very far-reaching. show less

I will be decrepit and in my deathbed with almost everything lost, the faces of my family, my favorite songs, but one thing will remain.

Mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell.

Wetware is a popular introduction to microbiology, framed by Bray's contention that even the simplest cell is an information processing system. And as even basic observation shows, this must be true. E. coli moves towards nutrients and away from poisons. Amoebas are microscale apex predators, stretching towards show more lesser protozoans with psuedopods. And higher organisms are delicately orchestrated complexes of organs and tissues, grown from a single zygote that contains every necessary instruction encoded in the four base pairs of DNA.

Information processing is the central metaphor of our era, much as clockwork was that of Newton's. However, as a popular book, Wetware is often frustratingly vague about the details. Methylation turns proteins and genes on and off. The addition or removal of phosphorus groups from proteins provides necessary energy to combat entropy and also serves to time processes. But information as we use it is all symbolic processing, which as the Church-Turing thesis argues is the same thing, no matter the hardware. Binary digital logic is just the easiest to engineer. Wetware processing is something profoundly different, an analog process of protein interaction occurring at the speed of molecular diffusion. A physics simulation of a single cell would be a massive computational endeavor, yet it's unclear of a statistical abstraction would preserve whatever vital processes makes the whole thing work.

Fascinating, especially for someone who last took a bio course in 9th grade, but I wanted something deeper and bolder. show less

paradoxically, cell dynamics are more complex than organism dynamics. this is a really good introduction to the not-so-rigid building blocks of life.

Describes the biochemical processes in living cells as fluid circuits, somewhat like computer hardware, only flexible and able to change in response to changes in environment, and carrying information, somewhat like computer software. These molecular circuits carry the chemical data of life.