What do you think?
Rate this book
Alive: The Hidden Intelligence of the Living World
Not yet published
Expected 11 Aug 26A major work of interdisciplinary nonfiction that redefines how we understand life, agency, and intelligence
What does it mean to be alive? The slow contortion of a plant toward light, the dive of hawks toward their prey—these are purposeful actions. But where does that purpose come from, and what does it tell us about who we are?
In Alive, natural philosopher Melanie Challenger draws on biology, philosophy, physics, ecology, and the history of science to reveal a radical to be alive is first and foremost a way of being in a body. From Greenland sharks that can live for half a millennium, to birds that sense the Earth’s magnetic field through their retinas, and even slime molds that solve mazes, this book tells a new story of intelligence in the living world.
A scientifically grounded challenge to the idea that life is either a machine run by genes or an essence separable from the body, Alive restores agency, purpose and meaning to organisms in an age of artificial intelligence and biodiversity loss. By recognizing that our bodies are both how and why we are alive, this book asks what it would mean to live—and to act—with that knowledge.
What does it mean to be alive? The slow contortion of a plant toward light, the dive of hawks toward their prey—these are purposeful actions. But where does that purpose come from, and what does it tell us about who we are?
In Alive, natural philosopher Melanie Challenger draws on biology, philosophy, physics, ecology, and the history of science to reveal a radical to be alive is first and foremost a way of being in a body. From Greenland sharks that can live for half a millennium, to birds that sense the Earth’s magnetic field through their retinas, and even slime molds that solve mazes, this book tells a new story of intelligence in the living world.
A scientifically grounded challenge to the idea that life is either a machine run by genes or an essence separable from the body, Alive restores agency, purpose and meaning to organisms in an age of artificial intelligence and biodiversity loss. By recognizing that our bodies are both how and why we are alive, this book asks what it would mean to live—and to act—with that knowledge.
Audible Audio
Expected publication August 11, 2026
22 people want to read
About the author
Melanie Challenger
8 books64 followersMelanie Challenger writes, researches, and broadcasts on history of ideas, the history and philosophy of science, and the relationship between humans and the living world. She is the author of How to Be Animal: What it Means to Be Human, among other works, and host of the podcast The Psychosphere. She is also an award-winning poet and librettist for opera and oratorios, and a National Geographic Explorer. Melanie is internationally active in bioethics, co-director of Animals in the Room, and Vice President of the RSPCA.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
April 13, 2026
This was a book of many depths and I enjoyed the angles it included. It was perhaps my own fault that I thought this book was going to be different when I started reading it! I had in mind it would be more of an astrobiology based, origin of life focus but it held many interesting nuggets of knowledge nonetheless.
I liked the heavy foundation of previous history of the early thinkers. At times, it often read like a very well written journal so it’s a fab read for scientists and those involved in the field. It’s so interesting to explore the minds of those who discovered and brought the world into a new light. It covered a variety of topics and there’s a lot to be learnt from books like these!
Thank you to the author and publisher for this book on NetGalley in return for my honest thoughts and review.
I liked the heavy foundation of previous history of the early thinkers. At times, it often read like a very well written journal so it’s a fab read for scientists and those involved in the field. It’s so interesting to explore the minds of those who discovered and brought the world into a new light. It covered a variety of topics and there’s a lot to be learnt from books like these!
Thank you to the author and publisher for this book on NetGalley in return for my honest thoughts and review.
Displaying 1 of 1 review