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Life’s Solutions by Simon Conway Morris

Professor of evolutionary palaeobiology at Cambridge, Simon Conway Morris has an impressive academic pedigree, as well as an enviable way with words. In Life’s Solution (Cambridge University Press, £11.99/$19.99) he brings an awkward problem into the light with a masterly argument for the inevitable existence of humans: if evolution on Earth were to run again, there would, he says, be “sentient species with a sense of purpose”. It’s his next step that is difficult to contemplate calmly. If you accept that a sentient species would evolve, then “it is reasonable to take the claims of theology seriously. The choice is yours,” he says. I found myself forced to resort to the old “define your terms” tactic to escape the grip of his logic. Read twice.