McFADDEN, Johnjoe 1956-

PERSONAL: Born May 17, 1956, in Donegal, Ireland; married; children: one son. Education: University of London, degree (biochemistry; with honors), 1977; Imperial College, London, Ph.D. (biochemistry), 1982.

ADDRESSES: Offıce—University of Surrey, School of Biological Sciences, Guildford, Surrey GU2 5XH England. E-mail—j.mcfadden@surrey.ac.uk.

CAREER: Author, educator, molecular biologist, and administrator. St. Mary's Hospital Medical School, London, England, research fellow, department of biochemistry, 1982-84; St. George's Hospital Medical School, London, research fellow, department of surgery, 1984-88; University of Surrey, lecturer, 1988-94, reader, 1994-2001, professor of molecular genetics, head of microbial sciences group, and deputy head of School of Biological Sciences, 2001—.

WRITINGS:

(Editor) Molecular Biology of the Mycobacteria, Surrey University Press (Surrey, England), 1990.

Quantum Evolution: The New Science of Life, Harper-Collins London (London, England), 2000, published as Quantum Evolution, W. W. Norton (New York, NY), 2001, published as Quantum Evolution: How Physics' Weirdest Theory Explains Life's Biggest Mystery, 2002.

Contributor of chapters to volumes such as Methods in Gene Technology, edited by P. G. Sanders and J. W. Dale, JAI Press (London, England), 1991; Encyclopedia of Microbiology, edited by J. Lederberg, Academic Press (San Diego, CA), 1992; Encyclopedia of Molecular Biology and Molecular Medicine, edited by R. A. Meyers, VCH (New York, NY), 1996; and Mycobacteria: Molecular Biology and Virulence, edited by C. Ratledge and J. W. Dale, Blackwell (Oxford, England), 1999.

Contributor of reviews to publications such as Molecular Microbiology, Medical Microbiology Letters, and Research Microbiology. Contributor of research papers to journals and publications such as Biosystems, International Journal of Infectious Diseases, Molecular Microbiology, Journal of Theoretical Biology, Journal of Hepatology, Journal of Clinical Microbiology, Lancet, International Journal of Leprosy, and Gastroenterology.

SIDELIGHTS: Poets, philosophers, scientists—all have asked the same basic questions that form the most fundamental, and most important, inquiry that humanity can make of itself: Where did we come from? How did we become what we are? And why are we here? In Quantum Evolution: The New Science of Life, author and molecular biologist Johnjoe McFadden applies the peculiarities of quantum physics to an exploration of the origins of life and consciousness.

Quantum mechanics posits that objects and events exist in a superposition, a state in which all possible outcomes exist and are equally likely. When a measurement or observation is made, the probability distribution of all possible outcomes (known as the wave function) collapses, leaving only one possibility—what actually happened. "Many quantum concepts violate classical [scientific] sensibilities, but they all restate the same quantum reality, that of the internal wave function," commented Richard Lewis in World and I. Some of the concepts discussed include supposition, in which an object or event can be two different things at the same time; teleportation, "jumping from one location to another without traversing the intervening space," as Lewis explained; and coherence, in which a system can exist in mixed states, behaving as a wave and then, when interacting, behaving as a particle. "Remember that nobody, not even Einstein, could come up with a version of reality less strange than quantum mechanics, yet one which still explained all the existing data," stated McFadden in his book.

McFadden begins Quantum Evolution with a detailed overview of the diverse fields of science that have established the fundamental theories of life and life processes, including biology, chemistry, physics, genetics, and mechanics. He patiently and lucidly explains the basics for readers with little or no knowledge of science and scientific history. "The transitions between even widely disparate topics are flawless and build a coherent picture of the complexity of even the simplest organisms," commented a Publishers Weekly reviewer. In the second half of the book, McFadden explains in great depth his ideas of quantum evolution, its role in the development of life, and how it stands to revolutionize scientific thinking in the broad fields of the life sciences and physics.

Quantum Evolution "is both a delightful flight across disciplines and the rigorous presentation of an astonishing thesis," noted Edward J. Green in Quarterly Review of Biology. Green went on to call McFadden's argument "a virtuoso performance" and his descriptions "models of lucidity." Booklist reviewer Bryce Christensen concluded that "this rare and lucid synthesis of the physical and life sciences . . . invites general readers to peer into the deepest mysteries of nature." McFadden's books was released as Quantum Evolution: How Physics' Weirdest Theory Explains Life's Biggest Mystery in 2002.