This was simultaneously fascinating and a bit of a slog. The premise is fantastic. There are little moments of very well-crafted humor that really brighten the whole thing up. And I'm a big fan of entropy.

But for some reason, this just didn't... move.

Perhaps because the first 40-ish percent of it really is just a primer on thermodynamics, which, while fascinating, isn't the most face-paced topic, it felt like this entirely reasonably-sized volume seemed to drag on. But the prose was charming and conversational, or at least so much so as a huge hunk of facts can be, and I think that this might be a text that improves with time, or with a second read.

Every Life Is on Fire by Jeremy England is a book with a compelling concept - the origin of "life"/ the idea of "being alive" related to thermodynamics.  Additionally, he  illustrates this relationship through biblical examples. While the science was sound and well-explained and the ideas interesting, for me, personally, the biblical references were a bit far-fetched.

Prooftexting In A Science Book? This was a first- prooftexting, the technique of taking random Bible verses out of context to "prove" a point, in a science book. Here, Dr. England looks at the origins of life from a physicist's perspective... while using the life of Moses (he of the "Pharoah, Let My People Go" fame) as the overarcing narrative. One of the more prosaic, academic oriented science books I've read this year, Dr. England does a decent job of explaining high order thermodynamics - literally a form of rocket science - in an easy-ish way for most to understand. He simply does it in a way that is on the harder side of the actual reading experience from other science books I've read over the last year or two in particular. Truly fascinating stuff though, and very illuminating on the physics side of things, particularly as they relate to the future of "smart" polymers - which is not a subject Dr. England directly addresses here. Very much recommended.

Had potential, but didn’t work for me

Although I stopped reading this book about a third of the way through, I still rated it three stars. The book wasn’t bad and was not irritating to read, but at no point in the book was I motivated to read on. There was no “what happens next?” moment for me. I also found the writing style stilted with little effort in engaging me and each page turn left me asking how much is left. On the plus side the book used clever analogies to explain physics phenomena. I am sure that many people who are interested in science will like this book, but it didn’t work for me.
Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book via Netgalley for review purposes.

This was a very interesting book. It's on a topic that is fascinating: the origin of life from a physics perspective. Even more interesting to some readers will be the fact that England is religious. And yet, he is quite open about his motivations and where he is coming from, which makes this book a nice read. I didn't care much for the religious aspects, but England's description of life and how physics can say something about life's origins was fascinating to me. It gave me a lot to think about.

Rabbi England should confine his writing to one topic. Either write about thermodynamics or the old testament but never both. If you have read several good books about science this book adds very little that you have not already read. If you are a novice science reader this is a good start but make sure that you skip the Biblical references. RULE -- Never write a book on more than one topic.

Remember the title of the book as you read it as it provides a strong clue to England's theory.  Make no mistake about it.  This is a book about physics, but written so that non-psychics majors whose only exposure might be something said on Star Trek fifty years ago can wade through it.  Part science, part philosophy, part Bible study, Every Life is on Fire 🔥 begins with the scientific question of what separates living matter from inanimate matter.  What properties make a rock inanimate but make a coral reef or a tiger or plankton living beings?  England uses simple examples such as a ball rolling downhill to explain his concepts, the root of which is that living matter processes energy in one direction and dissipates it.  Thus, a rock can't control its internal temperature, but an animal can pant or sweat or move to a different area to dissipate the heat energy.  This is a book meant to be read slowly and more than once.  Non-scientists like myself, decades removed from science class, may struggle with some parts of the book, but the intent is clearly to make this accessible to all.  Science didn't end with Sir Newton and Al Einstein, but is alive and well and some really interesting ideas are being explored.  

Many thanks to the publisher for providing a copy for review.