Quantum Aspects of Life, a book published in 2008 with a foreword by Roger Penrose, explores the open question of the role of quantum mechanics at molecular scales of relevance to biology. The book contains chapters written by various world-experts from a 2003 symposium and includes two debates from 2003 to 2004; giving rise to a mix of both sceptical and sympathetic viewpoints.
Kibble, Tom (December 2010). "Book Review: 'Quantum Aspects of Life' Edited by Derek Abbott, Paul C. W. Davies and Arun K. Pati". International Journal of Quantum Information. 08 (8): 1427–1432. doi:10.1142/S0219749910006939.
Jameel Sadik "Jim" Al-KhaliliCBEFRSHonFREngFInstP (Arabic: جميل صادق الخليلي; born 20 September 1962[4]) is an Iraqi-British theoretical physicist, author and broadcaster. He is professor of theoretical physics and chair in the public engagement in science at the University of Surrey. He is a regular broadcaster and presenter of science programmes on BBC radio and television, and a frequent commentator about science in other British media.
Al-Khalili is a professor of physics at the University of Surrey, where he also holds a chair in the Public Engagement in Science.[15] He has been a trustee (2006–2012) and vice president (2008–2011) of the British Science Association.[16] He also held an EPSRC Senior Media Fellowship.[13]
Al-Khalili was awarded the Royal Society of London Michael Faraday Prize for science communication for 2007[17] and elected an Honorary Fellow of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. He has been a Fellow of the Institute of Physics since 2000, when he also received the Institute's Public Awareness of Physics Award.[18] He has lectured widely both in the UK and around the world, particularly for the British Council. He is a member of the British Council Science and Engineering Advisory Group,[19] a member of the Royal Society Equality and Diversity Panel,[20] an external examiner for the Open University Department of Physics and Astronomy, a member of the Editorial Board for the open access Journal PMC Physics A, and Associate Editor of Advanced Science Letters. He is also a member of the Advisory Committee for the Cheltenham Science Festival.
As a broadcaster, Al-Khalili is frequently on television and radio and also writes articles for the British press.[28][29] In 2004, he co-presented the Channel 4 documentary The Riddle of Einstein's Brain, produced by Icon Films.[30] His big break as a presenter came in 2007 with Atom, a three-part series on BBC Four about the history of our understanding of the atom and atomic physics.[31] This was followed by a special archive edition of Horizon, "The Big Bang".[32]
Al-Khalili lives in Southsea, Portsmouth, with his wife Julie.[5] They have a son and daughter. Al-Khalili describes himself as an atheist and a humanist,[45] remarking, "as the son of a ProtestantChristian mother and a ShiaMuslim father, I have nevertheless ended up without a religious bone in my body".[46] Al-Khalili became vice president of Humanists UK in 2016 after stepping down as its president.[47] He is also a patron of Guildford-based educational, cultural and social community hub, The Guildford Institute.[48]