The list of national excellent popular science works for 2022 was announced. The Chinese translated version of The Vital Question (authored by Nick Lane and translated by Yan Xi), published by Guizhou University Press, has been successfully selected for the list.

The Vital Question is a new masterpiece of the renowned biologist Nick Lane, winner of the Royal Society Science Book Prize and the Biochemical Society Award. The book takes a broad perspective and unique approach to examine the origin of life, proposing bold hypotheses about the emergence of life from the perspective of energy. Revolving around this theme, the book presents a magnificent picture of life evolution with meticulous assumptions and careful verifications. Published by Guizhou University Press in September 2020, this translated book won the 16th Wenjin Book Award as a recommended popular science book in 2021. It also made into the “Final List of Best Books of the 21st Century (2020)”. Bill Gates remarked that the book offers a very impressive inquiry into the origin of life.

The program of selecting “National Excellent Popular Science Works of 2022” launched by the Ministry of Science and Technology received a total of 484 works recommended by various local departments from various regions. 100 works were selected into the final list after formal reviews and expert evaluation.

Editor: Zhang Chan

Chief Editor: Zhang Yajun

Senior Editor: Yang Nan

Translator: Jia Haibo