Whether you like science or not, this book will be a lifesaver when you discover how much fun science is in answering the fundamentals of life.

Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

This book addresses 3 major problems facing human civilization today: dangers to human health, population growth, and climate change.

It is written for the lay person so the information was easy to digest however some concepts were repeated a little too often as if the author worried that the reader wont “get” it the first time.

A short book that basically introduces the reader to scientific advancements yet it fell a little short for me.

Quite an informative book on the current state of biology as well as extrapolation on what we could do in the future in regards to synthetic biology. Hopefully in the near future, too, because as far as I can see, starvation and climate change aren’t going anywhere soon.

The scientific explanations are easy to follow, so you don’t need a deep scientific background to get something out of this book. Will any of this happen? Maybe, maybe not, but envisioning the possibilities was made easy and, dare I say, exciting—the author seems to have an optimistic train of thought here, and it shines through. Even though there are concerns about certain things (GMOs, etc.), I must say my own outlook on this would veer more towards the positive than the negative, for sure. Shall we play with DNA? Is that our place? Maybe not, but it wasn’t our place either to pollute and wreck the planet, so maybe it’s time we do something about it.

If anything, I’d say it could’ve done with being a little longer, although a few parts were also slightly repetitive… so maybe a compromise here?

Conclusion: 3.5 stars

This is an exciting book about "synthetic biology" and its potential to solve global warming and cure cancer. It follows in a long line of books that point out that innovation, science, and technology are the answer to virtually every problem that faces our civilization.

I received this book from Netgalley and the publisher in return for an honest review.

Save by Science is super informative and gives a lot of information on current statistics as well as what we can do to create a better Earth by using synthetic biology. It is a very thorough book and can provide you with a lot of knowledge.

It may have been because of the type of information provided, but I did feel like the book was very essay-ish. Take that away and it was a great book.