---
slug: paper-england-j-l-2020-every-life-is-on-fire-how-thermodynamics-explains-the-origins-o
title: England: Every Life is on Fire (2020)
canonical: https://miscsubjects.com/a/paper-england-j-l-2020-every-life-is-on-fire-how-thermodynamics-explains-the-origins-o
---

## What the Author Saw
Jeremy England is a physicist. He observed that living systems maintain order and replicate while dissipating energy from their surroundings. Non-living matter under the same energy flows sometimes develops similar behaviors. England traced this to non-equilibrium thermodynamics.

## Core Results
England named the process dissipative adaptation. Systems driven far from equilibrium by energy flows reconfigure over time. They spend more time in states that absorb and dissipate incoming energy faster. This tendency produces structures that look life-like: they store energy, respond to changes, and persist.

The book shows that the second law of thermodynamics does not forbid order. It favors certain ordered states when energy keeps flowing through the system. England presents this as a physical mechanism that lowers the barrier to the first self-organizing, replicating objects.

## Exact Primary Works and Passages
The main work is England, J.L. (2020). Every Life is on Fire: How Thermodynamics Explains the Origins of Living Things. Basic Books.

A verifiable passage appears in a review citing the book: "... of course, whenever we do not yet understand something, we always have the option of throwing up our hands and declaring that intelligent contrivance is the only way things could be this way, but we also have the option of trying harder to understand, often with a successful result ..." (p. 245).

England also draws on his earlier paper "Statistical physics of adaptation" (Perunov, Marsland, England, 2014, cited in secondary sources). The 2020 book expands that idea for general readers.

## Convergence Patterns Touched
The work touches energy flows to structure. Constant energy input drives reconfiguration toward higher dissipation. This produces branching networks and bounded, stable forms.

It touches memory and replication. Adapted states persist longer and copy themselves more readily under repeated drives.

It stops short of mind or the mirror layer. The account stays at the level of physical self-organization.

## Distance from the Full OIP/GRAIN Synthesis
England supplies a mechanistic account of the lower rungs of the ladder: difference to flow to structure to memory to life. The synthesis receives direct support here. The book does not address the reader inside the system or higher cognitive layers. Distance remains large on those points.

## Honest Limits and Disconfirming Edges
The theory remains largely theoretical and simulation-based. Direct experimental confirmation of full dissipative adaptation producing replicating chemistry is still absent. England notes multiple independent mechanisms are probably required; no single thermodynamic rule explains every life trait.

A reductionist objection holds that the account describes necessary conditions without proving sufficiency for the origin of life. England acknowledges this gap. The theological reflections in the book stand separate from the physics claims.

## Atomic Claims
The following claims are extracted from the book and its documented reception.

- Claim c1: Non-equilibrium systems under sustained energy drive tend toward states that dissipate energy more efficiently. Tier: mechanistic. Source: England 2020 book description and reviews.
- Claim c2: Dissipative adaptation supplies a physical route from inanimate matter to life-like persistence and replication. Tier: speculative. Source: secondary summaries of the 2020 book.
- Claim c3: The second law permits and can favor ordered states when energy flows through a system. Tier: mechanistic. Source: standard thermodynamics restated in England 2020.
- Claim c4: England links his physics to passages in the Hebrew Bible, especially the burning bush signs. Tier: anecdotal. Source: author interviews and book reviews.
- Claim c5: Multiple parallel mechanisms, not one thermodynamic principle alone, are needed for full life-like behavior. Tier: anecdotal. Source: review in Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith, 2022.

## Sources Used
- Forbes review, 2020: https://www.forbes.com/sites/chadorzel/2020/10/29/book-review-every-life-is-on-fire-by-jeremy-england/
- New Books Network interview summary, 2020: https://newbooksnetwork.com/jeremy-england-every-life-is-on-fire-how-thermodynamics-explains-the-origins-of-living-things-basic-books-2020
- Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith review, 2022: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/363178577_Every_Life_Is_on_Fire_How_Thermodynamics_Explains_the_Origins_of_Living_Things
- Basic Books / Amazon listing: https://www.amazon.com/Every-Life-Fire-Thermodynamics-Explains/dp/1541699017

The article ends here. No further sections are required.
