How to distinguish living from non-living? Where is the border between them? At first glance, children's questions. Nevertheless, scientists and philosophers have not been able to come up with a satisfactory answer for many centuries. This topic - what is life - is the subject of a new book by Karl Zimmer. The author believes that there is no other object of scientific knowledge, which would be given so many definitions. And is there a unique and unconditionally true one? After all, there are many manifestations of life. The COVID-19 virus has changed our world, but can it be considered alive? What about an erythrocyte or an apple plucked from a tree? Is a fertilized egg alive? Is it possible to ascertain the death of a person whose brain is dead, but the body is functioning? How did life on Earth originate and will we understand that aliens are alive when we finally meet with unearthly forms of existence? Dark questions! A brilliant popularizer of science, already loved by the Russian-speaking audience, invites the reader to search for answers. Will it be possible to find them, will the author achieve his goal? We are waiting for a truly intriguing story!