A very good piece.

But it reminds me of an irony of science communication. Landis is right that "Life is not made of protoplasm" but it is nonetheless true that modern science has found the Élan vital (vital impetus) that naturalistic writers often claim doesn't exist.

That impetus is free energy -- what Schrödinger called "negative entropy". The melancholy is that life is not made of the Élan vital, but consumes it. And it seems there is only a finite amount.