The current picture of matter that physics offers us is unable to explain how life evolved from inorganic materials. The problem seems to be with physics defining matter simply in terms of its building blocks. But a new theory suggests that the assembly history of material objects, how they came to have the complexity they do, is an essential property of all matter. Lee Cronin argues that this assembly theory of matter shows how evolution by modification and selection isn’t simply the preserve of life but describes how all matter develops.