How Life Began

How Life Began PDF Author: Alexandre Meinesz
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226519333
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 291

Get Book Here

Book Description
The origin of life is a hotly debated topic. The Christian Bible states that God created the heavens and the Earth, all in about seven days roughly six thousand years ago. This episode in Genesis departs markedly from scientific theories developed over the last two centuries which hold that life appeared on Earth about 3.5 billion years ago in the form of bacteria, followed by unicellular organisms half a millennia later. It is this version of genesis that Alexandre Meinesz explores in this engaging tale of life's origins and evolution. How Life Began elucidates three origins, or geneses, of life—bacteria, nucleated cells, and multicellular organisms—and shows how evolution has sculpted life to its current biodiversity through four main events—mutation, recombination, natural selection, and geologic cataclysm. As an ecologist who specializes in algae, the first organisms to colonize Earth, Meinesz brings a refreshingly novel voice to the history of biodiversity and emphasizes here the role of unions in organizing life. For example, the ingestion of some bacteria by other bacteria led to mitochondria that characterize animal and plant cells, and the chloroplasts of plant cells. As Meinesz charmingly recounts, life’s grandeur is a result of an evolutionary tendency toward sociality and solidarity. He suggests that it is our cohesion and collaboration that allows us to solve the environmental problems arising in the decades and centuries to come. Rooted in the science of evolution but enlivened with many illustrations from other disciplines and the arts, How Life Began intertwines the rise of bacteria and multicellular life with Vermeer’s portrait of Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, the story of Genesis and Noah, Meinesz’s son’s early experiences with Legos, and his own encounters with other scientists. All of this brings a very human and humanistic tone to Meinesz’s charismatic narrative of the three origins of life.

How Life Began

How Life Began PDF Author: Alexandre Meinesz
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226519333
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 291

Get Book Here

Book Description
The origin of life is a hotly debated topic. The Christian Bible states that God created the heavens and the Earth, all in about seven days roughly six thousand years ago. This episode in Genesis departs markedly from scientific theories developed over the last two centuries which hold that life appeared on Earth about 3.5 billion years ago in the form of bacteria, followed by unicellular organisms half a millennia later. It is this version of genesis that Alexandre Meinesz explores in this engaging tale of life's origins and evolution. How Life Began elucidates three origins, or geneses, of life—bacteria, nucleated cells, and multicellular organisms—and shows how evolution has sculpted life to its current biodiversity through four main events—mutation, recombination, natural selection, and geologic cataclysm. As an ecologist who specializes in algae, the first organisms to colonize Earth, Meinesz brings a refreshingly novel voice to the history of biodiversity and emphasizes here the role of unions in organizing life. For example, the ingestion of some bacteria by other bacteria led to mitochondria that characterize animal and plant cells, and the chloroplasts of plant cells. As Meinesz charmingly recounts, life’s grandeur is a result of an evolutionary tendency toward sociality and solidarity. He suggests that it is our cohesion and collaboration that allows us to solve the environmental problems arising in the decades and centuries to come. Rooted in the science of evolution but enlivened with many illustrations from other disciplines and the arts, How Life Began intertwines the rise of bacteria and multicellular life with Vermeer’s portrait of Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, the story of Genesis and Noah, Meinesz’s son’s early experiences with Legos, and his own encounters with other scientists. All of this brings a very human and humanistic tone to Meinesz’s charismatic narrative of the three origins of life.

How Life Began

How Life Began PDF Author: Alexandre Meinesz
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 9780226519319
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 290

Get Book Here

Book Description
The origin of life is a hotly debated topic. The Christian Bible states that God created the heavens and the Earth, all in about seven days roughly six thousand years ago. This episode in Genesis departs markedly from scientific theories developed over the last two centuries which hold that life appeared on Earth about 3.5 billion years ago in the form of bacteria, followed by unicellular organisms half a millennia later. It is this version of genesis that Alexandre Meinesz explores in this engaging tale of life's origins and evolution. How Life Began elucidates three origins, or geneses, of life—bacteria, nucleated cells, and multicellular organisms—and shows how evolution has sculpted life to its current biodiversity through four main events—mutation, recombination, natural selection, and geologic cataclysm. As an ecologist who specializes in algae, the first organisms to colonize Earth, Meinesz brings a refreshingly novel voice to the history of biodiversity and emphasizes here the role of unions in organizing life. For example, the ingestion of some bacteria by other bacteria led to mitochondria that characterize animal and plant cells, and the chloroplasts of plant cells. As Meinesz charmingly recounts, life’s grandeur is a result of an evolutionary tendency toward sociality and solidarity. He suggests that it is our cohesion and collaboration that allows us to solve the environmental problems arising in the decades and centuries to come. Rooted in the science of evolution but enlivened with many illustrations from other disciplines and the arts, How Life Began intertwines the rise of bacteria and multicellular life with Vermeer’s portrait of Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, the story of Genesis and Noah, Meinesz’s son’s early experiences with Legos, and his own encounters with other scientists. All of this brings a very human and humanistic tone to Meinesz’s charismatic narrative of the three origins of life.

First Life

First Life PDF Author: David Deamer
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520274458
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 282

Get Book Here

Book Description
"The origin of life may have happened an inconceivably long time ago, but scientists like David Deamer are making major advances in understanding how the first microbes began to seethe on our planet, ultimately giving rise to all species alive today. In First Life, Deamer offers a delightful synthesis of research into life's dawn with his own vision for how it came to be."—Carl Zimmer, author of The Tangled Bank: An Introduction to Evolution "No living scientist has had a greater impact on our understanding of life’s origins than Dave Deamer. In First Life, his remarkably engaging, constantly lucid, and delightfully personal narrative, Deamer takes us behind the scenes of origins research as no one else could. What a story!”—Robert M. Hazen, Senior Staff Scientist, Carnegie Institution, and author of Genesis: The Scientific Quest for Life's Origins "David Deamer has written a truly wonderful book. A preeminent scientist in the origin of life field, he has produced a synoptic, wise, and warmly human discussion. Anyone interested in how we came to exist in our universe had best read this book.”—Stuart Kauffman, author of At Home in the Universe: The Search for the Laws of Self-Organization and Complexity and Reinventing the Sacred: A New View of Science, Reason, and Religion

How Life on Earth Began

How Life on Earth Began PDF Author: Aina Bestard
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
ISBN: 9780500652527
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description
What did the Earth look like 300 million years ago? Here's a chance to travel back through time and discover the days when the Earth was a very different place. In this cleverly designed book, lifting the tracing paper pages is like peeling back the layers of history, allowing readers to compare animals living in prehistoric landscapes with the fossils they left behind. The changing face of our planet comes to life, while the science behind the Earth's geology and climate is clearly explained. Packed with fascinating illustrations, this is a wonderful way to understand the story of evolution, from the earliest single-cell lifeforms to the mighty dinosaurs and onwards to the first human beings. Winner of a Non-Fiction Special Mention, Bologna Ragazzi Awards 2021

The Origin of Life

The Origin of Life PDF Author: Paul Davies
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 0141941839
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 320

Get Book Here

Book Description
The origins of life remains one of the great unsolved mysteries of science. Growing evidence suggests that the first organisms lived deep underground, in environments previously thought to be uninhabitable, and that microbes carried inside rocks have travelled between Earth and Mars. But the question remains: how can life spring into being from non-living chemicals? THE FIFTH MIRACLE reveals the remarkable new theories and discoveries that seem set to transform our understanding of life's role in the unfolding drama of the cosmos.

Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution

Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution PDF Author: Neil deGrasse Tyson
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393866890
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 346

Get Book Here

Book Description
“Who can ask for better cosmic tour guides?” —Michio Kaku Our true origins are not only human, or even terrestrial, but in fact cosmic. Drawing on recent scientific breakthroughs and cross-pollination among geology, biology, astrophysics, and cosmology, Origins illuminates the soul-stirring leaps in our understanding of the cosmos. This revised and updated edition features such startling discoveries as the now more than 5,000 detected exoplanets that promise to reveal exciting possibilities for life in the cosmos, and data from a new generation of ground-based and spaceborne observatories that have fundamentally changed what we know about the expanding universe?and maybe even the laws of physics themselves. From the first image of a galaxy’s birth to tantalizing evidence of water not only on Mars but also on the asteroid Ceres, as well as on moons of Jupiter and Saturn, coauthors Neil deGrasse Tyson and Donald Goldsmith conduct an exhilarating tour of the cosmos with clarity and exuberance.

The Story of Earth

The Story of Earth PDF Author: Robert M. Hazen
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0143123645
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 322

Get Book Here

Book Description
Hailed by The New York Times for writing “with wonderful clarity about science . . . that effortlessly teaches as it zips along,” nationally bestselling author Robert M. Hazen offers a radical new approach to Earth history in this intertwined tale of the planet’s living and nonliving spheres. With an astrobiologist’s imagination, a historian’s perspective, and a naturalist’s eye, Hazen calls upon twenty-first-century discoveries that have revolutionized geology and enabled scientists to envision Earth’s many iterations in vivid detail—from the mile-high lava tides of its infancy to the early organisms responsible for more than two-thirds of the mineral varieties beneath our feet. Lucid, controversial, and on the cutting edge of its field, The Story of Earth is popular science of the highest order. "A sweeping rip-roaring yarn of immense scope, from the birth of the elements in the stars to meditations on the future habitability of our world." -Science "A fascinating story." -Bill McKibben

The Major Transitions in Evolution

The Major Transitions in Evolution PDF Author: John Maynard Smith
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019850294X
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 361

Get Book Here

Book Description
During evolution there have been several major changes in the way genetic information is organized and transmitted from one generation to the next. These transitions include the origin of life itself, the first eukaryotic cells, reproduction by sexual means, the appearance of multicellular plants and animals, the emergence of cooperation and of animal societies. This is the first book to discuss all these major transitions and their implications for our understanding of evolution.Clearly written and illustrated with many original diagrams, this book will be welcomed by students and researchers in the fields of evolutionary biology, ecology, and genetics.

Origins of Life How Life Began Abiogenesis, Astrobiology

Origins of Life How Life Began Abiogenesis, Astrobiology PDF Author: Nick Lane
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780974975528
Category : Exobiology
Languages : en
Pages : 528

Get Book Here

Book Description
How Did Life Begin? There are two scientific views on the origins of life: 1) Earthly-Abiogenesis which argues life on Earth began on Earth, and 2) Extraterrestrial Abiogenesis the position of which is life has an ancestry which predates the origins of Earth, and is pervasive throughout the cosmos. Thus, both theories embrace abiogenesis" and both argue that life may have begun on innumerable planets via the same mechanisms. In this ground-breaking, revolutionary text, over 30 top scientists from around the world, explain how life began and if there is life on other worlds, in over 20 paradigm busting chapters. PART I: Earthly Abiogenesis & the Origins of Life 1. Why Does Life Start, What Does It Do, Where Will It Be, And How Might We Find It? Michael J. Russell, Ph.D., and Isik Kanik, Ph.D., 2. Just Like the Universe the Emergence of Life had High Enthalpy and Low Entropy Beginnings, Wolfgang Nitschke, Ph.D., and Michael J. Russell, Ph.D. 3. Polyphosphate-Peptide Synergy and the Organic Takeover at the Emergence of Life. E. James Milner-White, Ph.D., and Michael J. Russell, Ph.D. 4. The Alkaline World and the Origin of Life. Anthony Richard Mellersh, Ph.D., and Paul Michael Smith, 5. Amino Acid Homochirality and the RNA World: Necessities for Life on Earth, Koji Tamura, Ph.D., 6. The RNA World and the Origin of Life: An Ancient Protein Fold Links Metal-Based Gas Reactions with the RNA World. Anne Volbeda, Ph.D., Yvain Nicolet, Ph.D., and Juan C. Fontecilla-Camps, Ph.D. 7. Evolutionary Steps to the Origin of Life on Earth. Andrew J. Pratt, D. Phil. 8. Vesicles First and the Origin of Self-Reproductive Life: Metabolic Energy, Replication, and Catalysis. Arthur L. Koch, Ph.D., 9. Chance or Necessity? Bioenergetics and the Probability of Life. Nick Lane, Ph.D. 10. Disequilibrium First: The Origin of Life Christof B. Mast, Ph.D., Natan Osterman, Ph.D., and Dieter Braun, Ph.D. 11. Life's Origins: Potential for Radical Mediated Cyanide Production on the Early Earth, Shawn E. McGlynn, Ph.D., Trevor E. Beard, Joan B. Broderick, Ph.D., and John W. Peters, Ph.D. 12. The Emergence of Life: Thermodynamics of Chemical Free Energy Generation in Off-Axis Hydrothermal Vent Systems & Consequences for Compartmentalization & Life's Origins. Eugenio Simoncini, Ph.D., Axel Kleidon, Ph.D., Enzo Gallori, Ph.D. 13. How Life Began: The Emergence of Sparse Metabolic Networks, Shelley D. Copley, Ph.D., Eric Smith, Ph.D., and Harold J. Morowitz, Ph.D., 14. Redox Homeostasis in the Emergence of Life. On the Constant Internal Environment of Nascent Living Cells, John F. Allen, Ph.D. 15. Reconstruction of the Molecular Origin of Life. Edward N. Trifonov, Ph.D., 16. How Primordial Cells Assembled Biosynthetic Pathways, Marco Fondi, Ph.D., Giovanni Emiliani, Ph.D., Renato Fani, Ph.D., 17. On the Emergence of Pre-Genetic Information. Ernesto Di Mauro, Ph.D., 18. Implications For An RNA-Clay World: Interaction Of Cytosine With Clay Minerals, A. Pucci, Ph.D., et al. 19. Viruses and Life: Can There Be One Without the Other? Matti Jalasvuori, Ph.D., and Jaana K.H. Bamford, Ph.D., 20. The Origin of Eukaryotes: Archae, Bacteria, Viruses and Horizontal Gene Transfer, R. Joseph, Ph.D. 21. What Can the Origin of Life on Earth Tell Us About the Cosmos? Stephen Freeland, Ph.D., and Gayle K. Philip, Ph.D. PART II: Extra-Terrestrial Abiogenesis 22. 1. Biological Cosmology and the Origins of Life in the Universe, R. Joseph, Ph.D., Rudolf Schild, Ph.D 23. First Life in the Oceans of Primordial-Planets: The Biological Big Bang. C.H. Gibson, Ph.D., N.C. Wickramasinghe, Ph.D., R.E. Schild, Ph.D 24. Genetics Indicates Extra-Terrestrial Origins of Life: the First Gene. R. Joseph, Ph.D., Rudolf Schild, Ph.D., N.C. Wickramasinghe, Ph.D.,

The Genesis Quest

The Genesis Quest PDF Author: Michael Marshall
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022671537X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 369

Get Book Here

Book Description
From the primordial soup to meteorite impact zones, the Manhattan Project to the latest research, this book is the first full history of the scientists who strive to explain the genesis of life. How did life begin? Why are we here? These are some of the most profound questions we can ask. For almost a century, a small band of eccentric scientists has struggled to answer these questions and explain one of the greatest mysteries of all: how and why life began on Earth. There are many different proposals, and each idea has attracted passionate believers who promote it with an almost religious fervor, as well as detractors who reject it with equal passion. But the quest to unravel life’s genesis is not just a story of big ideas. It is also a compelling human story, rich in personalities, conflicts, and surprising twists and turns. Along the way, the journey takes in some of the greatest discoveries in modern biology, from evolution and cells to DNA and life’s family tree. It is also a search whose end may finally be in sight. In The Genesis Quest, Michael Marshall shows how the quest to understand life’s beginning is also a journey to discover the true nature of life, and by extension our place in the universe.