The Emergence of Life

The Emergence of Life PDF Author: Pier Luigi Luisi
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139455648
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 268

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Book Description
The origin of life from inanimate matter has been the focus of much research for decades, both experimentally and philosophically. Luisi takes the reader through the consecutive stages from prebiotic chemistry to synthetic biology, uniquely combining both approaches. This book presents a systematic course discussing the successive stages of self-organisation, emergence, self-replication, autopoiesis, synthetic compartments and construction of cellular models, in order to demonstrate the spontaneous increase in complexity from inanimate matter to the first cellular life forms. A chapter is dedicated to each of these steps, using a number of synthetic and biological examples. With end-of-chapter review questions to aid reader comprehension, this book will appeal to graduate students and academics researching the origin of life and related areas such as evolutionary biology, biochemistry, molecular biology, biophysics and natural sciences.

The Emergence of Life

The Emergence of Life PDF Author: Pier Luigi Luisi
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139455648
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 268

Get Book Here

Book Description
The origin of life from inanimate matter has been the focus of much research for decades, both experimentally and philosophically. Luisi takes the reader through the consecutive stages from prebiotic chemistry to synthetic biology, uniquely combining both approaches. This book presents a systematic course discussing the successive stages of self-organisation, emergence, self-replication, autopoiesis, synthetic compartments and construction of cellular models, in order to demonstrate the spontaneous increase in complexity from inanimate matter to the first cellular life forms. A chapter is dedicated to each of these steps, using a number of synthetic and biological examples. With end-of-chapter review questions to aid reader comprehension, this book will appeal to graduate students and academics researching the origin of life and related areas such as evolutionary biology, biochemistry, molecular biology, biophysics and natural sciences.

The Emergence of Life on Earth

The Emergence of Life on Earth PDF Author: Iris Fry
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
ISBN: 9780813527406
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 348

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Book Description
How did life emerge on Earth? Is there life on other worlds? These questions, until recently confined to the pages of speculative essays and tabloid headlines, are now the subject of legitimate scientific research. This book presents a unique perspective--a combined historical, scientific, and philosophical analysis, which does justice to the complex nature of the subject. The book's first part offers an overview of the main ideas on the origin of life as they developed from antiquity until the twentieth century. The second, more detailed part of the book examines contemporary theories and major debates within the origin-of-life scientific community. Topics include: Aristotle and the Greek atomists' conceptions of the organism Alexander Oparin and J.B.S. Haldane's 1920s breakthrough papers Possible life on Mars?

The Origin and Nature of Life on Earth

The Origin and Nature of Life on Earth PDF Author: Eric Smith
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107121884
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 703

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Book Description
Uniting the foundations of physics and biology, this groundbreaking multidisciplinary and integrative book explores life as a planetary process.

The Origin of Life on the Earth

The Origin of Life on the Earth PDF Author: Ann Synge
Publisher: Legare Street Press
ISBN: 9781015512269
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Fungal Biology in the Origin and Emergence of Life

Fungal Biology in the Origin and Emergence of Life PDF Author: David Moore
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139620657
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 239

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Book Description
The rhythm of life on Earth includes several strong themes contributed by Kingdom Fungi. So why are fungi ignored when theorists ponder the origin of life? Casting aside common theories that life originated in an oceanic primeval soup, in a deep, hot place, or even a warm little pond, this is a mycological perspective on the emergence of life on Earth. The author traces the crucial role played by the first biofilms – products of aerosols, storms, volcanic plumes and rainout from a turbulent atmosphere – which formed in volcanic caves 4 billion years ago. Moore describes how these biofilms contributed to the formation of the first prokaryotic cells, and later, unicellular stem eukaryotes, highlighting the role of the fungal grade of organisation in the evolution of higher organisms. Based on the latest research, this is a unique account of the origin of life and its evolutionary diversity to the present day.

The Vital Question

The Vital Question PDF Author: Nick Lane
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781781250372
Category : Cells
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
A game-changing book on the origins of life, called the most important scientific discovery 'since the Copernican revolution' in The Observer.

How Molecular Forces and Rotating Planets Create Life

How Molecular Forces and Rotating Planets Create Life PDF Author: Jan Spitzer
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262045575
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 249

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Book Description
A reconceptualization of origins research that exploits a modern understanding of non-covalent molecular forces that stabilize living prokaryotic cells. Scientific research into the origins of life remains exploratory and speculative. Science has no definitive answer to the biggest questions--"What is life?" and "How did life begin on earth?" In this book, Jan Spitzer reconceptualizes origins research by exploiting a modern understanding of non-covalent molecular forces and covalent bond formation--a physicochemical approach propounded originally by Linus Pauling and Max Delbrück. Spitzer develops the Pauling-Delbrück premise as a physicochemical jigsaw puzzle that identifies key stages in life's emergence, from the formation of first oceans, tidal sediments, and proto-biofilms to progenotes, proto-cells and the first cellular organisms.

The Revolutionary Origins of Life and Death

The Revolutionary Origins of Life and Death PDF Author: Pierre M. Durand
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022674793X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 236

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Book Description
The question of why an individual would actively kill itself has long been an evolutionary mystery. Pierre M. Durand’s ambitious book answers this question through close inspection of life and death in the earliest cellular life. As Durand shows us, cell death is a fascinating lens through which to examine the interconnectedness, in evolutionary terms, of life and death. It is a truism to note that one does not exist without the other, but just how does this play out in evolutionary history? These two processes have been studied from philosophical, theoretical, experimental, and genomic angles, but no one has yet integrated the information from these various disciplines. In this work, Durand synthesizes cellular studies of life and death looking at the origin of life and the evolutionary significance of programmed cellular death. The exciting and unexpected outcome of Durand’s analysis is the realization that life and death exhibit features of coevolution. The evolution of more complex cellular life depended on the coadaptation between traits that promote life and those that promote death. In an ironic twist, it becomes clear that, in many circumstances, programmed cell death is essential for sustaining life.

Our Cosmic Origins

Our Cosmic Origins PDF Author: A. H. Delsemme
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521794800
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 346

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Book Description
This 1998 book examines the remarkable story of the emergence of life and intelligence through the complex evolutionary history of the Universe.

Life Ascending

Life Ascending PDF Author: Nick Lane
Publisher: Profile Books
ISBN: 1847652220
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 353

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Book Description
Winner of the 2010 Royal Society Prize for science books Powerful new research methods are providing fresh and vivid insights into the makeup of life. Comparing gene sequences, examining the atomic structure of proteins and looking into the geochemistry of rocks have all helped to explain creation and evolution in more detail than ever before. Nick Lane uses the full extent of this new knowledge to describe the ten greatest inventions of life, based on their historical impact, role in living organisms today and relevance to current controversies. DNA, sex, sight and consciousnesses are just four examples. Lane also explains how these findings have come about, and the extent to which they can be relied upon. The result is a gripping and lucid account of the ingenuity of nature, and a book which is essential reading for anyone who has ever questioned the science behind the glories of everyday life.