- Hardcover: 361 pages
- Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc (1 Jun 1998)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0195117549
- ISBN-13: 978-0195117547
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 15.7 x 3 cm
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Description
A critical discussion of the modern scientific study of the origin of life, its history and biological, geological, and cosmological background, the rationale of its main assumptions and experimental strategies, and its plethora of theories, model, scenarios, and controversies.
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4 reviews
13 of 15 people found the following review helpful
A detailed look at theories of the origin of life
30 Dec 2004
Format:Paperback
This is an excellent and thorough book about the origin of life. It begins with some historical material on the subject. Then there's a some characteristics of the consitituents of cells. Lahav points out that one property of life is that all its fundamental constituents are non-living.
After that, there is a brief but important discussion of general thermodynamic considerations, including free energy, entropy, information content of DNA, and autocatalysis. From there, we go to a chapter on biochemical molecules and processes. And we see Martynas Ycas' definition of a biochemical system ("a system of catalysts regulating the transformation of other compounds so as to make available the system energy and matter for its further increase and maintenance"). In addition, there's a chapter on biological life, with four pages just to compile various definitions of life.
Now we're ready to take on the main problem. The basic assumptions are that the physical laws are applicable and that evolution takes place at the molecular level. The strategies include cosmogeochemical (characterizing the environments in which the first living entities formed), biological (looking for the oldest actual life forms), and biogeochemical (looking at the synthesis of biopolymers).
Lahav supplies some clues from biology about the origin of life, including chirality, multiplicity of steps to generate life, temperature at which life originated, common origin for RNA, the citric acid cycle, and "evolutionary clocks." Then we get into some specific lines of attack. The first is that ribose has a stability problem and adenine hydrolyzes. That gets us to look at a PNA (peptide nucleic acid) world and template-directed reactions. And we see Hartman's theory that the original code began with glycine, alanine, arginine, and proline. And we look at the issue of the "error threshold" of a copying process.
We then are introduced to another question: did the origin of life entail the use of minerals as scaffolds, adsorbents, catalysts, or information carriers? That includes a discussion of Wachtershauser's "iron-sulfur world." And there is a look at where on Earth life could have started: volcanoes, hot springs, bulk ocean water, bubbles, atmospheric water drops, lagoons, ocean floor, ocean surface, or hydrothermal vents.
The final chapter is about computer modeling of some biogeochemical scenarios. The book ends with a fine list of references.
I strongly recommend this book to those genuinely interested in the fascinating question of the origin of life on Earth.
After that, there is a brief but important discussion of general thermodynamic considerations, including free energy, entropy, information content of DNA, and autocatalysis. From there, we go to a chapter on biochemical molecules and processes. And we see Martynas Ycas' definition of a biochemical system ("a system of catalysts regulating the transformation of other compounds so as to make available the system energy and matter for its further increase and maintenance"). In addition, there's a chapter on biological life, with four pages just to compile various definitions of life.
Now we're ready to take on the main problem. The basic assumptions are that the physical laws are applicable and that evolution takes place at the molecular level. The strategies include cosmogeochemical (characterizing the environments in which the first living entities formed), biological (looking for the oldest actual life forms), and biogeochemical (looking at the synthesis of biopolymers).
Lahav supplies some clues from biology about the origin of life, including chirality, multiplicity of steps to generate life, temperature at which life originated, common origin for RNA, the citric acid cycle, and "evolutionary clocks." Then we get into some specific lines of attack. The first is that ribose has a stability problem and adenine hydrolyzes. That gets us to look at a PNA (peptide nucleic acid) world and template-directed reactions. And we see Hartman's theory that the original code began with glycine, alanine, arginine, and proline. And we look at the issue of the "error threshold" of a copying process.
We then are introduced to another question: did the origin of life entail the use of minerals as scaffolds, adsorbents, catalysts, or information carriers? That includes a discussion of Wachtershauser's "iron-sulfur world." And there is a look at where on Earth life could have started: volcanoes, hot springs, bulk ocean water, bubbles, atmospheric water drops, lagoons, ocean floor, ocean surface, or hydrothermal vents.
The final chapter is about computer modeling of some biogeochemical scenarios. The book ends with a fine list of references.
I strongly recommend this book to those genuinely interested in the fascinating question of the origin of life on Earth.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Comprehensive overview of the current state of knowledge
17 Dec 2002
Format:Hardcover
Unlike the previous reviewer, I found the copious annotation of the text with references to be the salient (and most valuable) feature of this book. Indeed, the author does *not* make unsupported statements -- he supports them with actual references from the literature!
I do admit being sidetracked a few times by actually going to get some of these items from the library, but they were the things *I* was interested in, and the book would not have been well served by transformation into the weighty tome that inclusion of all these details would have made it.
14 of 25 people found the following review helpful
Good, but keeps referring to other materials
24 Dec 1999
Format:Paperback
The beginning of the book deals with the historical views on the origin of life (such as the views of Greek philosophers, the debate over spontaneous generation, etc.). This section is very good, but it is probably not what a person would buy the book for. Once he starts discussing current origin-of-life studies, much of the work consists of unsupported statements (the statements are not supported in the book itself, but by other works, which the author provides pointers to. The reader must buy or gain access to the other works in order to get the details). Also, the index is very poor - if you read the book and find something interesting, mark it then and there - don't rely on ever being able to find it again. Still, there is up-to-date information that is missing from many other books on the subject.
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