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5.0 out of 5 stars
"Lifecloud". A review by Francis A. Andrew, Zarqa, Jordan., 15 Jan 2009
"Lifecloud - The origin of life in the Universe" authored by Sir Fred Hoyle and Professor Chandra Wickramasinghe was published in 1979 by John Dent & Sons Ltd. It consists of 189 pages and is divided into nineteen chapters and two appendixes.
Like all of Hoyle's and Wickramasinghe's works, "Lifecloud" is a fascinating book. Perhaps the best way to read this book is with reference to the most recent discoveries in the academic discipline of what has now become known as "astro-chemistry". When Hoyle and Wichramasinghe first proposed their theory that the origin of life had a cosmic rather than merely a terrestrial dimension, most of the scientific community pooh-poohed their ideas. At the time of writing this review, over 140 organic molecules have been detected in interstellar gas clouds in the galaxy. No astronomer now doubts that there is a lot of complex chemistry going on in outer space. It is therefore important that justice be done and that Sir Fred Hoyle and Prof. Chandra Wickramasinghe be acknowledged as pioneers in this branch of astronomy.
In the first chapter of the book, the two authors point out that the Earth is not a closed system as around 100 or so metric tons of matter from outer space enter our planet's atmosphere every day. A certain type of meteor known as a carbonaceous chondrite is rich in organic compounds. In chapter 2 entitled "myths, miracles and the origin of life", Hoyle and Wickramasinghe demonstrate that the conditions of the primitive Earth were not conducive for life to begin. However, if prebiotic molecules are not only common throughout interstellar space and in the gas halos around stars, but are constantly bombarding the Earth, it is logical to argue that the building blocks of life, and indeed life itself, must have their origins viewed, according to the authors, from ".....a wider astronomical background".
Throughout his life, Sir Fred Hoyle argued that nature does not separate the sciences into distinct and mutually exclusive disciplines in the way that academe does. The example of this notion given by the authors is the discovery in the eighteenth century of nebulae by Sir William Herschel and of the nucleus of living cells by Robert Brown. "The discoveries were made possible by advances in related experimental techniques - the construction of reflecting telescopes in one case and microscopes on the other....." yet over two centuries later we can see how these discoveries have resulted in an overlapping of the sciences of biology and astronomy. In their later work, "Diseases from space", Hoyle and Wickramasinghe held that common cold and influenza viruses have their origin in comets and that these viruses and bacteria periodically enter the Earth's atmosphere. At the time, it was claimed that Hoyle and Wickramasinghe, not being qualified medical practitioners, were incapable of pronouncing on epidemiological issues. It is the opinion of the writer of this review that Hoyle and Wickramasinghe will soon be vindicated as the evidence of an extraterrestrial origin for viral and bacterial matter continues to mount. The day may not be too long off when we see the overlap of astronomy and medicine in a new discipline to be known perhaps as "astro-medicine".
The authors examine the birth of our solar system in the context of the chemistry of gas clouds and the origin of life. They reject the theory of the solar system's origins from a cooling gaseous protoplanet. If this had been the case then most of the Earth's mass would consist of water, neon and carbon rather than iron and rock. Instead, the authors argue that our present atmosphere and geological composition came at a later stage in the Earth's development and that the source of this composition was comets. Along with the materials that gave rise to the Earth's atmosphere and geology were pre-biotic molecules that eventually gave rise to life on the planet.
In the final two chapters of their book, Hoyle and Wickramasinghe examine the concept of life, and especially intelligent life, being prevalent on a galactic wide scale. They express their optimism that Earth is not the only life-bearing planet. The possibilities of space travel and colonisation of the galaxy by technologically capable species are given due consideration as is the feasibility of their being able to communicate with each other. One may argue that years of searching by those involved in the SETI project have so far yielded negative results and that this therefore must be discouraging for those who hold to the view that intelligent life has evolved on a galactic wide scale. Perhaps the directors of SETI would do well to read the final chapter of "Lifecloud" in which the authors propose a scanning system that dispenses with steerable dishes and instead adopts an alternative one that relies on fixed radio telescopes placed at regular intervals along a line of longitude. Such a strip of radio telescopic dishes could sweep the whole sky in just one or two days.
Although written thirty years ago, this book is as up-to-date today as it was beyond its date when it first hit the bookshops. If any scientist of the current generation read this book and find that its sole influence is the realisation that breaking free from the straightjacket of scientific orthodoxy is the way that progress is made, then "Lifecloud", like all of Hoyle's and Wickramasinghe's works can still be considered as being highly worthwhile and extremely relevant to the twenty first century.
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by Fred Hoyle
by Chandra Wickramasinghe
