Download or read book Between Necessity and Probability Searching for the Definition and Origin of Life written by Radu Popa and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2004-02-20 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Systematically explores the early origins and basic definition of life. Investigates the major theories of the origins of life in light of modern research with the aim of distinguishing between the necessary and the optional and between deterministic and random influences in the emergence of what we call ‘life.’ Treats and views life as a cosmic phenomenon whose emergence and driving force should be viewed independently from its Earth-bound natural history. Synthesizes all the fundamental life-related developments in a comprehensive scenario, and makes the argument that understanding life in its broadest context requires a material-independent perspective that identifies its essential fingerprints
Download or read book The Revolutionary Origins of Life and Death written by Pierre M. Durand and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2020-12-09 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Origin of Life via Archaea written by Richard Gordon and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2024-10-01 with total page 1268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book surveys the models for the origin of life and presents a new model starting with shaped droplets and ending with life as polygonal Archaea; it collects the most published micrographs of Archaea (discovered only in 1977), which support this conclusion, and thus provides the first visual survey of Archaea. Origin of Life via Archaea’s purpose is to add a new hypothesis on what are called “shaped droplets”, as the starting point, for flat, polygonal Archaea, supporting the Vesicles First hypothesis. The book contains over 6000 distinct references and micrographs of 440 extant species of Archaea, 41% of which exhibit polygonal phenotypes. It surveys the intellectual battleground of the many ideas of the origin of life on earth, chemical equilibrium, autocatalysis, and biotic polymers. This book contains 17 chapters, some coauthored, on a wide range of topics on the origin of life, including Archaea’s origin, patterns, and species. It shows how various aspects of the origin of life may have occurred at chemical equilibrium, not requiring an energy source, contrary to the general assumption. For the reader’s value, its compendium of Archaea micrographs might also serve many other interesting questions about Archaea. One chapter presents a theory for the shape of flat, polygonal Archaea in terms of the energetics at the surface, edges and corners of the S-layer. Another shows how membrane peptides may have originated. The book also includes a large table of most extant Archaea, that is searchable in the electronic version. It ends with a chapter on problems needing further research. Audience This book will be used by astrobiologists, origin of life biologists, physicists of small systems, geologists, biochemists, theoretical and vesicle chemists.
Download or read book Young Sun Early Earth and the Origins of Life written by Muriel Gargaud and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-01-11 with total page 303 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: - How did the Sun come into existence? - How was the Earth formed? - How long has Earth been the way it is now, with its combination of oceans and continents? - How do you define “life”? - How did the first life forms emerge? - What conditions made it possible for living things to evolve? All these questions are answered in this colourful textbook addressing undergraduate students in "Origins of Life" courses and the scientifically interested public. The authors take the reader on an amazing voyage through time, beginning five thousand million years ago in a cloud of interstellar dust and ending five hundred million years ago, when the living world that we see today was finally formed. A chapter on exoplanets provides an overview of the search for planets outside the solar system, especially for habitable ones. The appendix closes the book with a glossary, a bibliography of further readings and a summary of the Origins of the Earth and life in fourteen boxes.
Download or read book Guidebook for Systems Applications in Astrobiology written by Vera M. Kolb and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2023-12-20 with total page 406 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book addresses the timely subject of systems applications in astrobiology. It demonstrates how astrobiology – a multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary field of science – can benefit from adopting the systems approach. Astrobiology draws upon its founding sciences, such as astronomy, physics, chemistry, biochemistry, geology, and planetary sciences. However, astrobiologists can encounter difficulties working across these fields. The systems approach, we believe, is the best contemporary approach to consider astrobiology holistically. The approach is currently used in other fields, such as engineering, which uses systems analysis routinely. Such an approach needs to be learned, both in principle and through examples, from the field. This book features chapters from experts across the field of astrobiology who have applied the systems approach. It will be a valuable guide for astrobiology students at the advanced undergraduate and graduate levels, in addition to researchers in the field, both in academia and the space industry. Key Features: Offers a unique and novel approach to studying and understanding astrobiology Encourages astrobiologists to apply a holistic systems approach to their work, rather than being bogged down in details Imparts practical knowledge to readers which can be adopted in different research and job opportunities in the field of astrobiology Vera M. Kolb obtained degrees in chemical engineering and organic chemistry from Belgrade University, Serbia, and earned her PhD in organic chemistry from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois, United States. Following a 30-year career, she is Professor Emerita of Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, Kenosha, Wisconsin. During her first sabbatical leave with the NASA Specialized Center of Research and Training (NSCORT) in Astrobiology, she conducted research with Dr. Leslie Orgel at the Salk Institute and Prof. Stanley Miller at UC San Diego. Her second sabbatical was with Prof. Joseph Lambert at Northwestern University, where she studied sugar silicates and their potential astrobiological relevance. She is credited for authoring over 160 publications, in the fields of organic and medicinal chemistry, green chemistry, and astrobiology, including several books. Recently, she authored Green Organic Chemistry and Its Interdisciplinary Applications (CRC 2016). In the astrobiology field, she edited Astrobiology: An Evolutionary Approach (CRC 2015) and Handbook of Astrobiology (CRC 2019). She co-authored (with Benton C. Clark) Astrobiology for a General Reader: A Questions and Answers Approach (CSP 2020) and Systems Approach to Astrobiology (CRC 2023).
Download or read book Creating Life in the Lab written by Fazale Rana and published by Baker Books. This book was released on 2011-02-01 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Each year brings to light new scientific discoveries that have the power to either test our faith or strengthen it--most recently the news that scientists have created artificial life forms in the laboratory. If humans can create life, what does that mean for the creation story found in Scripture? Biochemist and Christian apologist Fazale Rana, for one, isn't worried. In Creating Life in the Lab, he details the fascinating quest for synthetic life and argues convincingly that when scientists succeed in creating life in the lab, they will unwittingly undermine the evolutionary explanation for the origin of life, demonstrating instead that undirected chemical processes cannot produce a living entity.
Download or read book Handbook of Astrobiology written by Vera M. Kolb and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2018-12-07 with total page 866 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Choice Recommended Title, August 2019 Read an exclusive interview with Professor Vera Kolb here. Astrobiology is the study of the origin, evolution, distribution, and future of life on Earth. This exciting and significant field of research also investigates the potential existence and search for extra-terrestrial life in the Solar System and beyond. This is the first handbook in this burgeoning and interdisciplinary field. Edited by Vera Kolb, a highly respected astrobiologist, this comprehensive resource captures the history and current state of the field. Rich in information and easy to use, it assumes basic knowledge and provides answers to questions from practitioners and specialists in the field, as well as providing key references for further study. Features: Fills an important gap in the market, providing a comprehensive overview of the field Edited by an authority in the subject, with chapters written by experts in the many diverse areas that comprise astrobiology Contains in-depth and broad coverage of an exciting field that will only grow in importance in the decades ahead
Download or read book Exploring the Origin Extent and Future of Life written by Constance M. Bertka and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2009-09-03 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Where did we come from? Are we alone? Where are we going? These are the questions that define the field of astrobiology. New discoveries about life on Earth, the increasing numbers of extrasolar planets being identified, and the technologies being developed to locate and characterize Earth-like planets around other stars are continually challenging our views of nature and our connection to the rest of the universe. In this book, philosophers, historians, ethicists, and theologians provide the perspectives of their fields on the research and discoveries of astrobiology. A valuable resource for graduate students and researchers, the book provides an introduction to astrobiology, and explores subjects such as the implications of current origin of life research, the possible discovery of extraterrestrial microbial life, and the possibility of altering the environment of Mars.
Download or read book Social and Conceptual Issues in Astrobiology written by Kelly C. Smith and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 329 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This work explores traditional questions in the humanities and social sciences with respect to life and its discovery elsewhere in the Universe.
Download or read book The Future of Life and the Future of our Civilization written by Vladimir Burdyuzha and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2006-10-12 with total page 475 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book covers the proceedings of "The Future of Life and the Future of our Civilization" symposium, held in Frankfurt, Germany in May 2005.
Download or read book Genesis In The Beginning written by Joseph Seckbach and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-03-21 with total page 911 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Genesis – In The Beginning deals with the origin and diversity of Life and early biological evolution and discusses the question of where (hot or cold sources) and when the beginning of Life took place. Among the sections are chapters dealing with prebiotic chemical processes and considering self-replication of polymers in mineral habitats. One chapter is dedicated to the photobiological regime on early Earth and the emergence of Life. This volume covers the role of symmetry, information and order (homochrial biomolecules) in the beginning of Life. The models of protocells and the genetic code with gene transfer are important topics in this volume. Three chapters discuss the Panspermia hypothesis (to answer “Are we from outer Space?”). Other chapters cover the Astrobiological aspects of Life in the Universe in extraterrestrial Planets of the Solar System and deal with cometary hydrosphere (and its connection to Earth). We conclude with the history and frontiers of Astrobiogy.
Download or read book Encyclopedia of Anthropology written by H. James Birx and published by SAGE. This book was released on 2006 with total page 3138 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Focuses on physical, social and applied athropology, archaeology, linguistics and symbolic communication. Topics include hominid evolution, primate behaviour, genetics, ancient civilizations, cross-cultural studies and social theories.
Download or read book Life on Earth and other Planetary Bodies written by Arnold Hanslmeier and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-10-29 with total page 518 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A trio of editors [Professors from Austria, Germany and Israel] present Life on Earth and other Planetary Bodies. The contributors are from twenty various countries and present their research on life here as well as the possibility for extraterrestrial life. This volume covers concepts such as life’s origin, hypothesis of Panspermia and of life possibility in the Cosmos. The topic of extraterrestrial life is currently ‘hot’ and the object of several congresses and conferences. While the diversity of “normal” biota is well known, life on the edge of the extremophiles is more limited and less distributed. Other subjects discussed are Astrobiology with the frozen worlds of Mars, Europa and Titan where extant or extinct microbial life may exist in subsurface oceans; conditions on icy Mars with its saline, alkaline, and liquid water which has been recently discovered; chances of habitable Earth-like [or the terrestrial analogues] exoplanets; and SETI’s search for extraterrestrial Intelligence.
Download or read book Life as We Know It written by Joseph Seckbach and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2006-09-21 with total page 714 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Life As we Know It covers several aspects of Life, ranging from the prebiotic level, origin of life, evolution of prokaryotes to eukaryotes and finally to various affairs of human beings. Although Life is hard to define, one can characterize it and describe its features. The information presented here on the various phenomena of Life were all written by highly qualified authors including scientists, a professional athlete and three Nobel Laureates.
Download or read book Evolution and Transitions in Complexity written by Gerard A.J.M Jagers op Akkerhuis and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-10-18 with total page 297 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book discusses several recent theoretic advancements in interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary integration in the field of evolution. While exploring novel views, the text maintains a close link with one of the most broadly held views on evolution, namely that of “Darwinian evolution.” This work puts forth a new point of view which allows researchers to define in detail the concept of evolution. To create this conceptual definition, the text applies a stringent object-based focus. With this focus, the editor has been able to develop an object-based pattern of evolution at the smallest scale. Subsequently, this smallest scale pattern is used as an innovative basis for generalizations. These generalizations create links between biological Darwinism and generalized Darwinism. The object-based approach that was used to suggest innovations in the field of Darwinian evolution also allowed for contributions to other topics, such as major evolutionary transitions theory, the definition of life and the relationships between evolution, self-organization and thermodynamics. Together, the chapters of this book and the multidisciplinary reflections and comments of various specialists on these chapters offer an exciting palette of innovative ideas.
Download or read book First Life written by David Deamer and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2011 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "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
Download or read book Thermodynamic Inversion written by Vladimir N. Kompanichenko and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-03-02 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book discusses the theory, general principles, and energy source conditions allowing for the emergence of life in planetary systems. The author examines the material conditions found in natural hydrothermal sites, the appropriate analogs of prebiotic environments on early Earth. He provides an overview of current laboratory experiments in prebiotic materials chemistry and substantiation of a new direction for the experiments in the origin of life field. Describes thermodynamic inversion and how it relates to the living cell; Examines the current direction of experiments on prebiotic materials chemistry; Introduces and substantiates necessary conditions for the emergence of life.
