Between Necessity and Probability: Searching for the Definition and Origin of Life Tapa dura - 2004 - 2004th Edición

Primera línea

According to Ernst Haeckel, ''any detailed hypothesis whatever concerning the origin of life must, as yet, be considered worthless, because up till now we have no satisfactory information concerning the extremely peculiar conditions which prevailed on the surface of the earth at the time when the first organisms developed" (Haeckel 1866).

Descripción de contraportada

This study 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.' Life is treated as a cosmic phenomenon whose emergence and driving force should be viewed independently from its Earth-bound natural history. The author 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.