|
|
|
|
Explaining Life's Origins |
| Section: BOOK WORLD / REVIEWS |
| Author: James G. Osborn |
| Publication: The world & I online |
| Issue Date: 12/1/1987 |
| Size: 3,170 Words, 19,357 Characters |
|
ORIGINS
A Skeptic's Guide to the Creation of Life on Earth
Robert Shapiro
New York: Bantam Books, 1987
332 pp., $9.95 (paperback)
Where do we come from? The scientific community has given the difficult question of the origin of life less attention than perhaps any other. In fact, until 1953 the creation stories of the various religions held as much weight among scholars as any theory that chemists or biologists had come up with.
The origin of life is difficult to pursue because all life, even the most primitive, is so complex. To qualify as a living thing, a being must satisfy three basic criteria: It must be able to (1) trap and use energy from the environment; (2) reproduce; and (3) defend itself against attack. All organisms currently alive or ever found embedded in...
. . .
...lf-organizing principle, it would take many times the age of the universe before chance would bring amino acids together in just the right combinations necessary to form the elaborate machinery of DNA." Until--or unless--someone discovers this new, overlooked principle to replace chance as the mechanism for molecular evolution, science may never offer a likely theory for the origin of life.
(824 of 19,357 characters)
Do you want to read
the whole article? You can
purchase it here.
Subscriber Login |
|
|
Publication Details
(The World & I Online) |
|
The World & I Online is a
comprehensive academic resource that encompasses a broad range of
articles by scholars and experts in the areas of Global Studies,
Liberal Arts, Fine & Applied Arts, General Science, and Spanish.
Originally published monthly in print as The World & I, our site
includes the complete contents since 1986 and continues to publish
a new issue online each month. |
|
Individual Subscription
|
 |
|
|
|
College Orders (based
on full-time enrollment) |
|
-
2 to 5 Computers |
|
-
Up to 1,000 Students |
|
-
1,001 to 2,500 Students |
|
-
2,501 to 5,000 Students |
|
-
5,001 to 10,000 Students |
|
-
10,001 or More Students |
|
|
|
Public Library Orders |
|
-
2 to 5 Computers |
|
-
6 to 50 Computers |
|
-
51 to 100 Computers |
|
For over 100
computers, call 866-211-6040. |
|
|
