Beginnings of Cellular Life: Metabolism Recapitulates Biogenesis [Paperback]

Professor Harold J. Morowitz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 11, 2004 | ISBN-10: 0300102100 | ISBN-13: 978-0300102109 | Edition: 1

"This book is an extraordinary integration of a lifetime of thought on the subject by an exceptional scholar. Morowitz logically, consistently, and persuasively moves to define arguments that will influence thought in a fundamental realm of biology." -Donald M. Engelman, Yale University "Morowitz develops a model of the origin of life in which cells originate first, proteins follow, and genes evolve last. This model contradicts conventional wisdom but has the distinct advantage of being testable; and is supported by evidence mustered from biology, biochemistry, and biophysics. Morowitz['s] expertise in all three disciplines is impressive."-Francisco J. Ayala, Dept. of Ecology and Evol. Biology, University of California, Irvine "In this short and clearly written book, Morowitz explores the origins of life. . . . His objective is elegantly achieved. . . . A stimulating analysis . . . [and] an excellent read." -A. E. Douglas, Times Higher Education Supplement "[A] book rich in provocative and stimulating ideas. . . . I recommend it to anyone who has ever thought seriously about the origin of life." -Vincent P. Cirillo, Quarterly Review of Biology

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press; 1 edition (August 11, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300102100
• ISBN-13: 978-0300102109
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #565,214 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Abiogenesis as basic physical chemistry, September 20, 2007

By 

Daniel Rhoads (Nicosia, Cyprus) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beginnings of Cellular Life: Metabolism Recapitulates Biogenesis (Paperback)

Popular hypotheses on the origin of life generally surround the priming by hereditary material, by partitioning by micelles, or by early metabolic cycling. In Beginnings of Cellular Life, Harold Morowitz argues a sort of combination between the latter two, connecting the physical chemistries of carbon fixation, properties of C, O, H, N, P, and S, and extremely specific array of small (<500Da) organic molecules found in today's cells. The result is a concise and potentially testable series of reactions that could have set up proto-cell membranes and the first non-equilibrium reactions. And all it would rely upon is Morowitz's specialty - energy flow - and materials for acid-base and/or ox-redux reactions... basic chemistry.

To be sure, this book presents just a hypothesis. It is also probably over the heads of the average layperson. But his "principle of continuity" is the sound logic that any serious discussion on the origin of life must stick to, dismissing even Jacques Monod's vision of the origin of life as an event that has happened in the past and is truly unique, such that it cannot be recreated in the lab (Chance and Necessity, 1971). Simply put, the origin of life is at least conceptually accessible to science, and therefore any relevant hypothesis must be falsifiable (or conversely, verifiable).

And as far as scientifically-argued explanations for the origin of life go, Morowitz has raised the bar, and having read the book, I'm surprised that this book has not gotten more publicity.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Remarkable book, May 25, 2010

By 

XHandsofBlue (Phoenix, AZ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beginnings of Cellular Life: Metabolism Recapitulates Biogenesis (Paperback)

Almost every book on the origins of life starts after life began. This is a book that asks and tries to answer the question, "what did pre-life look like before life existed?" That makes this book special. And it is an important book for those who are interested in contemplating the origins of life.

How does the author accomplish this? He surveys the biochemical processes present in life today and narrows it down to a short list of biochemical processes (and structures) which are present in all life, and especially in life considered to be decendent and largely representative of organisms present on the planet 4 billion years ago. What you are left with is a limited list of processes that must have been present in the first living organism that gave rise to all life, and that must have been present to a given extent in those initial life and pre-life forms that did not survive to populate the planet.