Genesis: The Scientific Quest for Life's Origins [Paperback]

Robert Hazen (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 030910310X | ISBN-13: 978-0309103107 | Publication Date: February 28, 2007

Life on Earth arose nearly 4 billion years ago, bursting forth from air, water, and rock. Though the process obeyed all the rules of chemistry and physics, the details of that original event pose as deep a mystery as any facing science. How did non-living chemicals become alive? While the question is (deceivingly) simple, the answers are unquestionably complex. Science inevitably plays a key role in any discussion of life's origins, dealing less with the question of why life appeared on Earth than with where, when, and how it emerged on the blasted, barren face of our primitive planet. Astrobiologist Robert Hazen has spent many years dealing with the fundamental questions of life's genesis. As an active research scientist, he is down deep in all the messy details that science has to offer on the subject, tracing the inexorable sequence of events that led to the complicated interactions of carbonbased molecules. As he takes us through the astounding process of emergence, we are witness to the first tentative steps toward life - from the unfathomable abundance of carbon biomolecules synthesized in the black vacuum of space to the surface of the Earth to deep within our planet's restless crust. We are privy to the breathtaking drama that rapidly unfolds as life prevails. The theory of emergence is poised to answer a multitude of questions - even as it raises the possibility that natural processes exist beyond what we now know, perhaps beyond what we even comprehend. Genesis tells the tale of transforming scientific advances in our quest for life's origins. Written with grace, beauty, and authority, it goes directly to the heart of who we are and why we are here.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

What is the meaning of life? Hazen (co-author, Science Matters: Achieving Scientific Literacy) can't answer that, but he may be able to shed light on how life started. We're all familiar with the "primordial soup" theory: organic building blocks floating around in Earth's ocean four billion years ago combined to form the first primitive organisms. Hazen explains the many rival theories vying for public attention. The discovery of life near hydrothermal vents deep in the ocean have led some scientists to propose that life started there, while recent studies of microbes living in rock miles below Earth's surface point to even more radical genesis stories. The origin of life is a hotly contested scientific field, of which Hazen provides a balanced view, airing all the controversies, and only slightly favoring his own pet theory. He spends just as much time on the tools of the trade: the study of molecular fossils and even how we might search for life on other planets. His writing is clear and entertaining, giving a delightful look into his unpredictable experimental work without shying away from the complexity of the science. (Sept. 23)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

"...provides the best overview of the 'origin of life' field for the non-specialist reader that I have encountered. I think that even those who are familiar with most of its contents will enjoy the presentation." - Nature "For a better view of how science really works, turn to this wonderfully engaging account of modern research into the dawn of biology...The book climaxes with a stunningly clever new hypothesis of how the first RNA molecules could have arisen spontaneously. Fascinating, Captain." - The Guardian "This is the best origins-of-life account that I have seen, for both professionals and philosophers. Others who are interested but uninformed will find the story stretches their minds - and rewards the effort." - BBC Focus"

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Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Joseph Henry Press (February 28, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 030910310X
• ISBN-13: 978-0309103107
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #533,678 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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128 of 131 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thorough overview., June 24, 2006

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Atheen M. Wilson "Atheen" (Mpls, MN United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Genesis: The Scientific Quest for Life's Origins (Hardcover)

Hazen's book "Gen-e-sis" is much like Ward's new one, "Life as We do Not Know It," which I read at the same time. In fact, the two authors are so similar in their interests and goals I was surprised that neither mentioned the other by name. Hazen's style is more direct, while Ward's is a little more playful. While Ward's emphasis is definitely the search for extraterrestrial life and discusses planetary potentials, Hazen's has a greater focus on what it took to have developed it here in the first place and discusses the details of origin research.

"Gen-e-sis" is a good source for the who, what, when, where, why and how of origin science. It is an up to date compendium of what is known about modern microscopic life and the systems that it uses. More importantly for the student interested in the topic, he provides a very good description of the equipment, techniques, and personal characteristics of the researchers doing this type of work. The book would be a very good addition to a high school library, not only in its capacity as a reference on origin of life research, but for the information on the occupation of bioscience researcher.

The author approaches his topic by examining the issues of how life arose from non-life and which of several issues was solved first: cellular segregation of "outside" from "inside," metabolism, or replication. These points are not necessarily clear to most of us. We are ourselves and live with other organisms of great complexity, not only with respect to internal organization but with respect to inter-species organization in the natural ecology of our environment. In short life on the planet has become so elaborate that it almost seems impossible that it could ever have been simpler even at the level of single cells.

Dr. Hazen explores the current research into the ubiquity of biomolecules, how they might arise spontaneously, how they survive under different conditions, and how they might congregate into larger molecules. I found especially interesting the discussion of the spontaneous self-aggregation of lipid membranes from molecules with hydrophilic and hydrophobic ends. Certainly the formation of double layers of these molecules into more cellular like membranes in laboratory settings was amazing.

He also discusses the RNA and DNA `worlds' and the possibility that protein or other catalytic molecules might have performed the function of replicators and metabolizers until the more complex systems used by modern life arose to take over the functions. He discusses the now rather old notion of a clay world, proposed originally by Cairns-Smith. Here clays of various types are believed to have served as templates for the natural aggregation of organic molecules which later became independent of their clay "parents" by replicating themselves. This theory still has an undeniable fascination. The possibility that rock pores might have served as the original cell "membranes" is also intriguing along this line.

With a passing reference to the work of the Santa Fe Institute, particularly the research of Kaufmann, and of Per Bak into self organizing criticality and self emerging properties, Hazen notes that critical quantities of materials needed for life to get going may have led almost spontaneously to the origin of life. In fact it is suggested that it might do so where ever these conditions arose in the universe.

Probably one of the best features of the book is the discussion of the problems that arise when carrying theory into research. A great theory may produce disappointing research results, may not be practicable at all, or may illuminate problems with the theory. A case in point is the issues arising with the self organizing membranes mentioned above. Here it was discovered that while membranes could arise quite simply, they didn't allow anything to pass into or out of the interior. Living cells allow a flow of materials across the membrane, usually with a gradient of some kind, prevent materials from entering or leaving by virtue of pore verses particle size, or actively transport materials into or out of the cell's interior. A cell that can't do this would either poison itself or starve to death. Such research provides useful negative information to take back to the drawing board.

An excellent overview of origin science, and a good book to read with Ward's on extraterrestrial life.

94 of 95 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Genesis: Science Supplants Superstition and Myth, October 25, 2006

By 

Carl Flygare (San Jose, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Genesis: The Scientific Quest for Life's Origins (Hardcover)

Life on Earth appeared nearly 4 billion years ago, an emergent consequence of properties and processes enabled by chemistry and physics - bursting forth from air, water, rock and the thermodynamics of nonequilibrium systems. The origins of life pose a mystery as deep as any question facing contemporary science. Intrepid researchers are taking increasingly bold steps in an ultimate adventure to understand how prebiotic chemical systems self-organized and crossed the threshold separating life from non-life on our barren young planet. Abiogenesis, the scientific quest for life's origin, is profoundly moving and brilliantly presented in this superb book.

Author Robert Hazen exemplifies the intellect, insight, determination, and sense of adventure that scientists around the world utilize when seeking answers to life's most basic riddles. As a researcher in the Geophysical Laboratory at the Carnegie Institution in Washington, D.C., and the Clarence Robinson Professor of Earth History at George Mason University, Hazen has spent many years researching the fundamental mechanisms nature utilized to realize life's genesis. His impressive laboratory research has choreographed the spellbinding sequence of events that synthesized many of the essential carbon-based macromolecules that acted as the components and scaffolding from which life emerged.

By subjecting simple and abundant chemicals to the high temperatures and crushing pressures encountered near deep ocean vents, Hazen hypothesis that life may well have begun in such an environment - facilitated and nourished by a teeming mixture of catalytic minerals and organic compounds energized by abundant geotectonic forces. Other scientists believe that life originated on Earth's surface where ocean waves repeatedly lapped vesicle laden rocky shorelines as solar energy and evaporation organized and sequestered prebiotic building blocks. Given our current state of knowledge theories abound, but Hazen is a perspicacious guide who illuminates all of the pathways scientists have proposed as tentative first steps towards life.

"Genesis: The Scientific Quest for Life's Origins" moves beyond the laboratory and into the field to meet key players, witness the debates, and participate in the discoveries and disappointments that are leading inexorably to a plausible explanation for the momentous beginning of life. Theories of emergence and complexity are poised to answer a multitude of issues - even as they raise the possibility that natural processes exist beyond what we now know, or even imagine. Genesis tells the tale of a transforming scientific adventure in our search for life's origins. This is a profound and numinous book aimed directly at the heart of who we are and how we came to be - it has my highest recommendation. Buy two copies, one for yourself, the second for a friend.

Iris Fry's The Emergence of Life on Earth: A Historical and Scientific Overview is also excellent, and Life on a Young Planet: The First Three Billion Years of Evolution on Earth (Princeton Science Library) by Andrew H. Knoll both compliment this book. Singularities: Landmarks on the Pathways of Life, Vital Dust: Life as a Cosmic Imperative, and Life Evolving: Molecules, Mind and Meaning by Christian de Duve are superb and insightful. Finally What is Life?: With Mind and Matter and Autobiographical Sketches (Canto) by Erwin Schrodinger and the Origin of Life (Dover Phoenix Editions) by A. I. Oparin are classics in the field.

39 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fine gateway to "origins" research, November 28, 2005

By 

Alnitak - See all my reviews

This review is from: Genesis: The Scientific Quest for Life's Origins (Hardcover)

This book is a fine overview of the scientific “origins” puzzle. It is not a biology book, but a book about how biology might come to be. Hazen provides a theoretical framework and covers the emergence of organic molecules, biological polymers and replicating systems while telling the friendly, personal stories of his own research. Hazen does a good job of presenting the facts while making it clear that there is much that is speculative about the field. An excellent book for most of us who are not familiar with the science; well-referenced enough, including references to primary scientific journals, to provide a gateway for those who want to learn more. Not intended for those who know a lot about the issues already, and perhaps a little too chatty for my personal taste, but an easy and enjoyable read.