Astrobiology, the Origin of Life, and the Death of Darwinism (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

~ Rhawn Joseph (Author) "The "question" as to The Origin of Life -of all life- is a query that at present cannot be adequately explained..." (more)
Key Phrases: New York, Academic Press, San Diego (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

The Origin of Life: The Earth is an island, swirling in an ocean of space, and life has been washing ashore since the creation.

Cosmic collisions are commonplace, not only between meteors and planets, but entire galaxies, and life has been repeatedly tossed into the abyss... only to land on other planets.

The genetic seeds of life swarm throughout the cosmos, and these "genetic seeds," these living creatures, fell to Earth encased in stellar debris which pounded the planet for 700 million years after the creation. And these "seeds" contained the DNA instructions for the metamorphosis of all life, including woman and man.

DNA acts to purposefully modify the environment, which acts on gene selection, to fulfill specific genetic goals: the dispersal and activation of silent DNA, and the replication of life forms that long ago lived on other planets.

From the Publisher

Dr. Joseph has been a pioneering evolutionary and developmental neuroscientist for over 20 years. Dr. Joseph's Previous Books Have Received Rave Reviews:

"One of the most astonishing books of our time." -Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society

"First rate... Among the best... Deserving of a place on the shelf of any neuropsychologist, neuropsychiatrist, or behavioral neurologist." -the journal of Neuropsychiatry.

"The finest analysis of... brain phenomena that we have to date."- The New England Review of Books

"Joseph is to mind brain studies as Asimov and Sagan are to the physical sciences." -Choice

"An intense, in-depth examination of the relationship between neuroanatomy and associated behavior." 5 Stars! Highly recommended. -Doody's Medical Review Journal

"Brilliant." -Choice

"Excellent... Comprehensive... Exceptional...Enthusiastically recommended!" -Health Sciences Review Journal

"Astounding... astounding... [Joseph] deserves our admiration." -Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology

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Product Details

• Paperback: 370 pages
• Publisher: University Press California; 2nd edition (May 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0970073380
• ISBN-13: 978-0970073389
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,103,597 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, but not science, July 18, 2003

By	Jessica Perkey (Indiana) - See all my reviews

As an evolutionary biologist I was interested to read this book to see if it had any true merits. Now that I have I see that it is a work of wonderful science fiction, not science. It is quite apparent that the author has no formal training in evolutionary biology. Much of the book is interesting and HIGHLY speculative, it provides little evidence for its wild claims. In real science extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence but the author provides no convincing evidence for his claims. Also, even if life did arrive here instead of the accepted method (which DOES have much evidence supporting it) it still does not refute Darwinian evolution. Darwinian evolution is the ONLY mechanisms currently proposed which results in adaptation, the mere idea that individuals come to resemble alien life forms because their DNA is silent and "remembers" these forms is pure fantasy. If this is the case how could there be adaptation on a foreign planet, and for that case how did these little "seeds" come to be created in the first place? I could continue ripping this book apart but I've more important things to do. I am very interested in astrobiology but as a scientist I realize that mere speculation is not science, no matter how enticing the theories may be. Very good read if you're looking for science fiction, but don't bother if you know anything about evolutionary biology.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Misleading Title, July 19, 2001

By	Lois (Miami, FL USA) - See all my reviews

I found this book very disappointing. It didn't explain anything. First of all, the book has nothing to do with astrobiology. The entire book deals with the author's idea of "evolutionary metamorphosis." Second, the origin of life. The author makes no attempt to explain where life came from at all. All he says is that it didn't come from Earth. To anyone in my field, that's obvious. The window on the origin of life keeps getting smaller and smaller. It could only have come from another place. I believe it is entirely plausible that the seeds for life could have come from somewhere else. But to claim that full fledged DNA came from another place? Interesting idea, but where is the proof? No one finds DNA molecules floating around in deep space (at least not yet). If they did indeed come from another planet, where did that DNA come from? It had to have come from somewhere. The author makes no attempt to explain the origin of life, but in fact "disproves" every meathod to form DNA. This can only suggest divine intervention and intelligent design. And finally, the death of Darwinism. The author contributes nothing to the death of Darwinism, but will help it grow stronger with his half-truths and misrepresentations of current theories. A more appropriate title would have been "Evolutionary Metamorphosis, The Origin of Life (on Earth), and an Attempt to Undermine Darwinism." The guy's got some interesting ideas but his methodology leaves much to be desired.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars An Insult to My Intelligence, July 5, 2001

By A Customer

As mentioned in a previous review, I most definately feel like a genius . . . compared to the author. He is obviously poorly versed in the field of physics, as demonstrated by his faulty use of physical theories, such as relativity and the big bang. He claims that universe is eternal, yet he fails to realize that the proton will decay in 10^32 years . . . if the universe was indeed eternal, then we would all be a seething stew of decaying subatomic particles. This immediately undermines his entire line of thinking, since obviously life does not have an indefinate amout of time to develop and spread across the universe. He also misunderstands the theory of relativity and redshift and dismisses years of research because of one flawed idea. The most laughable part of his book was the second chapter, which claims that aliens came down and manufactured human beings as servents. Aliens? Flying saucers? Advanced genetic engineering techniques manifested in ancient Sumerian drawings? Give me a break! If you want to read something like this read the Area 51 series by Robert Doherty (I highly recommend this series if you believe that aliens guide the course of human history. It's an excellent work of fiction that I truly enjoyed!). Aside from the many mispellings and mislabeled diagrams, I find many of his arguments flawed and circular. He claims that an RNA-based world is impossible because of circular reasoning. Yet he himself uses it to show that DNA can only come from another planet. He cliams DNA begets DNA and since that DNA did not come from Earth, it must have come from another planet. OK, that sounds reasonable. But then where that DNA on that planet come from? From another planet before that? And yet another planet before that? He never states how DNA originated or where it originated, he simply says it did not come from here. I have read other reviewers claiming that he is a genius, a power to be reckoned with, the biggest voice of reason of the past 1,000 years. If so, then why have I never heard of him before? Why do people dismiss him so easily? I'll tell you why. It is because his entire theory of this so-called "evolutionary metamorphosis" is based on half-truths that he demands the reader to believe as fact. I would strongly discourage anyone from reading this book if they are looking for anything factual. When I started reading this book, I kept an open mind, thinking that this would be worth my time and that I might learn something. By the time I finished the first chapter, I had serious doubts about the credibility of the author. By the end of the second chapter, I was laughing hysterically. Read it if you want to be inspired to write some good science fiction novels . . . I certainly was. But don't read it for fact or to get the lowdown on the most revolutionary scientific advances of today. Anyone who does so is ignorant. This book is nothing more than thinly veiled propaganda for creationism supported by faulty "facts" and half-truths twisted around to fit the point. DNA coming from another planet going back to "long ago" and no claims as to where it originated? Sounds like divine intervention to me! He claims that he is not a creationist. I beg to differ. This guy should stick to neuropsychology, because he knows next to nothing about physics, astronomy, astrobiology, and evolutionary biology. Reading this book was an insult to my intelligence. It would have made an excellent work of fiction, had it been more interesting and soundly based in real science.