Beginnings of Cellular Life / Harold J. Morowitz.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Morowitz, Harold J., Author.

Series:

The Bio-origins series Beginnings of cellular life

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Life--Origin.

Life.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

New Haven, CT : Yale University Press, [1993]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In this book an internationally renowned scientist presents a radically new theory of the origin of life on Earth 4 billion years ago.Harold J. Morowitz postulates that the first step toward the origin of life was the spontaneous condensation of amphiphilic molecules to form vesicles (or protocells). This hypothesis provides a framework for reexamining the emergence of cellularity. Morowitz further proposes that core metabolic processes have not changed for some 3.8 billion years, so we can use a study of modern biochemistry to advance our knowledge about the chemical processes of the earliest protocells. Morowitz views origin of life issues from the perspective of certain constructs in the philosophy of science that provide guideposts to formulating and assessing hypotheses. This book presents a unique discussion among origin-of-life books on the relation between science and epistemology on the difficult problem of learning about the very distant past.

Contents:

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

PREFACE

1. THE NATURE OF THE PROBLEM

2. THE STUDY OF ORIGINS

3. THE TOP-DOWN APPROACH

4. GENERALIZATION S FROM CONTEMPORARY BIOLOGY AND BIOCHEMISTRY

5. THE MINIMAL CELL

6. THE BOTTOM-UP APPROACH

7. CHEMICAL ELEMENTS, HYDROPHOBICITY, AND STRUCTURE

8. THE LOGIC OF REPLICATION

9. ENERGY, COMPLEXITY , AND ORGANIZATION

10. UNDERLYING CHEMICAL MECHANISMS

11. NETWORKS

12 LESSONS FROM CONTEMPORARY BIOCHEMISTRY

13 THE SCENARIO

APPENDIX: AN EXPERIMENTAL TEST

REFERENCES

INDEX

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 24. Apr 2020)

ISBN:

9780300194272

0300194277

OCLC:

1024057836