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Cosmic Dragons: Life and Death on Our Planet
A fascinating book that addresses the most fundamental questions there can be. How did life on Earth originate? Is life unique to Earth? If not, how did life begin? Where did it come from? What existed before the beginning of life? Or was there indeed a beginning to the Cosmos at all? And how might life on Earth end?
Professor Chandra Wickramasinghe, in this account of his pioneering work as an astronomer, sees Cosmic Dragons or comets with their magnificent tails of cosmic dust as being both that life giving force and equally destroyers of life.
Scientists in the past have tended to regard life on Earth as unique, and to separate it from the wider universe. In his groundbreaking work, Professor Wickramasinghe with his colleagues, in particular Sir Fred Hoyle, began to question these beliefs. Why should matter on Earth be different from the matter that makes up other planets and indeed stars? Once great clouds of interstellar dust have been discovered, it was then a question of trying to find out what these were made of.
Recently it has been found that this dust contains complex organic molecules, and structures indistinguishable from desiccated bacterial material. Could comets, that were formed in the early days of our planetary system, have harboured a sprinkling of viable microbes in warm watery pools at their centres, the author asks, and life on Earth, once a dead planet, have been sparked by the fallout from a comet tail, or even the collision with a comet? The first half billion years of Earth's history was riddled with comet impacts. Comets could not just be life-giving force, they could bring death as well. Encounters with comets could lead to our planet being shrouded in a veil of dust from time to time, causing ice ages and ecological catastrophes. On a less dramatic scale similar events darkened and chilled the world and caused the great famine that marked the sixth century AD. And might such events too have brought hitherto unknown epidemics? Might our lives - Earthly life - ultimately come to be extinguished by a collision with a comet or asteroid?
But perhaps the greatest question of all is whether or not there is intelligent life outside the Earth. If comets brought us life, then the same could have happened on other habitable planets in the galaxy. One day we shall make contact with alien life forms, and no matter how strange they may seem we could be related. Do our cousins exist out there in the big wide cosmos? If so, the Cosmic Dragons are their friends or foes as they are ours, and our genetic ancestors still lurk amongst the stars.
Professor Chandra Wickramasinghe, in this account of his pioneering work as an astronomer, sees Cosmic Dragons or comets with their magnificent tails of cosmic dust as being both that life giving force and equally destroyers of life.
Scientists in the past have tended to regard life on Earth as unique, and to separate it from the wider universe. In his groundbreaking work, Professor Wickramasinghe with his colleagues, in particular Sir Fred Hoyle, began to question these beliefs. Why should matter on Earth be different from the matter that makes up other planets and indeed stars? Once great clouds of interstellar dust have been discovered, it was then a question of trying to find out what these were made of.
Recently it has been found that this dust contains complex organic molecules, and structures indistinguishable from desiccated bacterial material. Could comets, that were formed in the early days of our planetary system, have harboured a sprinkling of viable microbes in warm watery pools at their centres, the author asks, and life on Earth, once a dead planet, have been sparked by the fallout from a comet tail, or even the collision with a comet? The first half billion years of Earth's history was riddled with comet impacts. Comets could not just be life-giving force, they could bring death as well. Encounters with comets could lead to our planet being shrouded in a veil of dust from time to time, causing ice ages and ecological catastrophes. On a less dramatic scale similar events darkened and chilled the world and caused the great famine that marked the sixth century AD. And might such events too have brought hitherto unknown epidemics? Might our lives - Earthly life - ultimately come to be extinguished by a collision with a comet or asteroid?
But perhaps the greatest question of all is whether or not there is intelligent life outside the Earth. If comets brought us life, then the same could have happened on other habitable planets in the galaxy. One day we shall make contact with alien life forms, and no matter how strange they may seem we could be related. Do our cousins exist out there in the big wide cosmos? If so, the Cosmic Dragons are their friends or foes as they are ours, and our genetic ancestors still lurk amongst the stars.
190 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 2003
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September 11, 2023
THE ASTRONOMER EXPOUNDS ON THE ‘BIG QUESTIONS’
Astronomer Chandra Wickramasinghe wrote in the Prologue to this 2001 book, “This book is about cosmic dragons. The mythological dragon, like comets of old, was universally feared as well as venerated throughout the ancient world… In this book we adopt the ancient Chinese dragon to represent the comet. As we shall see, comets dispense life throughout the cosmos, but on occasion they can also kill…The idea that living microorganisms dispensed by our cosmic dragons might be floating in the unfathomed depths of space may sound bizarre and incredible, but if true is indisputably fantastic. Likewise, the thought of cosmic dragons darting through our skies, whipping their tails where they will, causing disaster to life on planets may sound a travesty of common sense. But if such depictions represent even an approximation to the truth, the imagery of cosmic dragons will not have been overdone. In this book we show how metaphor has turned to fact.”
He states in the first chapter, “In February 1999 one such space probe called Stardust set out on a … voyage…. To go to a comet called Wildt 2…it put out an arm with a detector at the end of it. Five dust particles from interstellar space smashed on to the detector… The fragments turned out to be… uncannily similar to structures that make up the cell walls of bacteria… Well, what does this all mean? Has Stardust discovered bacteria and life in interstellar space? May be… from this one single piece of evidence one cannot be absolutely certain of course. What is certain is that the search is surely on… The story of the search is the subject of this book.” (Pg. 3)
He outlines, “One of the most important questions that will be discussed in later chapters relates to how the life-giving chemical elements from stars come to be assembled into living structures in the cosmos. This is the question that asserts itself above all others whenever one ponders the mysteries of the Universe. And that question is intimately linked to another big question… How did the entire Universe begin?... How did this grand scheme of things come to be in the first place?” (Pg. 13)
He suggests, “Astronomical data as they stand at the present time could fit equally well into a new class of cosmological model, ‘Quasi Steady State Cosmology’ (QSSC), that was proposed by Hoyle, Burbidge, and Jayant Narlikar in 1993. In this class of model… the Universe… alternately expands and contracts. Creation of new matter take place… only in the denser phases of the Universe and in the densest places like black holes… It remains to be seen whether the Quasi Steady State Cosmology … holds up to observational verification and the ultimate test of time.” (Pg.14-15)
He recounts, “it was optimistically thought that it would be only a matter of time before the spontaneous generation of life from inorganic matter would finally be achieved… that final goal has become ever more remote. The most difficult problem of all is to explain transition from … relatively simple chemicals to the incomparably magnificent edifice of life… Attempts to quantify this information… gives rise to numbers that can only be described as superastronomical… Attempts to cut down these odds have, in our view, involved ‘fudge’ factors, but even so one always ends up with numbers that are in the same class of superastronomical numbers.” (Pg. 39-40) He explains, “we shall show that the ancient idea of panspermia, via the agency of comets, the cosmic dragons, as carriers of life, is one that is destined to become an emergent paradigm of the new millennium.” (Pg, 42)
He laments, “Two years after our comet theory was published L.W. Alvarez, W. Alvarez, F. Asaro and H.V. Michel discovered an enhancement of the chemical element called iridium in the Earth’s sedimentary deposits of 65 million years ago, pointing clearly to the involvement of comets. Their work was duly published … but with no reference whatsoever to the earlier papers by Hoyle and myself… this type of cavalier rejection of priorities in science has become commonplace in modern science, fanned mostly by the desire to secure the maximum amount of public funding for scientific research projects. Normal standards of morality and decent conduct would seem to have gone by the board in this process.” (Pg. 101)
He summarizes, “The history of civilization, if it is correctly read, bears witness to the most recent chapter of collisions by comets and fragments of comets, collisions that in effect controlled the fate and progress of mankind…. The fragmenting giant comet, call it Comet X…would have become perturbed by Jupiter, say 16,000 years ago, into a periodic orbit that crossed the orbit of the Earth… the Earth encounters the debris with some well-defined periodicity…” (Pg. 103-104)
Later, he adds, “Such ‘infection’ leads to a vast increase in the numbers of bacteria, with an inevitable feedback of biomaterial into the space between stars. It then becomes ALMOST meaningless to pose the question: in which start system or in which corner of the Universe did life begin?... In our own solar system, we argued that life in the form of bacterial cells were first housed in the comets… comets crashing on to the Earth brought the oceans and the atmosphere… comets would also have seeded our planet with life---a life that under the protected canopy of cloud-covered skies weas able to take root and flourish…” (Pg. 137-138)
He asserts, “While many may still despair of the sanity of the idea of plagues and evolution being driven from space, the consensus view of the scientific community is moving inexorably in the direction of an extraterrestrial origin of life. Ideas that when first proposed were thought to be wildly heretical are quietly slipping into the realms of orthodox science. A major paradigm shift… seems well underway.” (Pg. 168)
He observes, “The question of intelligent life outside the Earth continues to torment many geocentrically oriented critics. Having been forced to abandon their cherished doctrine of Earth-centered life, they now cling tenaciously to the idea that intelligence at least may be confined to the Earth… The argument fails if, as I believe, a capacity for intelligence is built into the genetic information that is widely disseminated on a cosmic scale. Intelligence on this picture would be a common occurrence in the cosmos.” (Pg. 179)
He concludes, “Despite overwhelming evidence in support of this general thesis, resistance still lingers. One possible reason [is]… There is a sniff of God or Creator in the cosmic dragons… we tend to turn away from even the vaguest hint of a creative origin of life. An intelligent Universe or a cosmic creation of life COULD be a part of the thesis of ‘Cosmic Dragons,’ although other options remain: for instance, a Universe with no beginning or end, in which life and the cosmic dragons are ever-present. The problem of the origin of life then ceases to exist. The option of an intelligent creation poses serious sociological problems, because the term ‘creationism’ has come to be used … to describe a religious movement …that seeks to validate the biblical story of creation…
I need hardly stress that the thesis embodied in [this book] does not have a creationist or religious motive. Life ever-present in an eternal Universe, or the creation of life in a Universe with a finite timescale remain equally valid logical options, but in either case the genetic blueprint of life must be external to the Earth of cosmically derived. The alternative … is that this blueprint came to be assembled from simple chemical units. This miracle would then have had to happen against insuperable odds … on an insignificant planet… To avoid such a conclusion scientists in many laboratories are trying to cause the transformation from organic chemicals to life, but needless to say that still remains a distant dream… the ultimate origin of life may continue to elude us for generations to come. It may even be outside the purview of empirical science. Until the dream of our laboratory life-makers comes to be realized, and on e has to admit that this may never be, the cosmic dragons must steal the show.” (Pg. 183-184)
This book will appeal to those seeking ‘unconventional’ scientific ideas.
Astronomer Chandra Wickramasinghe wrote in the Prologue to this 2001 book, “This book is about cosmic dragons. The mythological dragon, like comets of old, was universally feared as well as venerated throughout the ancient world… In this book we adopt the ancient Chinese dragon to represent the comet. As we shall see, comets dispense life throughout the cosmos, but on occasion they can also kill…The idea that living microorganisms dispensed by our cosmic dragons might be floating in the unfathomed depths of space may sound bizarre and incredible, but if true is indisputably fantastic. Likewise, the thought of cosmic dragons darting through our skies, whipping their tails where they will, causing disaster to life on planets may sound a travesty of common sense. But if such depictions represent even an approximation to the truth, the imagery of cosmic dragons will not have been overdone. In this book we show how metaphor has turned to fact.”
He states in the first chapter, “In February 1999 one such space probe called Stardust set out on a … voyage…. To go to a comet called Wildt 2…it put out an arm with a detector at the end of it. Five dust particles from interstellar space smashed on to the detector… The fragments turned out to be… uncannily similar to structures that make up the cell walls of bacteria… Well, what does this all mean? Has Stardust discovered bacteria and life in interstellar space? May be… from this one single piece of evidence one cannot be absolutely certain of course. What is certain is that the search is surely on… The story of the search is the subject of this book.” (Pg. 3)
He outlines, “One of the most important questions that will be discussed in later chapters relates to how the life-giving chemical elements from stars come to be assembled into living structures in the cosmos. This is the question that asserts itself above all others whenever one ponders the mysteries of the Universe. And that question is intimately linked to another big question… How did the entire Universe begin?... How did this grand scheme of things come to be in the first place?” (Pg. 13)
He suggests, “Astronomical data as they stand at the present time could fit equally well into a new class of cosmological model, ‘Quasi Steady State Cosmology’ (QSSC), that was proposed by Hoyle, Burbidge, and Jayant Narlikar in 1993. In this class of model… the Universe… alternately expands and contracts. Creation of new matter take place… only in the denser phases of the Universe and in the densest places like black holes… It remains to be seen whether the Quasi Steady State Cosmology … holds up to observational verification and the ultimate test of time.” (Pg.14-15)
He recounts, “it was optimistically thought that it would be only a matter of time before the spontaneous generation of life from inorganic matter would finally be achieved… that final goal has become ever more remote. The most difficult problem of all is to explain transition from … relatively simple chemicals to the incomparably magnificent edifice of life… Attempts to quantify this information… gives rise to numbers that can only be described as superastronomical… Attempts to cut down these odds have, in our view, involved ‘fudge’ factors, but even so one always ends up with numbers that are in the same class of superastronomical numbers.” (Pg. 39-40) He explains, “we shall show that the ancient idea of panspermia, via the agency of comets, the cosmic dragons, as carriers of life, is one that is destined to become an emergent paradigm of the new millennium.” (Pg, 42)
He laments, “Two years after our comet theory was published L.W. Alvarez, W. Alvarez, F. Asaro and H.V. Michel discovered an enhancement of the chemical element called iridium in the Earth’s sedimentary deposits of 65 million years ago, pointing clearly to the involvement of comets. Their work was duly published … but with no reference whatsoever to the earlier papers by Hoyle and myself… this type of cavalier rejection of priorities in science has become commonplace in modern science, fanned mostly by the desire to secure the maximum amount of public funding for scientific research projects. Normal standards of morality and decent conduct would seem to have gone by the board in this process.” (Pg. 101)
He summarizes, “The history of civilization, if it is correctly read, bears witness to the most recent chapter of collisions by comets and fragments of comets, collisions that in effect controlled the fate and progress of mankind…. The fragmenting giant comet, call it Comet X…would have become perturbed by Jupiter, say 16,000 years ago, into a periodic orbit that crossed the orbit of the Earth… the Earth encounters the debris with some well-defined periodicity…” (Pg. 103-104)
Later, he adds, “Such ‘infection’ leads to a vast increase in the numbers of bacteria, with an inevitable feedback of biomaterial into the space between stars. It then becomes ALMOST meaningless to pose the question: in which start system or in which corner of the Universe did life begin?... In our own solar system, we argued that life in the form of bacterial cells were first housed in the comets… comets crashing on to the Earth brought the oceans and the atmosphere… comets would also have seeded our planet with life---a life that under the protected canopy of cloud-covered skies weas able to take root and flourish…” (Pg. 137-138)
He asserts, “While many may still despair of the sanity of the idea of plagues and evolution being driven from space, the consensus view of the scientific community is moving inexorably in the direction of an extraterrestrial origin of life. Ideas that when first proposed were thought to be wildly heretical are quietly slipping into the realms of orthodox science. A major paradigm shift… seems well underway.” (Pg. 168)
He observes, “The question of intelligent life outside the Earth continues to torment many geocentrically oriented critics. Having been forced to abandon their cherished doctrine of Earth-centered life, they now cling tenaciously to the idea that intelligence at least may be confined to the Earth… The argument fails if, as I believe, a capacity for intelligence is built into the genetic information that is widely disseminated on a cosmic scale. Intelligence on this picture would be a common occurrence in the cosmos.” (Pg. 179)
He concludes, “Despite overwhelming evidence in support of this general thesis, resistance still lingers. One possible reason [is]… There is a sniff of God or Creator in the cosmic dragons… we tend to turn away from even the vaguest hint of a creative origin of life. An intelligent Universe or a cosmic creation of life COULD be a part of the thesis of ‘Cosmic Dragons,’ although other options remain: for instance, a Universe with no beginning or end, in which life and the cosmic dragons are ever-present. The problem of the origin of life then ceases to exist. The option of an intelligent creation poses serious sociological problems, because the term ‘creationism’ has come to be used … to describe a religious movement …that seeks to validate the biblical story of creation…
I need hardly stress that the thesis embodied in [this book] does not have a creationist or religious motive. Life ever-present in an eternal Universe, or the creation of life in a Universe with a finite timescale remain equally valid logical options, but in either case the genetic blueprint of life must be external to the Earth of cosmically derived. The alternative … is that this blueprint came to be assembled from simple chemical units. This miracle would then have had to happen against insuperable odds … on an insignificant planet… To avoid such a conclusion scientists in many laboratories are trying to cause the transformation from organic chemicals to life, but needless to say that still remains a distant dream… the ultimate origin of life may continue to elude us for generations to come. It may even be outside the purview of empirical science. Until the dream of our laboratory life-makers comes to be realized, and on e has to admit that this may never be, the cosmic dragons must steal the show.” (Pg. 183-184)
This book will appeal to those seeking ‘unconventional’ scientific ideas.
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