Convergence to Cosmicrobia: The Final Acceptance of Life as a Cosmic Phenomenon

by Chandra Wickramasinghe (Editor), Rudolph Schild (editor), J H (Cass) Forrington (editor)

Forty years ago, Fred Hoyle and Chandra Wickramasinghe challenged the long-held belief that life originated spontaneously from a primordial soup on Earth — a concept rooted in Aristotelian philosophy and dominant in Western science for over two millennia. They proposed that life might have originated elsewhere in the universe and spread to Earth through a process called panspermia.

Hoyle and Wickramasinghe's research, supported by advancements in space technology and astronomy, argued that the origins of life required a cosmological scale beyond the solar system or galaxy. Their work contributed to the emergence of astrobiology, merging astronomy and biology, and indicated a shift from Earth-centered theories of life.

Their challenge parallels the Copernican revolution, which displaced Earth from the center of the universe. Similarly, Hoyle and Wickramasinghe's ideas suggest a new paradigm shift in science, moving towards a view of life as a cosmic phenomenon. Recent discoveries, particularly with the James Webb Space Telescope, further support this shift, indicating that a major transformation in our understanding of life's origins may be approaching.


Anyone interested in research or History of Astrobiology.

266 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 11, 2024

About the author

Nalin Chandra Wickramasinghe