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Origins of Existence: How Life Emerged in the Universe
In Origins of Existence astrophysicist Fred Adams takes a radically different approach from the long tradition of biologists and spiritual leaders who have tried to explain how the universe supports the development of life. He argues that life followed naturally from the laws of physics -- which were established as the universe burst into existence at the big bang. Those elegant laws drove the formation of galaxies, stars, and planets -- including some like our Earth. That chain of creation produced all the tiny chemical structures and vast celestial landscapes required for life. Ultimately, physical laws and the complexity they generate define the kind of biospheres that are possible -- from an Amazon rain forest to a frigid ocean beneath an ice sheet on a Jovian moon.
Adams suggests that life was not merely some lucky break, but rather a natural outcome of the ascending ladder of complexity supported by our universe. Since our galaxy seems to harbor millions of planets with the same basic elements of habitability as Earth, the emergence of life is probably not a rare event. If life emerges deep inside planets and moons, as new research suggests happened on our planet, the number of viable habitats is truly enormous. Seven chronological chapters take the reader from the laws of physics and birth of the universe to the origins of life on Earth -- showing how energy flowed, exploded, and was repeatedly harnessed in replicating structures and organisms.
In his groundbreaking first book, Fred Adams established the five eras of the universe with a focus on its long-term future. It is perhaps not surprising that he now turns his attention to the mystery of our astronomical origins. Here is a stunning new perspective, a book of genesis for our time, revealing how the laws of physics created galaxies, stars, planets, and even life in the universe.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 2, 2012
Adams ties our existence back to the Big Bang. At that time (there are possibly other times that preceded our time he believes), our world began its emergence that continues to this day. Concentrated energy expanded through radiation; cooling allowed the formation of elementary particles and then atoms and matter; matter congealed into galaxies, stars, planets and miscellaneous space flotsam.
On our planet, Adams says we are composed of elements created by exploding stars. "We are...nuclear waste products," he writes. The earth has the heat/energy and accessible water necessary to create and sustain life. The first common life ancestor, Adams speculates, comes from thermal vents fed by the earth's internal radiation, and was protected from the hostile primordial atmosphere. In time, three branches of life emerged (Archaea, Bacteria and Eukarya) that, at a most elemental level, "share the same basic biochemstry based on DNA, RNA, left-handed amino acids, right-handed sugars and so forth." From here, life moves to the definitions (metabolism, reproduction, natural selection) that we are familiar with.
This book is one of the better attempts to tie physics, chemistry and biology together. Adams' discussion of the prelife precursors is for the most part clear for a non-technical reader. The powerful theme that runs throughout this book is that we are neither a specially-destined people nor the products of pure randomness. Rather, we are the products of emergent complexity, with each stage operating by its own rules that set the stage for what followed, and set the stage for life as we know it. Mutation and natural selection govern life's evolution, but this process depends on more elemental chemical and physical laws of operation. Yet, throughout all this history from the Big Bang, the four forces (gravity, electromagnetic, strong and weak nuclear) govern all.
Adams writes that the thinking about the origin of life "remains less developed, as a scientific inquiry, than the genesis of planets, stars or galaxies," so it's not surprising that the discussion of life is the weaker part of the book. Adams notes the central role of aminio acids and energy. We have a sense that chemical replication initiated itself randomly and for no other purpose than it could and did. How this most basic chemical process turns into life's single-purposed, "self-interested" drive - the need to survive and survive to replicate further ("move genes into the next generation") - remains a mystery. Thereafter, mutation and natural selection created the long series of constraints and opportunities that constitutes the evolutionary process. We get the sense of life's competitive element. Mutations pop up and natural selection makes the binary decision whether such internal changes are good or bad, but where does "cooperation" fit into all of this? We seem to be composites of individual systems that have found ways to mute their respective "self-interest" by deferring to the interest of the whole. Why does the interest of the whole prevail over the interest of parts also remains a mystery, unless somehow the viability of the part depends on the viability of the whole and the motivation for "self-sacrifice" continues to be lodged in self-interest.
Tying these notions back to the overall theme in this book, we know that however life is constituted in its particulars, it is designed to concentrate energy as a "local" exception to the second law of thermodynamics. This has been said before but something is missing. The need for energy means that there's some sort of paramount "push" for the organism to go outside itself to obtain that energy and bring it back into itself, utilizing the right kind of body structure and actions as selected by evolution. Being an open system in this way also necessitates an equally paramount need for the organism to defend itself by resisting unwanted intrusions that threaten its being. Self-organization is said to account for this regulated interaction with the environment, but it all still seems more mysterious than explained. What precedes this push and resistance that constitutes the essence of self-regulation? Pushing and resisting don't occur on their own but serve some sort of a more primal need that directs the organization to push and resist. What is that primal need? If it's the need to survive (and reproduce), then how did that need emerge from replicating chemicals? The discussion ends up at the beginning of the circle.
The title to Adams' book suggests too much. The book clearly lays out much of the groundwork, but it also doesn't dig into some of these more central, end-game questions about "existence."
On our planet, Adams says we are composed of elements created by exploding stars. "We are...nuclear waste products," he writes. The earth has the heat/energy and accessible water necessary to create and sustain life. The first common life ancestor, Adams speculates, comes from thermal vents fed by the earth's internal radiation, and was protected from the hostile primordial atmosphere. In time, three branches of life emerged (Archaea, Bacteria and Eukarya) that, at a most elemental level, "share the same basic biochemstry based on DNA, RNA, left-handed amino acids, right-handed sugars and so forth." From here, life moves to the definitions (metabolism, reproduction, natural selection) that we are familiar with.
This book is one of the better attempts to tie physics, chemistry and biology together. Adams' discussion of the prelife precursors is for the most part clear for a non-technical reader. The powerful theme that runs throughout this book is that we are neither a specially-destined people nor the products of pure randomness. Rather, we are the products of emergent complexity, with each stage operating by its own rules that set the stage for what followed, and set the stage for life as we know it. Mutation and natural selection govern life's evolution, but this process depends on more elemental chemical and physical laws of operation. Yet, throughout all this history from the Big Bang, the four forces (gravity, electromagnetic, strong and weak nuclear) govern all.
Adams writes that the thinking about the origin of life "remains less developed, as a scientific inquiry, than the genesis of planets, stars or galaxies," so it's not surprising that the discussion of life is the weaker part of the book. Adams notes the central role of aminio acids and energy. We have a sense that chemical replication initiated itself randomly and for no other purpose than it could and did. How this most basic chemical process turns into life's single-purposed, "self-interested" drive - the need to survive and survive to replicate further ("move genes into the next generation") - remains a mystery. Thereafter, mutation and natural selection created the long series of constraints and opportunities that constitutes the evolutionary process. We get the sense of life's competitive element. Mutations pop up and natural selection makes the binary decision whether such internal changes are good or bad, but where does "cooperation" fit into all of this? We seem to be composites of individual systems that have found ways to mute their respective "self-interest" by deferring to the interest of the whole. Why does the interest of the whole prevail over the interest of parts also remains a mystery, unless somehow the viability of the part depends on the viability of the whole and the motivation for "self-sacrifice" continues to be lodged in self-interest.
Tying these notions back to the overall theme in this book, we know that however life is constituted in its particulars, it is designed to concentrate energy as a "local" exception to the second law of thermodynamics. This has been said before but something is missing. The need for energy means that there's some sort of paramount "push" for the organism to go outside itself to obtain that energy and bring it back into itself, utilizing the right kind of body structure and actions as selected by evolution. Being an open system in this way also necessitates an equally paramount need for the organism to defend itself by resisting unwanted intrusions that threaten its being. Self-organization is said to account for this regulated interaction with the environment, but it all still seems more mysterious than explained. What precedes this push and resistance that constitutes the essence of self-regulation? Pushing and resisting don't occur on their own but serve some sort of a more primal need that directs the organization to push and resist. What is that primal need? If it's the need to survive (and reproduce), then how did that need emerge from replicating chemicals? The discussion ends up at the beginning of the circle.
The title to Adams' book suggests too much. The book clearly lays out much of the groundwork, but it also doesn't dig into some of these more central, end-game questions about "existence."
January 3, 2019
The writing was not very accessible nor easy at times. And a little bit depressing. But it has some decently condensed information and arguments that needed to be placed together to give a perspective not commonly seen in modern day media.
I probably wouldn't recommend it because, while demonstrating a "grand" idea, it falls short of an effective description.
I probably wouldn't recommend it because, while demonstrating a "grand" idea, it falls short of an effective description.
July 1, 2017
This is a tremendous book which attempts to explain how our world and its life came to be - but only from a limited scientific perspective. He lays down a lot of honest facts both in terms of physical existence and the nature of life, but he seems to only adopt a materialist viewpoint - effectively trying to explain everything through chemistry.
As such he ignores some key findings which break this model, and makes no attempt to consider other viewpoints... and I am not referring to ideas which emerged after the book was published - but facts and theories that were well known when he was writing it.
If you're new to this subject area I would certainly recommend this book if you are wanting to explore what is known about the organisation and timelines of our reality on Earth... although possibly only after you have read Bill Bryson's book "A Short History of Nearly Everything" which gives a gentler introduction to the whole subject.
As such he ignores some key findings which break this model, and makes no attempt to consider other viewpoints... and I am not referring to ideas which emerged after the book was published - but facts and theories that were well known when he was writing it.
If you're new to this subject area I would certainly recommend this book if you are wanting to explore what is known about the organisation and timelines of our reality on Earth... although possibly only after you have read Bill Bryson's book "A Short History of Nearly Everything" which gives a gentler introduction to the whole subject.
November 15, 2013
The story of Everything... In two hundred-some-odd pages. An incredible book, and accessible without being 'deliberately' so. There are equations and technical language (alongside evocative illustrations) but compared to more specialist work... Well, let's just say I am not an astrophysicist. I am a social science grad student interested in how science shapes our world view. And this book gave me a lot to think about.
February 26, 2020
A really great book with an honest assessment of scientific knowledge at that time.
November 4, 2022
Proper degree of complexity and multiverse are the answer.
POSTED BY ME AT AMAZON 2003
I welcome this new book by Professor Adams. While he draws from his previously published "The Five Ages of the Universe", cosmology material is upgraded, and at the same time, book contains refreshing chapter about origins of life (RNA, mutations, transfer from physics to biology, metabolism/replication, etc.) Are we alone in our region of observable Universe? - the author, who expands on Drake's Equation and adds speculations about digital and analog life forms, nicely analyzes this question.
Density of information compares to heavy core of a massive star. Text is packed with knowledge and requires reader to concentrate on every sentence.
Repetitions are present, but I found them helpful in memorizing what I have digested.
I appreciated a very innovative logarithmic energy scale developed to compare terrestrial events and used throughout the whole book, as well as other numerical comparisons and tables.
Generally author avoids mathematical equations. Exception can be found on page 194 (bottom) but formula is not explained.
I would consider this expression as Friedmann's Equation for Universe evolution.
Illustrations could be less artistic and more "scientific", but this is subject of individual taste.
"Origins of Existence" are in full agreement with currently published WMAP satellite findings (confirmations); therefore it is a valuable position for every cosmology enthusiast.
POSTED BY ME AT AMAZON 2003
I welcome this new book by Professor Adams. While he draws from his previously published "The Five Ages of the Universe", cosmology material is upgraded, and at the same time, book contains refreshing chapter about origins of life (RNA, mutations, transfer from physics to biology, metabolism/replication, etc.) Are we alone in our region of observable Universe? - the author, who expands on Drake's Equation and adds speculations about digital and analog life forms, nicely analyzes this question.
Density of information compares to heavy core of a massive star. Text is packed with knowledge and requires reader to concentrate on every sentence.
Repetitions are present, but I found them helpful in memorizing what I have digested.
I appreciated a very innovative logarithmic energy scale developed to compare terrestrial events and used throughout the whole book, as well as other numerical comparisons and tables.
Generally author avoids mathematical equations. Exception can be found on page 194 (bottom) but formula is not explained.
I would consider this expression as Friedmann's Equation for Universe evolution.
Illustrations could be less artistic and more "scientific", but this is subject of individual taste.
"Origins of Existence" are in full agreement with currently published WMAP satellite findings (confirmations); therefore it is a valuable position for every cosmology enthusiast.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews