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Is the emergence of life on Earth the result of a single chance event or combination of lucky accidents, or is it the outcome of biochemical forces woven into the fabric of the universe? And if inevitable, what are these forces, and how do they account not only for the origin of life but also for its evolution toward increasing complexity?__Vital Dust__is a groundbreaking history of life on Earth, a history that only someone of Chrisitian de Duve’s stature and erudition could have written.

is The Emergence Of Life On Earth The Result Of A Single Chance Event Or Combination Of Lucky Accidents, Or Is It The Outcome Of Biochemical Forces Woven Into The Fabric Of The Universe? And If Inevit

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in A Work Of Majestic Sweep And Bold Speculation, Nobel Prize-winning Biochemist De Duve Presents An Awesome Panorama Of Life On Earth, From The First Biomolecules To The Emergence Of The Human Mind And Our Species' Future. Professor Emeritus At Manhattan's Rockefeller University, De Duve Rejects The View That Life Arose Through A Series Of Accidents, Nor Does He Invoke God, Goal-directed Causes Or Vitalism, Which Regards Living Beings As Matter Animated By Vital Spirit. Instead, In A Remarkable Synthesis Of Biochemistry, Paleontology, Evolutionary Biology, Genetics And Ecology, He Argues For A Meaningful Universe In Which Life And Mind Emerged, Inevitably And Deterministically, Because Of Prevailing Conditions. Starting With A Single-celled Organism, Resembling Modern Bacteria, Which Appeared 3.8 Billion Years Ago And Gave Rise To All Forms Of Life On Earth Today, De Duve Delineates Seven Successive Ages Corresponding To Increasing Levels Of Complexity. He Predicts That Our Species May Evolve Into A ``human Hive'' Or Planetary Superorganism, A Society In Which Individuals Would Abandon Some Of Their Freedom For The Benefit Of All; Alternately, If Homo Sapiens Disappears, He Envisages Our Replacement By Another Intelligent Species. (jan.)

The author guides us on a wondrous journey through the past four billion years, from the formation of the first biomolecules to the complexities of the human mind, from microscopic chains of amino acids and nucleotides to cataclysmic events in distant galaxies, arriving at the compelling conclusion that the universe is strewn with "vital dust" capable of spawning life anywhere under the right conditions. Life and mind are not accidents; they are natural manifestations of matter. At the heart of Vital Dust is the concept of seven increasingly complex "ages" of life on Earth. With each age, de Duve shows the key event that defined the age and the new event that led to the next. He argues that simple, deterministic chemical reactions put life on track but that other mechanisms led inexorably to greater complexity and biodiversity: the development of a lock-and-key system that serves as the universal device of biological recognition at the molecular level; the emergence of a common ancestor of all organisms, from amoebas to humans; the great oxygen holocaust; the conversion of some bacteria into complex cells; and the successive improvements in reproductive strategies that made possible the spectacular diversity of life on Earth Is the emergence of life on Earth the result of a single chance event or combination of lucky accidents, or is it the outcome of biochemical forces woven into the fabric of the universe? And if inevitable, what are these forces, and how do they account not only for the origin of life but also for its evolution toward increasing complexity? Vital Dust is a groundbreaking history of life on Earth, a history that only someone of Chrisitian de Duve’s stature and erudition could have written. Nobel prize-winning biochemist Christian de Duve takes readers on a survey of the history of life on earth from a biochemical and molecular perspective, from the formation of the first biomolecules and prebiotic peptides to thioesters; RNA and the age of information, to the greening of the earth and the age (and workings) of the mind. VIRTUALLY ALL the organic matter in the living world can be summarized symbolically, if not euphonically, by the formula CHNOPS, which stands for carbon (C), hydrogen (H), nitrogen (N), oxygen (O), phosphorus (P), and sulfur (S). The Search for Origins The First Catalysts of Life The Fuel of Emerging Life The Advent of RNA RNA Takes Over