Ebook: Astronomical Origins of Life: Steps Towards Panspermia

Living material contains about twenty different sorts of atom combined into a set of relatively simple molecules. Astrobiologists tend to believe that abiotic mater­ ial will give rise to life in any place where these molecules exist in appreciable abundances and where physical conditions approximate to those occurring here on Earth. We think this popular view is wrong, for it is not the existence of the building blocks of life that is crucial but the exceedingly complicated structures in which they are arranged in living forms. The probability of arriving at biologically significant arrangements is so very small that only by calling on the resources of the whole universe does there seem to be any possibility of life originating, a conclusion that requires life on the Earth to be a minute component of a universal system. Some think that the hugely improbable transition from non-living to living mat­ ter can be achieved by dividing the transition into many small steps, calling on a so-called 'evolutionary' process to bridge the small steps one by one. This claim turns on semantic arguments which seek to replace the probability for the whole chain by the sum of the individual probabilities of the many steps, instead of by their product. This is an error well known to those bookies who are accustomed to taking bets on the stacking of horse races. But we did not begin our investigation from this point of view.

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Two of the pioneers of the modern version of panspermia - the theory that comets disperse microbial life throughout the cosmos - trace the development of their ideas through a sequence of key papers. A logical progression of thought is shown to lead up to the currently accepted viewpoint that at least the biochemical building blocks of life must have derived from comets. The authors go further, however, to argue that not just the chemicals of life, but fully-fledged microbial cells have an origin that is external to the Earth. Such a theory of cosmic life, once established, would have profound scientific as well as sociological implications. The publication of this book is all the more timely now that we are on the threshold of verifying many of these ideas by direct space exploration of planets and comets.

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Two of the pioneers of the modern version of panspermia - the theory that comets disperse microbial life throughout the cosmos - trace the development of their ideas through a sequence of key papers. A logical progression of thought is shown to lead up to the currently accepted viewpoint that at least the biochemical building blocks of life must have derived from comets. The authors go further, however, to argue that not just the chemicals of life, but fully-fledged microbial cells have an origin that is external to the Earth. Such a theory of cosmic life, once established, would have profound scientific as well as sociological implications. The publication of this book is all the more timely now that we are on the threshold of verifying many of these ideas by direct space exploration of planets and comets.
Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-viii
Panspermia 2000....Pages 1-17
Front Matter....Pages 19-19
On a Possibly Fundamental Principle in Chemistry as Viewed in a Cosmogonic Context....Pages 21-31
Biological Activity in the Early Solar System in its Outer Regions....Pages 33-41
An Object within a Particle of Extraterrestrial Origin Compared with an Object of Presumed Terrestrial Origin....Pages 43-44
The Viability with Respect to Temperature of Micro-Organisms Incident on the Earth’s Atmosphere....Pages 45-50
A Laboratory Experiment with Relevance to the Survival of Micro-Organisms Entering a Planetary Atmosphere....Pages 51-53
Biological Evolution....Pages 55-75
Metallic Particles in Astronomy....Pages 77-88
The Universe and Life: Deductions from the Weak Anthropic Principle....Pages 89-102
Miller-Urey Synthesis in the Nuclei of Galaxies....Pages 103-107
Front Matter....Pages 109-109
Formaldehyde Polymers in Interstellar Space....Pages 111-114
Formaldehyde Polymers in Comets....Pages 115-124
Composition of Cometary Dust: The Case Against Silicates....Pages 125-128
Primitive Grain Clumps and Organic Compounds in Carbonaceous Chondrites....Pages 129-132
Spectroscopic Evidence for Interstellar Grain Clumps in Meteoritic Inclusions....Pages 133-135
Calculations of Infrared Fluxes from Galactic Sources for a Polysaccharide Grain Model....Pages 137-154
Front Matter....Pages 155-155
Infrared Spectroscopy of Micro-Organisms Near 3.4 ?m in Relation to Geology and Astronomy....Pages 157-160
Infrared Spectroscopy over the 2.9–3.9 ?m Waveband in Biochemistry and Astronomy....Pages 161-166
2.8–3.6 ?m Spectra of Micro-Organisms with Varying H2O Ice-Content....Pages 167-171
Organo-Siliceous Biomolecules and the Infrared Spectrum of the Trapezium Nebula....Pages 173-179
Front Matter....Pages 155-155
The Spectroscopic Identification of Interstellar Grains....Pages 181-189
The Availability of Phosphorus in the Bacterial Model of the Interstellar Grains....Pages 191-196
Diatoms on Earth, Comets, Europa and in Interstellar Space....Pages 197-224
A Diatom Model of Dust in the Trapezium Nebula....Pages 225-227
Infrared Evidence for Panspermia: An Update....Pages 229-245
Front Matter....Pages 247-247
On the Nature of Interstellar Grains....Pages 249-262
A Model for Interstellar Extinction....Pages 263-271
The Ultraviolet Absorbance of Presumably Interstellar Bacteria and Related Matters....Pages 273-287
The Case Against Graphite Particles in Interstellar Space....Pages 289-292
Front Matter....Pages 293-293
Organic Molecules in Interstellar Dust: A Possible Spectral Signature at ?2200 A?....Pages 295-299
Identification of the ?2200 A Interstellar Absorption Feature....Pages 301-303
A Unified Model for the 3.28 ? Emission and the 2200 A Interstellar Extinction Feature....Pages 305-310
Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Very Small Interstellar Grains....Pages 311-316
An Integrated 2.5-12.5 ?m Emission Spectrum of Naturally-Occurring Aromatic Molecules....Pages 317-320
Biofluorescence and the Extended Red Emission in Astrophysical Sources....Pages 321-325
Front Matter....Pages 327-327
Comets, Ice Ages, and Ecological Catastrophes....Pages 329-332
Comets — A Vehicle for Panspermia....Pages 333-341
Some Predictions on the Nature of Comet Halley....Pages 343-347
A Model of the 2-4 ?m Spectrum of Comet Halley....Pages 349-353
Modelling the 5–30 ?m Spectrum of Comet Halley....Pages 355-363
Front Matter....Pages 327-327
Very Small Dust Particles (VSDP’S) in Comet C/1996 B2 (Hyakutake)....Pages 365-367
The Astonishing Redness of Kuiper-Belt Objects....Pages 369-372
Eruptions of Comet Hale-Bopp at 6.5 AU....Pages 373-378
Infrared Radiation from Comet Hale-Bopp....Pages 379-381

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Two of the pioneers of the modern version of panspermia - the theory that comets disperse microbial life throughout the cosmos - trace the development of their ideas through a sequence of key papers. A logical progression of thought is shown to lead up to the currently accepted viewpoint that at least the biochemical building blocks of life must have derived from comets. The authors go further, however, to argue that not just the chemicals of life, but fully-fledged microbial cells have an origin that is external to the Earth. Such a theory of cosmic life, once established, would have profound scientific as well as sociological implications. The publication of this book is all the more timely now that we are on the threshold of verifying many of these ideas by direct space exploration of planets and comets.
Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-viii
Panspermia 2000....Pages 1-17
Front Matter....Pages 19-19
On a Possibly Fundamental Principle in Chemistry as Viewed in a Cosmogonic Context....Pages 21-31
Biological Activity in the Early Solar System in its Outer Regions....Pages 33-41
An Object within a Particle of Extraterrestrial Origin Compared with an Object of Presumed Terrestrial Origin....Pages 43-44
The Viability with Respect to Temperature of Micro-Organisms Incident on the Earth’s Atmosphere....Pages 45-50
A Laboratory Experiment with Relevance to the Survival of Micro-Organisms Entering a Planetary Atmosphere....Pages 51-53
Biological Evolution....Pages 55-75
Metallic Particles in Astronomy....Pages 77-88
The Universe and Life: Deductions from the Weak Anthropic Principle....Pages 89-102
Miller-Urey Synthesis in the Nuclei of Galaxies....Pages 103-107
Front Matter....Pages 109-109
Formaldehyde Polymers in Interstellar Space....Pages 111-114
Formaldehyde Polymers in Comets....Pages 115-124
Composition of Cometary Dust: The Case Against Silicates....Pages 125-128
Primitive Grain Clumps and Organic Compounds in Carbonaceous Chondrites....Pages 129-132
Spectroscopic Evidence for Interstellar Grain Clumps in Meteoritic Inclusions....Pages 133-135
Calculations of Infrared Fluxes from Galactic Sources for a Polysaccharide Grain Model....Pages 137-154
Front Matter....Pages 155-155
Infrared Spectroscopy of Micro-Organisms Near 3.4 ?m in Relation to Geology and Astronomy....Pages 157-160
Infrared Spectroscopy over the 2.9–3.9 ?m Waveband in Biochemistry and Astronomy....Pages 161-166
2.8–3.6 ?m Spectra of Micro-Organisms with Varying H2O Ice-Content....Pages 167-171
Organo-Siliceous Biomolecules and the Infrared Spectrum of the Trapezium Nebula....Pages 173-179
Front Matter....Pages 155-155
The Spectroscopic Identification of Interstellar Grains....Pages 181-189
The Availability of Phosphorus in the Bacterial Model of the Interstellar Grains....Pages 191-196
Diatoms on Earth, Comets, Europa and in Interstellar Space....Pages 197-224
A Diatom Model of Dust in the Trapezium Nebula....Pages 225-227
Infrared Evidence for Panspermia: An Update....Pages 229-245
Front Matter....Pages 247-247
On the Nature of Interstellar Grains....Pages 249-262
A Model for Interstellar Extinction....Pages 263-271
The Ultraviolet Absorbance of Presumably Interstellar Bacteria and Related Matters....Pages 273-287
The Case Against Graphite Particles in Interstellar Space....Pages 289-292
Front Matter....Pages 293-293
Organic Molecules in Interstellar Dust: A Possible Spectral Signature at ?2200 A?....Pages 295-299
Identification of the ?2200 A Interstellar Absorption Feature....Pages 301-303
A Unified Model for the 3.28 ? Emission and the 2200 A Interstellar Extinction Feature....Pages 305-310
Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Very Small Interstellar Grains....Pages 311-316
An Integrated 2.5-12.5 ?m Emission Spectrum of Naturally-Occurring Aromatic Molecules....Pages 317-320
Biofluorescence and the Extended Red Emission in Astrophysical Sources....Pages 321-325
Front Matter....Pages 327-327
Comets, Ice Ages, and Ecological Catastrophes....Pages 329-332
Comets — A Vehicle for Panspermia....Pages 333-341
Some Predictions on the Nature of Comet Halley....Pages 343-347
A Model of the 2-4 ?m Spectrum of Comet Halley....Pages 349-353
Modelling the 5–30 ?m Spectrum of Comet Halley....Pages 355-363
Front Matter....Pages 327-327
Very Small Dust Particles (VSDP’S) in Comet C/1996 B2 (Hyakutake)....Pages 365-367
The Astonishing Redness of Kuiper-Belt Objects....Pages 369-372
Eruptions of Comet Hale-Bopp at 6.5 AU....Pages 373-378
Infrared Radiation from Comet Hale-Bopp....Pages 379-381
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