c. 2020.
"In The Soup," The Genesis Quest: The Geniuses and Eccentrics on a Journey to Uncover the Origin of Life on Earth, Michael Marshall, 360 pp, $26.
"In The Soup." It appears there is nothing new in the book that I have not read in the books in my library on the origin of life. It appears the only new advancement is the movement from alkaline vents in the depths of oceans to pools on land that moved back and forth between wetting and drying. It was not mentioned in the article, but this would take us to tidal pools dependent on the moon but more likely researchers are talking about pools that become much drier than tidal pools become. This is important because many scientists argue that life on earth would not have been possible without the earth's moon. I won't be buying this book simply because it seems that 90% of the book is a re-hash of what has gone before.
I do not have this book; it was reviewed in The New York Review of Books, December 3, 2020.
Throughout the 20th century, Michael Marshall tells us that the search for life's origins was domined by four major hypotheses:
- Oparin: focus on the creation of cells (membranes)
- protein-focused
- replication (RNA)
- metabolism (followed Haldane's insights)
- Metabolism: German patent lawyer, Günter Wächtershäuser; greatly influenced by Karl Popper: Wächtershäuser's idea became known as the Iron-Sulphur World Hypothesis, and led to alkaline vents and white smokers.
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