Any good scientific books on the "primordial soup" and evolution of macromolecules?

"TJM" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hi all,

I was wondering if there any good scientific books that

explains theories on

Quoted message said:

how the primordial soup gave rise to large organic

macromolecules that were

Quoted message said:

the precursors to DNA and other cellular components. I

prefer a text that

Quoted message said:

is geared toward the layperson, and not too heavy on

biochemistry.

Quoted message said:

Thanks.....

You might take a look at "At Home in the Universe: The
Search for Laws of Self-Organization and Complexity" by
Stuart Kauffman (Paperback - October 1996)-- see reviews at
Amazon.com

Mostly a pop sci survey from the standpoint of chaos thy (non-
linear, dynamic systems thy) where the early chapters
describe his nonspecific overview of _possible_ prebiotic
evolution of life via autocatalytic enzymatic chain
reactions in dense chemical soups. The last half of the book
becomes a bit too overly specific as to fitness landscapes,
etc, for the casual reader (IMO.) I just skinned those. He
writes well though. ...tonyC

"TJM" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Hi all,

I was wondering if there any good scientific books that
explains theories on how the primordial soup gave rise to
large organic macromolecules that were the precursors to
DNA and other cellular components. I prefer a text that is
geared toward the layperson, and not too heavy on
biochemistry.

Thanks.....

I would recommend the following four:

A. G. Cairns-Smith. Seven Clues to the Origin of Life (New
York: Cambridge University Press, 1985)

Iris Fry. The Emergence of Life on Earth: A Historical and
Scientific Overview (N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 2000)

Robert Shapiro. Origins: A Skeptic's Guide to the Creation
of Life on Earth (New York: Summit Books, 1986)

John Maynard Smith and Eors Szathmary. The Origins of Life:
From the Birth of Life to the Origins of Language (Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1999)
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Here is a bibliography on the subject:
us.netrul sugg.htmOpen ↗
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I personally am not a fan of the "primordial soup" theory,
so the books that I have particularly recommended are ones
that are at least a little skeptical of "soup". But they are
all quite readable by a layman.

"Seven Clues" in particular is not a "soup" book, and it
tries to sell a theory that is probably wrong, but it should
still be read by everybody interested in the origin of life
just because it is a very well written book containing some
very clever ideas.

Fry's book is dry, but fairly comprehensive.

TJM <[email hidden]> wrote or quoted:

Quoted message said:

I was wondering if there any good scientific books that
explains theories on how the primordial soup gave rise to
large organic macromolecules that were the precursors to
DNA and other cellular components. I prefer a text that is
geared toward the layperson, and not too heavy on
biochemistry.

Most books on this subject give very little space to the most-likely-to-be-
correct theory :-|

One popular book that does not suffer from that particular
(very serious) flaw is:

``Seven Clues to the Origin of Life - a scientific
detective story,
A. G. Cairns-Smith, Cambridge University Press, 1985;''

This only really covers the early stages of the process.

However, it's the origin of life itself that presents the
most challenging puzzle.

Once a living, evolving system exists, the origin of
sophisticated replicating machinery (such as DNA) loses much
of its mystery - since then evolution and natural selection
can be invoked in the explanation.
--
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Anthony Cerrato <[email hidden]> wrote or quoted:

Quoted message said:

"TJM" <[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I was wondering if there any good scientific books that
explains theories on how the primordial soup gave rise
to large organic macromolecules that were the precursors
to DNA and other cellular components. I prefer a text
that is geared toward the layperson, and not too heavy
on biochemistry.

You might take a look at "At Home in the Universe: The
Search for Laws of Self-Organization and Complexity" by
Stuart Kauffman (Paperback - October 1996)-- see reviews
at Amazon.com

Mostly a pop sci survey from the standpoint of chaos thy
(non-linear, dynamic systems thy) where the early chapters
describe his nonspecific overview of _possible_ prebiotic
evolution of life via autocatalytic enzymatic chain
reactions in dense chemical soups. The last half of the
book becomes a bit too overly specific as to fitness
landscapes, etc, for the casual reader (IMO.) I just
skinned those. He writes well though. [...]

While "At Home in the Universe" has virtues in some areas,
I find it exceptionally hard to stomach its "origin of
life" material.

The argument is of the form: imagine chemicals form
catalytic networks. We can simulate those networks using a
computer model...

It takes off from there - but never really comes back to
earth again to check to see if the whole idea is feasible.

For it to be so there needs to be a large collection of
viable autocatalaytic networks - connected by small
modifications - each preferentially catalysing its own
formation over that of its neighbours - without there being
template replicators involved to govern the process.

The reagents need to be rather inert for the scheme to work.
If all the components stick to each other, then the result
is a sticky mess - not a living organism.

The idea must be a difficult one to sell. All life we have
ever known is based around replication of physical
templates.

I would characterise Kauffman's OOL theory as not widely
accepted - and full of wild speculations.

I'm suprised at the popularily of the "autocatalytic
set" ideas.

They tend to share the problem of not having a terribly-
convincing information-transmission system - and that's the
very essence of life.
--
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