Origins

Cover -- Table Of Contents -- Foreword / Leslie E. Orgel -- Preface / Joseph Seckbach -- Acknowledgements / Joseph Seckbach -- List of Authors and their Addresses -- Legends for the Cover Photo -- I. Origin & Evolution of Life -- Introduction -- The Fact of Life -- Historical Review of the Origin of Life and Astrobiology -- In the Beginning -- II. The Standard Scenario -- The Chemistry of Life's Origins -- Prebiotic Amphiphilic Compounds: Self-Assembly and Properties of Early Membrane Structures -- Theoretical and Computational Approaches to the Study of the Origin of Life -- The HCN World: Establishing Protein -- Nucleic Acid Life via Hydrogen Cyanide Polymers -- The Possible Role of Volcanic Lightning in Chemical Evolution -- Chemistry in Prebiotic Aerosols: a Mechanism for the Origin of Life -- III. Alternatives to the Standard Scenario -- Prebiotic Interplay between Fatty Acids and Amino Acids in Hydrothermal Environments -- The Role of Clays in the Origin of Life -- Organomineralization: A Clue to the Understanding of Meteorite-Related "Bacteria- Shaped" Carbonate Particles -- IV. The First Steps of Biological Evolution -- Role of Nucleotide-Like Coenzymes in Primitive Evolution -- Cosmic Thermobiology: Thermal Constraints on the Origin and Evolution of Life in the Universe -- Paradigm Completion for Generalized Evolutionary Theory with Application to Epistemology -- V. The First Cells -- The Outlines of Bacterial Evolution -- Cell Wall Structures of Mesophilic, Thermophilic and Hyperthermophilic Archaea -- Potential Role of Dissimilatory Iron Reduction in the Early Evolution of Microbial Respiration -- The Evolution of Lipids in Prokaryotes -- Calcium Build-up in the Precambrian Sea: A Major Promoter in the Evolution of Eukaryotic Life -- The Viral Eukaryogenesis Theory -- VI. Extremophiles & Biodiversity -- Introduction to the Extremophiles -- Alkalithermophiles: A Double Challenge from Extreme Environments -- Halophilic Microorganisms: Physiology and Phylogeny -- Adaptation of Bacteria to the Terrestrial Permafrost Environment: A Biomodel for Astrobiology -- Phototrophic Bacteria under UV Stress -- Importance of Chemolithotrophy for Early Life on Earth: The Tinto River (Iberian Pyritic Belt) Case -- Glacial Periods on Early Earth and Implications for the Evolution of Life -- The Evolutionary Ecology of Species Diversity in Stressed and Extreme Environments -- Microbial Diversity in Meso-Neoproterozoic Formations, with Particular Reference to the Himalaya -- Microbial Biodiversity within the Vibrionacean -- VII. Distribution & Destiny of Life in The Universe -- Comets and the Origin of Life on the Primitive Earth -- Evaluating Comets as a Source of Earth's Water -- From Microbial Fossils to Astrobiology -- Organisms in Extreme Environments: From the Origin and Early Evolution of Life on Earth to Astrobiology -- A Brief Geological History of Water on Mars -- Evolution of the Martin Water Inventory -- Possible Biogeochemical Cycles on Titan -- Astrobiology's Last Frontiers: Distribution and Destiny of Life in the Universe -- Organism Index -- Subject Index -- Last Pag.