10/12/2015
Journalist Mesler and chemist Cleaves explore how humans have contemplated life’s origins over the millennia, and the authors offer a cogent explanation of the best current thinking on the topic in this broad intellectual history. Because they cover so much ground—moving from the Egyptians through the Greeks all the way to the present—they are forced to be somewhat superficial. Nonetheless, across the arc of their engaging story they raise some fascinating points. Throughout, they touch on the controversy between religion and science, such as the way that those in the mid-19th century who attempted to demonstrate that spontaneous generation occurred regularly were seen as anti-Christian materialists. Unsurprisingly, significant time is spent on the work of Charles Darwin, but he is unfairly criticized for not fully addressing the issue of the origin of life—unfair because that was not the question he was attempting to answer. Yet Mesler and Cleaves recognize that Darwin forever transformed the discussion, since after Darwin, “those who once wondered about the first of each species now wondered about a single first ancestor of all of them.” The last chapters take readers on a tour of current research that will both educate and entertain. (Dec.)
A Brief History of Creation: Science and the Search for the Origin of Life
Narrated by Sean Runnette
Bill MeslerUnabridged — 10 hours, 42 minutes
A Brief History of Creation: Science and the Search for the Origin of Life
Narrated by Sean Runnette
Bill MeslerUnabridged — 10 hours, 42 minutes
Overview
How did life begin?
It is perhaps the most important question science has ever asked. Over the centuries, the search for an answer has been entwined with some of science's most revolutionary advances, including van Leeuwenhoek's microscope, Darwin's theory of evolution, and Crick and Watson's unveiling of DNA. Now, in an age of genetic engineering and space exploration, some scientists believe they are on the verge of creating life from nonliving elements and that our knowledge of the potential for life on other planets is ever-expanding. In the midst of these exciting developments, A Brief History of Creation provides an essential and illuminating history of Western science, tracing the trials and triumphs of the iconoclastic scientists who have sought to uncover the mystery of how life first came to be.
Authors Bill Mesler and H. James Cleaves II examine historical discoveries in the context of philosophical debates, political change, and our evolving understanding of the complexity of biology. The story they tell is rooted in metaphysical arguments, in a changing understanding of the age of the earth, and even in the politics of the Cold War. It has involved exploration into the inner recesses of our cells and scientific journeys to the farthest reaches of outer space. This elegantly written narrative culminates in an analysis of modern models for life's genesis, such as the possibility that some of the earliest life was composed of little more than RNA, and that life arose around deep-sea hydrothermal vents or even on other planets, only to be carried to the earth on meteorites.
Can we ever conclusively prove how life began? A Brief History of Creation is a fascinating exploration not only of the origin-of-life question but of the very nature of scientific objectivity and the process of scientific discovery.
Editorial Reviews
"Readers find themselves positioned to share in the intellectual excitement."
"Thoroughly engaging.…An absorbing account."
"Far more accurate and up-to-date than any previous work targeted to the general public. It may thus do yeoman’s service in general public science education, as well as making the public aware of the utility of the history of science."
"A wonderful new history of debates about the origin of life."
"A joyous and infinitely readable history of our ongoing quest to know how we came to be. Mesler and Cleaves elegantly narrate the evolution of philosophical and scientific inquiry, infusing the subject with all the dramatic intrigue it deserves and bringing historical figures to life as vividly as characters in a novel. A thrilling read."
"A fascinating, fast-paced tour through the ages of how some of the greatest minds and characters in history have pondered one of the greatest questions in science. . . . [A] rich, masterfully woven tale of our still-evolving ideas about life and how it came to be."
"With fully accessible and engaging prose, artfully weaving history, philosophy, and science, Bill Mesler and H. James Cleaves II tell what is perhaps the greatest of all scientific stories, the quest to understand the origin of life."
"A well-written and lively account of the science and history behind one of the most fascinating questions in science—how animate matter emerged from inanimate matter—enriched by engaging portraits of the scientists involved and a feel for the very human scientific enterprise at work."
"Thoroughly engaging…An absorbing account…A Brief History of Creation reveals as much about the process of science as it does about the puzzle of the origin of life. That’s no mean achievement."
11/15/2015
From Aristotle to Charles Darwin, and from Louis Pasteur to Francis Crick, numerous philosophers and scientists have struggled with the question of how life first arose. Coauthors Cleaves (visiting scholar, Inst. for Advanced Study, Princeton Univ.), an organic chemist, and Mesler, a journalist, trace the many speculations about the origin of life proposed over time: spontaneous generation, abiogenesis (life from nonlife), extraterrestrial spores, extremophiles (bacteria that inhabit extreme environments) and self-replicating RNA. In telling this story, the authors not only emphasize how our understanding of the origin of life has been a function of the tools and technology available—whether through the invention of the microscope in the 17th century or the discovery of the structure of the DNA molecule in the 20th—but they also reveal how scientific objectivity can be influenced by prevailing religious, political, or professional pressures. The authors' inclusion of an abundance of biographical and historical detail enriches both the science and the scientists. VERDICT This lively, accessible book is recommended for science enthusiasts interested in origin of life issues and the history of science.—CLK
2015-09-03
Changing ideas of how life appeared on Earth, a mystery that remains unsolved. Mesler teams up with Cleaves—vice president of the International Society for the Study of Life, a professor at the Earth-Life Science Institute in Tokyo and a visiting scholar at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton—to present a history of science designed for general readers. They fill their account with dozens of fascinating characters, some from the ancient world, some working today, some holding beliefs now seen as ridiculous—the spontaneous generation of frogs and mice, for instance—and some searching for the answer in modern research facilities. Among them are such familiar names as Aristotle, Leeuwenhoek, Pasteur, Crick, and Darwin, as well as many less well-known ones, such as Henry Bastian or Alexander Oparin. The authors not only present them as men of their times, but bring them to life with anecdotes about their eccentricities (noted British scientist J.B.S. Haldane is seen as a pyromaniac who hated to wear socks), their debates, their successes, and their failures. The authors include illustrations, photographs, line drawings, and even a Herblock cartoon, but more would have been welcome. Their narrative has a grand sweep and shows important figures with competing ideas amid evolving worldviews. As a demonstration of changing times and approaches to the mystery of how life began, an appendix includes some intriguing recipes: Johannes van Helmont's recipe for making mice, Bastian's four recipes for making microbes, Sidney Fox's recipe for proteinoid microspheres, and Craig Venter's recipe for creating a cell. A lively, highly readable jaunt through the world of science.
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940169905106 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Blackstone Audio, Inc. |
| Publication date: | 12/07/2015 |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
Videos
