@BOOK{NAP10753, editor = "Robert M. Hazen", title = "Genesis: The Scientific Quest for Life's Origin", doi = "10.17226/10753", abstract = "Life on Earth arose nearly 4 billion\nyears ago, bursting forth from air,\nwater, and rock. Though the process\nobeyed all the rules of chemistry and\nphysics, the details of that original\nevent pose as deep a mystery as any\nfacing science. How did non-living\nchemicals become alive? While the\nquestion is (deceivingly) simple, the\nanswers are unquestionably complex.\nScience inevitably plays a key role in any discussion of life\u2019s origins, dealing less\nwith the question of why life appeared on Earth than with where, when, and\nhow it emerged on the blasted, barren face of our primitive planet.\nAstrobiologist Robert Hazen has spent many years dealing with the fundamental\nquestions of life\u2019s genesis. As an active research scientist, he is down\ndeep in all the messy details that science has to offer on the subject, tracing the\ninexorable sequence of events that led to the complicated interactions of carbonbased\nmolecules. As he takes us through the astounding process of emergence,\nwe are witness to the first tentative steps toward life\u2014from the unfathomable\nabundance of carbon biomolecules synthesized in the black vacuum of space to\nthe surface of the Earth to deep within our planet\u2019s restless crust. We are privy\nto the breathtaking drama that rapidly unfolds as life prevails.\nThe theory of emergence is poised to answer a multitude of questions\u2014even\nas it raises the possibility that natural processes exist beyond what we now\nknow, perhaps beyond what we even comprehend. Genesis tells the tale of\ntransforming scientific advances in our quest for life\u2019s origins. Written with\ngrace, beauty, and authority, it goes directly to the heart of who we are and\nwhy we are here.", url = "https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/10753/genesis-the-scientific-quest-for-lifes-origin", year = 2005, publisher = "The National Academies Press", address = "Washington, DC" }