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What are the best books about abiogenesis?

Wowbagger

The Infinitely Prolonged
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Over the past couple of years, I have read a lot of books about evolutionary biology. A lot of books. But, now I have come to realize that the science investigating the earliest beginnings of life, is not a particular area I have gained very much knowledge about.

I got the general concepts down, but I would like something that digs into details of specific theories.

So, it's a simple question, really: What are the best books about abiogenesis?
 
I don't know of any books that deal solely with the issue, sorry, but most of my knowledge on it comes from a couple of good biochemistry text books I found a couple of years ago and a string of papers I read. I know the past two years have produced some interesting finds on ribozymes and oligonucleotide sequences, but I haven't seen anything focussed into text books.

I'd also be interested if anybody knew of some books which focussed entirely on the topic.

Athon
 
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No evolutionists offering suggestions

Suggested readings on abiogenesis:

Marvel Comic Books
Mad Magazine
Hollywood Movie Scripts

For those evolutionists with short attention spans and want a crash course on the topic, the SciFi channel is a good source
 
Not sure there are any. Harold Morowitz, who splits his time between between the Krasnow Institute at GMU and the Sante Fe Institute, is doing groundbreaking work in the field, and has authored several layperson to expert level books and essays. He is very accessable and interesting - had dinner with him a few years ago. He seemed quite confident that he has cracked it. I'm completely unable to judge such things, though I have been told that his peers are talking about the Nobel in relation to his recent work.

Google his name along with the krebs cycle, citric acid, and the [SIZE=-1]reductive TCA cycle. I regret that I didn't have the knowledge to really question his work. I'd bet he'd be delighted to hear from a layperson looking for more information.

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bokonon said:
The Emergence of Life on Earth by Iris Fry.
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Ah, looks like the first good suggestion of the thread!

Amazon also recommends other books, when you look that one up. Any thoughts on them, anyone?

roger said:
Harold Morowitz, who splits his time between between the Krasnow Institute at GMU and the Sante Fe Institute, is doing groundbreaking work in the field, and has authored several layperson to expert level books and essays.
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Googling him, and that other stuff, does, indeed turn up some good resources!

kleinman said:
Suggested readings on abiogenesis:

Marvel Comic Books
Mad Magazine
Hollywood Movie Scripts

For those evolutionists with short attention spans and want a crash course on the topic, the SciFi channel is a good source
Click to expand...
I got an idea for you, kleinman, why don't we both read some of the books suggested by others in this thread? I suspect we will both come away with learning more about life, by doing that, then to waste our time trying to glean such information from works of fiction.

Yes, I know you were kidding. But, you seem to think knowledge of life's origins would be futile to obtain. I wonder if you are willing to be demonstrated otherwise.
 
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Wowbagger said:
I decided to ressurect this thread, to see if anybody had any other ideas.

I have a few such books in my queue, now. I can always throw a couple more onto the pile.
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The only book I have read on the subject is Paul Davie's book "The 5th Miracle" . It had a good overview of the different theories, and talked about extremophiles and organisms with purely chemical metabolisms (free of the "food chain"), and other interesting subjects. I'm not sure if I would recommend this book however as I'm not overly enamored by Paul Davies, I'm sure there are much better books out there, and I would also be interested in reading more on the subject.
 
Just out of curiosity, what books/resources did you end up reading. Anything you would recommend reading?
 
portlandatheist said:
Just out of curiosity, what books/resources did you end up reading. Anything you would recommend reading?
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The Emergence of Life on Earth by Iris Fry is probably one of the better ones.

Life's Origins is a good collection of essays from various folks, on related topics, edited by J. William Schopf.

There were some others. But, some are either much too general (The Emergence of Everything, by Harold J. Morowitz), or much too technical and specific.
 
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