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| Title | Lifecloud |
| Author | Hoyle, Fred / Wickramasinghe N. C. |
| Asset Number | 00132 |
| Publisher | J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd |
| ISBN | 0460043358 |
| Published Date | 1978 |
| Edition | 1 |
| Printing | 1 |
| Description | Cloth hardcover with unclipped dust jacket.
Fred Hoyle (1915-2001) was an English astronomer noted primarily for his contribution to the theory of stellar nucleosynthesis and cosmology; he also coined the term "Big Bang" (as a sarcastic comment, in contrast to his own "Steady-State" theory). Although Hoyle and Wickramasinghe didn't know it at the time, this 1978 book was in a sense part of a later "series" of books (see Diseases from Space , Evolution from Space: A Theory of Cosmic Creationism , and Intelligent Universe ).
The authors state in the Introduction that the book "deals with the likely site for the fitting of biomolecules into more complex forms. The Earth was a possible site, but seems less favorable than the multitide of comet-sized planetesimal bodies that must have existed over the first few hundred million years in the history of the solar system. It is also very likely that the Earth derived all its comparatively volatile materials in the atmosphere and oceans from such planetesimal bodies. Our argument is that life arrived eventually on Earth by being showered already as living cells from comet-type bodies."
They begin by pointing out the improbability of the "chemical evolution" scenarios that have been postulated. "Apart from the highly-questionable prerequisite of a strongly hydrogen-dominated primeval atmosphere, there are other unanswered questions. Could enough energizing radiation penetrate to give large enough yields of all the biochemicals? Why are only very few molecular units (monomers) used in biology, whereas many more chemicals form in the soup-simulation experiments? Could all the basic biochemicals form with the same starting substances and under the same set of conditions?" (pg. 26)
They summarize, "The best explanation therefore of the known facts relating to the origin of life on the Earth is that in the early days soft landings of comets brought about the spreading of water and other volatiles over the Earth's surface. Then about four billion years ago life also arrived from a life-bearing comet. By that time conditions on the Earth had become sufficiently similar to those on the cometary home for life to be able to persist here, probably at first tentatively and then with some assurance as time went on. The long evolution of life on the Earth had begun." (pg. 134) |
| Category | Space Science |
| Epoch | Vintage |
| Date Acquired | 24/09/2021 |
| Condition | (2) Very Good |
