On the basis of thermodynamic considerations and the Earth's historical processes, this book argues the physical inevitability of life's generation and evolution, i.e., Why did life generate? Why does life evolve? Following an introduction to the problem, the hypothesis "Darwinian Evolution of Molecules" is proposed, which explains how, when, and where life was instigated through successive chemical reactions and the survival of selected molecules. The individual processes described are all scientifically reasonable, being verifiable by experiment. The hypothesis is supported by extensive reference to the scientific literature published in academic journals, including some experimental reports from the author's own research group. The readers of this book will learn that the decreasing temperature of the early Earth led to a reduction in its entropy, inducing the Earth's materials to order, which entailed ordering of the light elements as organic molecules with subsequent further ordering (i.e., evolution) to systems that can be considered alive (i.e., life). Researchers and students, as well as the non-academic audience, interested in the interdisciplinary problem of the origin of life will find suggestions and possible approaches to the scientific and conceptual problems they may be facing.

Autorentext
Hiromoto Nakazawa is an emeritus fellow at the National Institute for Materials Science, Japan, and a fellow of the Japan Geoscience Union. He is also a former chairman of The Clay Science Society of Japan (20012002). He devoted most of his research time to X-ray crystallography while at the National Institute for Research in Inorganic Materials (NIRIM), Japan. As a materials scientist, he has been awarded the Crystallographic Society of Japan Prize (1978) for the identification and study of new superstructures of iron sulfides using X-ray diffraction and high-resolution electron microscopy. He was also awarded the Medal of Honor with Purple Ribbon as well as several other prizes for his invention of the scanning X-ray microscope using the X-ray guide tube (2000). His curiosity regarding the origin of life from his student days brought him to the study of clay minerals as materials at the interface between the inorganic and organic realms during his tenure as a managing researcher at NIRIM (19852000). While a professor at Tohoku University, Japan (2001), he commenced his experimental studies of the origin of life together with his students and subsequently proposed a new scenario for the origin of life on the Earth based on their recent results (2006, 2014). In 2011, he received the Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon.

Inhalt
Preface
Chapter 1. The Dynamic Earth: A Recent Concept Necessary for the Study of the Origin of Life1-1 Continental Drift Theory in the Early Twentieth Century1-2 Revival of the Continental Drift Theory1-3 Plate Tectonics: A Dynamically Flowing Mantle1-4 Plume Tectonics: A Recent Concept of the Earth
Chapter 2. Why did Life Generate? Why does Life Evolve? Physical Perspective of the Origin of Life2-1 Does the generation and evolution of life violate the basic principle of physics?2-2 Physical inevitability of generation and evolution of life
Chapter 3. What is the Ultimate Ancestor? Evidence from Fossils and Gene Analyses3-1 The oldest fossil of life?3-2 The ultimate ancestor explored by gene analysis3-3 A gene must be a molecule governed by quantum physics
Chapter 4. Miller-Urey Experiment in the Recent Picture of the Early Earth4-1 Traditional hypotheses on the origin of bio-organic molecules4-2 An overview: Cooling history of the Hadean and Archean Earth4-3 At 4.0 ~ 3.8 b.y.a., reductive atmosphere occurred locally and temporarily!4-4 Evaporation of minerals by meteorite collisions with ocean: an experimental simulation4-5 Hypothesis: mass production of ammonia during meteorite ocean collisions on the early Earth

Chapter 5. Origin of Organic Molecules and Natural Selection of Bioorganic Molecules5-1 The big-bang of organic molecules5-2 Experimental confirmation of the hypothesis, the Big-bang of organic molecules5-3 Natural selection of bioorganic molecules
Chapter 6. Molecular Evolution in Deep Subterranean Regions6-1 Dispelling the myth that an ancient sea was the mother of life6-2 A hypothesis, Molecular Evolution in Deep Subterranean Regions6-3 Experimental confirmation of the hypothesis, "Molecular evolution in Deep Subterranean Regions"6-4 Homochirality of bioorganic molecules, from the view of natural selection of molecules
Chapter 7. The last stage of molecular evolution to the birth of life: Individuals, metabolism, and heredity7-1 Geological situation of tectonic plate edges at about 4.0 b.y.a.
7-2 Appearance of "individuals" and vesicle fusion7-3 The final stage leading to the birth of life -The Origin of Species that C. Darwin did not know-7-4 On the Genetic takeover hypothesis and the Fe-S world hypothesis

Chapter 8. Summary: The Evolutionary Phylogenetic Tree of the Earth's Light Elements8-1 Life occurred in subterranean regions and underwent adaptive radiation in ocean8-2 Earth, the watery planet where life generated and evolves