Autorentext
Eric Smith is External Professor at the Santa Fe Institute, Research Professor at George Mason University and Principle Investigator at the Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology. He is a physicist specializing in the origin of life, non-equilibrium systems, economics and the evolution of human languages. Harold J. Morowitz is Clarence J. Robinson Professor of Biology and Natural Philosophy at George Mason University. He was founding director of the Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study at George Mason University, and is Chairman Emeritus of the Science Board at the Santa Fe Institute.

Klappentext
Uniting the conceptual foundations of the physical sciences and biology, this groundbreaking multidisciplinary book explores the origin of life as a planetary process. For researchers, professionals entering the field or specialists looking for a coherent overview, this text brings together geochemistry, biochemistry, microbiology and physics, and includes an extensive bibliography.

Inhalt

Acknowledgements; Preface; 1. The planetary scope of biogenesis; 2. Life on Earth today; 3. The geochemical context for the biosphere; 4. The architecture of metabolism; 5. Higher-level structures; 6. Emergence of the biosphere; 7. The phase transition paradigm for emergence; 8. The nature of the living state; Epilogue. References; Index.