Is life a cosmic imperative?
THE FIFTH MIRACLE: The Search for the Origin and Meaning of Life
By Paul Davies
Simon & Schuster
Hardcover, 304 pages
1999
Philosopher-scientist Paul Davies is just the sort of person you want to guide you along this fascinating inquiry into the beginning of life on this planet, or elsewhere in the universe. His style is friendly, his ideas well-ordered, and his explanations are clear to the interested non-scientist. This topic, also, is of ever increasing importance as we enter the 21st Century with NASA's continuing exploration of Mars, and the search for life on other bodies in the solar system. Seeking out new life is inextricably linked to discovery of our own origins.
The book's ten chapters outline the history of human inquiry into life's beginnings which take us from Darwin's "warm pond" idea of the genesis of life, to discovery of creatures at home in the dark, noxious environment of the ocean's thermal vents, and of microbes living inside rock miles beneath our feet. This sets the stage for discussion of the "fossils" in Martian meteorites, and a whole new set of complications to the story of life. If Martian microbes got to Earth, both planets clearly can exchange biotic matter...where did life first arise? Are we descendants of Martians, or did Martian microbes originate on Earth? Did this life seed other bodies in the solar system...the Moon or Europa? Is out entire solar system cross-contaminated?
Underlying this interesting content is the dichotomy of two world views: the scientific one, that life arose on Earth alone in an uncaring universe, the result of cosmic dumb luck, and that life is the product of a self-organizing and self-complexifying universe, governed by ingenious laws that encourage matter to evolve towards life and consciousness. This latter, popular view is, curiously, the one embraced by NASA scientists, astronomers, chemists, physicists, -but not by biologists.
Davies' own contribution to this fascinating subject is his theory that the critical spark which transformed matter into life is information. He uses the analogy of a computer, a plastic shell with circuit boards, which is a heap of useless junk without the software that tells it what to do. Davies tells us DNA is the software, the instructional code of the organism.
The Fifth Miracle is a compelling read, a good background in bio-genesis with a welcome mind stretch. If you're looking for intelligent life in the universe, you won't be disappointed.