A Brief History of Creation
Page 35
Leonardo da Vinci, 121
Leo X, Pope, 31
Lesbos, 9–10
Leyden jars, 85
life, nature of, 194
biomarkers, 214
kingdoms, 229
metabolism, see metabolism
minimum size necessary for, 221
organizational, 54n
replication, 195
water as essential for, 213
life, origin of:
albiogenesis, xvii, 141, 145, 148, 153, 160, 207
archebiosis, 134–35, 141
biblical creation, 89–90
bottom-up approach to study of, 233–34
building blocks of (monads), 104
Chambers’ Vestiges, 88–91
chicken-or-egg paradox, 195, 240
and common ancestor, 97, 116, 228, 234
in community of organisms, 234
continuing enigma of, 247–51, 254, 256, 258
creation stories, 1–3, 69, 77, 102, 107
and creator, 70, 120, 126, 145, 253
and Darwin, 98, 134–35, 147, 157, 161, 224
decay into chaos, 194
egg, 23, 24, 40
and electricity, 81, 83
emergence from nonlife, xvii, 3, 10, 14, 24, 58, 69, 113, 135, 144–45, 148, 153, 164, 198
and evolution, 97–98, 102, 110–14, 194, 208, 228
first artificial organism, 247
first living being, 107, 113–14, 116, 192, 195, 228, 234, 237, 241, 245, 249, 250
germ theory of creation, 52–53, 59, 71, 119
Haldane on, 153–54, 170
intelligent design, 66
in a laboratory, 76, 79, 246, 253–54
in literature, 77–79
LUCA (last universal common ancestor), 224–25, 225, 234, 237, 240
on Mars, 214–15, 215
by matter alone, 53–54
metabolism-first model, 207, 238
microbial life, 44, 119
Miller and Urey on, 173, 174, 175–80, 182, 185, 194, 195, 197, 198, 199, 245
as miracle, 240
as mystery of mysteries (Darwin), 98, 134
naturalistic explanation sought for, 79, 123
Oparin-Haldane hypothesis, 149, 157, 163–64, 165–66, 170–71, 178
preformation, 52–53, 54, 56, 59, 71–72, 82, 119
in primordial slime, 140
protein-first model, 207
and ribozymes, 242, 245
and RNA, 242–43, 248–50
in science fiction, 77
in space, 184–85, 187, 193, 219–21
spontaneous generation, see spontaneous generation
“vital spark,” 107, 110–14
Wakulla Springs conference on, 170, 193
Linnaeus, Carl, Systema naturae (The Natural System), 227–28
Linnean Society of London, 109
Lippershey, Hans, 31
Locke, John, 28
London fog, 136–37
Lost City, xiii, xv, xv, xvi, 238
Louis XIV, king of France, 51
Louis XV, king of France, 47
Lovelace, Ada, 89
LUCA (last universal common ancestor), 224–25, 225, 234, 237, 240
Lucretius, 10, 216
Luisi, Pier Luigi, 249
Lumière, Auguste and Louis, 34, 159
Lyceum of Athens, 8–9
Lyell, Charles:
and Darwin, 98–99, 107–9
Principles of Geology, 93–94, 97, 110, 145
lysosomes, 244
Lysenko, Trofim, 167–69
machine, age of, 82
machine algorithm, first, 89
Macmillan, Alexander, 132n
magic, 20, 81
magnetism, 81, 82, 83, 85
magnetite (lodestone), 81, 213–14, 221
magnetosomes, 214
magnifying glasses, 31
malaria, 136
Malebranche, Nicolas, 52
Malthus, Rev. Thomas, An Essay on the Principle of Population, 102, 109
Manhattan Project, 172, 174, 182
Manichaeism, 12
Mare Tranquillitatis, 186
Maria Maddalena, Archduchess of Austria, 18
Maria Theresa, Empress, 71
Mariner missions, 213
Mars:
ALH84001 from, 211–16, 218
asteroids falling from, 210, 213
atmospheric pressure on, 213
exploration of, see NASA
possible fossils from, 214–15, 215
proof of life on, 214, 219
Sea of Tranquility, 186
Martineau, Harriet, 89, 101–2
Marx, Karl, 68
Marxism, 155, 166, 167, 168
mastodon, 121
materialism, 53–54, 59, 66, 82, 122, 127, 128, 153
Mathilde, Princess, 117
Maupertuis, Pierre-Louis, 61, 63–65, 66
Mayr, Ernst, 231, 274n
McCarthy, Joseph, 180
McKay, David, 191, 212–15, 221
Medicis, 17, 18, 256
Mendel, Gregor, 167, 168, 202
Mesmer, Franz, 84
mesmerism, 115
metabolism:
cellular, 166, 178, 195, 197, 242
and energy, 231
and origin of life, 195, 207, 238, 240, 242
and proteins, 197, 206
and Schrödinger, 194
meteorites, 210, 211–16, 218, 220, 250, 273–74n
Methanococcus jannaschii, genome structure of, 232
methanogens, 230–31
Meyerhoff, Howard, 179
miasmas, 136, 136, 138, 268n
mice, creation of, 20–21, 259
Michelet, Jules, La mer (“The Sea”), 119
microbes, 27, 40, 137, 161
Bastian’s recipes for, 259
magnetosomes in, 214
nanobes, 222
origins of, 44, 119
microbial mats, 224–25, 225
microbiology:
father of, 38, 43
and universal ancestor, 196, 229
microorganisms:
asexual reproduction of, 235
horizontal gene transfer of, 235
ingesting discarded DNA, 236
microscopes:
and camera obscura, 33–34
chromatic aberration in, 34
coining of term, 31
of Galileo, 31
of Hooke, 31–33, 37
lenses for, 31, 34
of Needham, 50–51, 57–58, 66, 69
and Royal Society, 36, 39
stacking lenses of, 31, 34
of van Leeuwenhoek, 26, 31, 33–34, 34, 36, 37, 38, 39, 43, 50
microspheres, 198–99, 207–8, 218, 255–56, 260
Miescher, Friedrich, 201–2
Miller, Stanley:
amino acids created by, 173
classical apparatus of, 176–77, 177
and DNA, 207
and first living organism, 241
Miller-Urey experiment, 175–80, 182, 184, 185, 194, 195, 197, 198, 199, 245
origin-of-life research of, 172–73, 174, 184, 204, 233–34, 237
minerals, electrical formation of, 86
miracles, 48–49, 60, 66, 71–72, 81, 107, 240
molecular aggregates, 165
molecular biology, 255
molecular clock, 230
molecules:
homochiral, 124
mutable, 207
in outer space, 220
molybdenum, 209
Monighetti, Ippolit, 155
moon landing, 188–90
moon rocks, 189–90, 191, 193
“moon speech” (Kennedy), 212
Morgan, Thomas Hunt, 192, 195, 197
Morris, Dick, 215
Mount Tambora, eruption of, 76n
Mount Vesuvius, 74
Muller, Hermann, 202
multicellular species, 196, 229
Mumma, Michael, 176n
Murchison, Australia, me
teorite, 220, 222, 250
murex (snail), 5
mutation, 194, 202, 207, 235
Mycoplasma, 247
mysticism, 20
Nagy, Bartholomew, 217
nanobes, 222
NASA:
and ALH84001, 212–15, 218, 219, 220, 221–22
Antarctic missions of, 211
Apollo missions of, 185, 186–90, 190, 193, 213, 220, 244
and archaea, 231
and cosmic dust, 220
exobiology program of, 184–85, 186, 187, 191, 193, 218, 221, 230
meteorite collections of, 220
Viking missions of, 185, 213, 220
National Academy of Sciences, 221, 231
natural selection, see evolution
nature, classification in, 227–28
navigation, 213–14
Neckam, Alexander, 13
Needham, John Turberville, 48–51, 128, 255
and Buffon, 56–60, 57, 71–72
“eels” of, 50–51, 56, 66, 69
and miracles, 49, 60, 66, 71–72
and preformation, 82
and Spallazanti, 70, 258
and spontaneous generation, 56, 119, 134
and Voltaire, 48–49, 60, 64, 65, 66, 69–71, 263n
Neoplatonism, 11, 12
Nepal, Kali Gandaki Gorge, 163
Nero, 31
neuroscience, 133
Newcastle disease, 226
Newton, Sir Isaac, 61, 72, 82, 266n
Principia mathematica, 62
Voltaire on, 63, 66
New York Academy of Sciences, 218
Nile:
and creation stories, 1–2, 14, 146
frogs of, 2–3, 2
Nixon, Richard M., 189
Noah, 13
Nu (water), 3, 6
nuclear physics, 271n
nucleic acids, 199
DNA, 202–6, 226
in genetics, 207, 226
RNA, 206–7, 227, 232
nucleotides, 198, 206
Oken, Lorenz, The History of Creation, 140
Oldenburg, Henry, 34
and Royal Society, 35–37
van Leeuwenhoek’s letters to, 36–38, 39
Olsen, Gary, 232
Oparin, Alexander, 154–57
and cellular metabolism, 166, 178
on coacervates, 165
and Communism, 168–69
and Earth’s age, 157, 160, 163
and Earth’s atmosphere, 164–65
and evolution, 155, 156, 208
and Miller-Urey experiment, 174–80
and Moscow conference, 180–82
Oparin-Haldane hypothesis, 149, 157, 163–64, 165–66, 170–71, 178, 237
and origin of life, 149, 156–57, 165–66
and plant biology, 271n
Oppenheimer, Robert, 246n
Orestes, 11
organic compounds:
inventory of, 178
synthesis of, 165
Orgel, Leslie, 209, 218
“Evolution of the Genetic Apparatus,” 241
Orgueil meteorite, 216–18, 220, 273–74n
origin of life, see life, origin of
osmosis, 13
Owen, Richard, 98, 107, 112–13, 130
On the Anatomy of Vertebrates, 113
oxygen, discovery of, 84
ozone:
composition of, 138
protective layer of, 165, 223
paleontology, 121, 161–63, 229
Paley, Archdeacon William, Natural Theology, 105
panspermia, 216, 218–19, 255
parthenogenesis, 235n
Pasteur, Louis, 123–26, 127–29, 132, 166n, 244, 258
and chirality, 124
and crystals, 123–24, 125, 228
and fermentation, 124–26, 128
and Orgueil meteorite, 217
and pasteurization, 126
Sorbonne lecture by, 118–19, 126, 128, 253, 254, 268n
and spontaneous generation, 118–19, 120, 126, 128–29, 129, 134, 148, 217, 257, 268n, 273n
and swan-necked flask, 128, 143
on transmission of disease, 120, 129, 137–38, 139, 256
and vitalism, 83, 124, 128–29, 253, 254
pasteurization, 126
Patagonia, fossils of, 96, 100
Paul, apostle, 11, 12
Pauling, Linus, 192, 203, 229
Paul VI, Pope, 254
peroxisomes, 244
Perutz, Max, 201
Peter the Great, Tsar, 41–42
Phanerozoic eon, 160
Philosophical Society of Oxford, 35
Philosophical Transactions (Royal Society), 36, 37, 51, 58–59, 85
photosynthesis, 20, 165, 175–76, 223, 271n
physicalism, 133
Pinch, Trevor, 91n
Pisa, Italy, 15, 16
Pius XII, Pope, 254
planets, creation of, 147
plants, seasonal growth patterns of, 13
Plato, 9, 10
Platonists, 13
pneuma, 82
polarimeter, 123
Polidori, John William, The Vampyre, 77
poliovirus, 246, 247
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), 214, 221
polymers, 198
Ponnamperuma, Cyril, 191, 193
Popper, Karl, 237
population growth, 102, 109, 148
potassium salts, 91n
Pouchet, Félix, 118, 126–28, 257, 268n
Powell, John Wesley, 163
Precambrian eon, 160, 163
preformation, 52–53, 54, 56, 59, 71–72, 82, 119
Priestley, Joseph, 83, 102–3, 266n
The History and Present State of Electricity, 84
printing press, 75, 254
prokaryotes, 196, 229, 231, 235
proteinoid microspheres, 198–99, 207–8, 218, 255–56, 260
proteins, 196–97
and chemical reactions, 242
cyto-skeleton-based motor protein, 244
and molecular clock, 230
protein-first model, 207
roles of, 205, 240, 241, 242
sequencing, 198, 226–27, 229
structures of, 203
in viruses, 202
protocell, 195
protoplasm, 196
protozoa, 27, 38, 243–44, 243
provando e riprovando, 16, 17, 18, 21
quantum chemistry, 192
quantum mechanics, 147, 194
radioactive decay, 158, 159
radioactivity, coining of term, 159
radiometric dating, 159–60, 212, 229, 254
Ranieri, Saint, 24
rationalism, 131
rationality, 28
recipes:
for creating a cell, 260
for creating bees, 18–19
for creating mice, 20–21, 259
for microbes, 259
for proteinoid microspheres, 260
Redi, Francesco, 15–18, 30, 43, 254–55, 258
Bacco in Toscana, 24
and Cosimo III, 24
experiment on flies, 21–23, 22
Experiments on the Generation of Insects, 22–23, 22, 24, 40
regeneration, 56, 60
religion:
agnostics, 106, 131
atheists, 65, 66, 68, 69, 78, 120, 132, 155
and creation stories, 102, 107, 147
and Crick, 208–9
deists, 65, 66, 67
immortality, 142
literalism, 255
politicization in France, 127
proof of God’s existence, 105
science vs., 89–90, 102–3, 107, 112–13, 118, 130, 131–32, 141–42, 254–55
and superstition, 67
and Voltaire, 65–66, 67, 105
warnings against secular learning, 11–12
Renaissance, 14, 17, 19, 20, 28, 255
“Renaissance science,” phases of, 19
reproduction, 195, 2
07, 240
cloning, 153, 224
as generation, 60
horizontal gene transfer, 234–36
parthenogenesis, 235n
Rey, Marc-Michel, 68
ribonuclease P, 242
ribosomes, 227, 230
ribozymes, 242, 245
Riccioli, Giovanni, 186
RNA (ribonucleic acid), 206–7, 241–43
building RNA organism from scratch, 249
and first living organism, 207
and gene splicing, 240, 241–42
and ribonuclease P, 242
ribosomes, 227, 230
roles of, 206
self-replicating, 245, 248–49, 250
16S RNA genes, 230
and Woese, 232, 239
RNA polymerase, synthesis of, 249n
RNA world, 243, 247–50
Rockefeller University, New York, 197
Rosa, Salvator, 1
Rosenberg, Julius and Ethel, 180
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, 28, 67
Rowlands, Sherry, 215
Royal Geographical Society, 98
Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, 232
Royal Society:
and Bastian, 134, 144
and Copley Medal, 130
and Darwin, 98, 130
and Davy, 86
formation of, 35–36
and Hopkins, 148
and Huxley, 129–31
and Needham, 49
and Oldenburg, 35–37
Philosophical Transactions of, 36, 37, 51, 58–59, 85
and social class, 132
and van Leeuwenhoek, 37–41, 42, 43
Royer, Clémence, 127
Rucellai, Giovanni di Bernardo, Le Api (“The Bees”), 31
Russell, Mike, xiii–xvi, 238
Russian Academy of Sciences, 156
Saccharomyces cerevisiae (yeast), 244–45
Sagan, Carl, 184, 251
Cosmos, 210
St. Jago (Santiago), 94, 96, 160
Sand, George, 117, 122
Sanger, Fred, 230
Schopf, William, Cradle of Life, 269n
Schrödinger, Erwin, What Is Life?, 194–95, 201, 226
Science, 179
science:
advancement of, 115, 130, 257–58
democratization of, 75
history of, 75, 257
nature of, 253, 255
origins of, 6
popular, 91, 107, 153
religion vs., 89–90, 102–3, 107, 112–13, 118, 130, 131–32, 141–42, 254–55
sexism in, 203–4n
and social change, 256, 258
specialization in, 151
subjectivity in, 256
use of term, 30
Scientific American, 177
scientific discovery, phases of, 257
scientific method:
experimentation, 4, 21, 24, 70, 118, 129, 143
provando e riprovando, 16, 17, 18, 21
publication of results, 179
testing hypotheses, 4, 140, 178, 256
Scopes Monkey Trial, 182
Score, Roberta, 211, 213
Sea of Tranquility, 186, 187
Sedgwick, Rev. Adam:
and Cambrian period, 160
and Copley Medal, 130
and Crosse, 89–90
and Darwin, 93, 95, 107, 130