by Charles Baum
p. 78
Rodhocetus: Gingerich et al. (1994).
p. 78
Ambulocetus: Thewissen et al. (1994).
p. 78
new proto-whale species: Thewissen et al. (2001). See also the
companion commentary by Muizon (2001).
p. 80
Michael Behe and William Dembski: Behe (1996) and Dembski
(1999, 2004). For opposing views see, for example, Pennock (2002) and
Forrest and Gross (2004).
p. 80
deeper problem: K. R. Miller (1999) presents a compelling case
against the idea of “God in the gaps.”
6
STANLEY MILLER’S SPARK OF GENIUS
p. 83
“The idea that . . .”: S. L. Miller (1953, p. 528). Günter
Wächtershäuser writes: “Oparin, in fact, never suggested such an atmo-
sphere, as can be verified by reading his books of 1924 and 1938” [Günter
Wächtershäuser to RMH, 24 June 2004]
p. 83
spontaneous generation: The complex story of spontaneous
generation, a theory that persisted throughout the nineteenth century, is de-
scribed by Farley (1977), Fry (2000), and Strick (2000).
p. 83
seventeenth-century invention: The invention of the micro-
scope was to biology what the invention of the telescope was to astronomy.
Discoveries of microorganisms, the cell, and even smaller internal cellular
structures transformed biology. See Ford (1985).
p. 84
Lazzaro Spallanzani: See, for example, Dolman (1975) for a bio-
graphical account and bibliographic citations.
p. 84
Englishman John Needham: Westbrook (1974) provides a bio-
graphical sketch and bibliographic sources.
p. 84
Louis Pasteur: Pasteur’s motivation for these experiments in
spontaneous generation is explored in Geison (1974), who also provides ex-
tensive bibliographic citations.
p. 85
In 1871, Charles Darwin: The letter is item 7471 in the Darwin
online database: http://darwin.lib.cam.ac.uk. For a discussion of Darwin’s
views, see Fry (2000, pp. 54-57).
NOTES
261
p. 85
life requires liquid water: See, however, the intriguing specula-
tions of Steven Benner of the University of Florida (Benner 2002), who warns
against “Earth-o-centrism.” Perhaps, he notes, some other medium, such as
liquid ammonia, might foster an alternative biochemistry on other worlds.
Exploring this idea further, The Royal Society of London held a conference
on “The Molecular Basis of Life: Is Life Possible Without Water?” December
3–4, 2003 (Ball 2004).
p. 86
Alexander Oparin: Oparin’s 1924 work first appeared in En-
glish in 1938 (Oparin 1924, 1938), but it was not widely available to English-
speaking audiences until Bernal (1967), which included a translation.
According to Günter Wächtershäuser, the rarely cited book Mechanische-
Physiologische Theorie der Abstammungslehre by Swiss botanist Carl Wilhelm von Nägeli (1884) includes a prescient description of “the origin of life in a
broth of emerging, growing and evolving protein particles.” [Günter
Wächtershäuser to RMH, 24 June 2004]
p. 86
“primordial soup”: This phrase follows J. B. S. Haldane’s (1929)
description of the early ocean as achieving “the consistency of hot dilute
soup” (p. 247).
p. 86
J. B. S. Haldane: Haldane’s choice of The Rationalist Annual, a
periodical largely devoted to the promotion of rationalism and secular edu-
cation, may seem an odd one for a theoretical paper on origin-of-life chem-
istry. Cooke (2004) chronicles the colorful history of the Rationalist Press
Association, including Haldane’s participation.
p. 87
chemist Harold Urey: Urey, a scientist of unusual breadth, won
the 1934 Nobel Prize in chemistry for his discovery of deuterium, the heavy
isotope of hydrogen and the essential component of “heavy water.” He was
also an authority on Earth’s primitive atmosphere (Urey 1951, 1952), which
led to his speculations about the prebiotic formation of organic compounds.
p. 87
Jeffrey Bada: Wills and Bada (2000).
p. 87
Scientists revere simple: Miller’s original article (S. L. Miller
1953) contains a rather sketchy outline of the experiment. Additional details
are provided by S. L. Miller (1955) and Wills and Bada (2000).
p. 90
mid-February: Wills and Bada (2000, p. 47) quote Stanley
Miller’s recollection of a mid-December 1953 submission. However, records
in the Harold Clayton Urey papers (Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Archives) include a manuscript receipt from Science dated February 16, 1953.
[Antonio Lazcano to RMH, 30 August 2004; Jeffrey Bada to RMH, 1 Sep-
tember 2004]
p. 90
Miller’s first publication: S. L. Miller (1953). The New York
Times article, “Life and a glass Earth,” appeared on May 17, 1953, page E10.
p. 90
The Miller–Urey experiment: Historical perspectives are pro-
vided by Wills and Bada (2000) and Bada and Lazcano (2003).
262
GENESIS
While Miller has received widespread acclaim for his experiment, some
scientists and historians are less convinced of the originality of the Miller–
Urey research. Similar experiments were conducted decades earlier by the
German chemist Walter Löb (1906, 1914), who employed similar apparatus
and also succeeded in synthesizing the amino acid glycine (see Mojzsis et al.
1998). Löb’s research, however, was not designed to probe the chemistry of
life’s origins, nor was it meant to mimic prebiotic environments.
p. 90
Independent confirmation: Miller’s experiments were repeated
first by Hough and Rogers (1956) and Abelson (1956).
p. 90
Walter Löb: Löb (1906, 1914). Gustaf Arrhenius decries the lack
of credit given to Löb. He states that the reverence accorded to the Chicago
work is “an American myth originally based on cultural and linguistic igno-
rance, later on unwillingness to acknowledge the original work.” [Gustaf
Arrhenius to RMH, 26 December 2004] In addition, Löb died at a relatively
early age and was thus unable to promote his findings.
p. 91
John Oró: Oró (1960, 1961a). Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
chemist James Ferris and co-workers elaborated on the role of HCN in pre-
biotic chemistry (Ferris et al. 1978).
p. 91
Other chemists: See Shapiro (1988) for a measured assessment
of efforts to synthesize ribose by plausible prebiotic pathways.
p. 92
Orgel and co-workers: Sanchez et al. (1966). It is important to
note that global dilution need not imply local dilution. Regarding this point,
Louis Allamandola writes: “This is where I think an exogenic ice/ice residue
has a great intrinsic advantage over endogenous processes, even given the
total amounts are small with respect to a planetary reservoir. These ices and
residues are not dilute.” [Louis Allamandola to RMH, 6 July 2004]
; p. 92
the longest experiments: The use of freezing to synthesize HCN
polymers is related in Wills and Bada (2000, pp. 51-52).
p. 92
by the 1960s: The composition of the Archean Earth’s atmo-
sphere is a matter of significant debate. Few scientists today accept Miller’s
model atmosphere of methane, ammonia, and hydrogen. The majority view
is that carbon dioxide and nitrogen were the dominant constituents of a
relative unreactive atmosphere (H. D. Holland 1984; Walker 1986; Kasting
1990, 1993, 1994, 2001). Hiroshi Ohmoto of Pennsylvania State University,
by contrast, has long argued that the early atmosphere featured significant
oxygen content (Ohmoto et al. 1993, Ohmoto 1997). Tian et al. (2005) pro-
posed an alternative hydrogen-rich atmosphere.
Nevertheless, it is likely that local pockets of reducing gases may have
promoted organic synthesis. [Jack Szostak to RMH, 21 August 2004] Bada
(2004) writes, “Even though reducing conditions may not have existed on a
global scale, localized high concentrations of reduced gases may have existed
around volcanic eruptions. . . . The localized release of reduced gases by
NOTES
263
volcanic eruptions on the early Earth would likely have been immediately
exposed to intense lightning” (p. 6).
p. 93
Miller and his supporters continue to counter: There is a kind
of logic to the argument that the early atmosphere must have been reducing
because the resulting synthesis mimics biochemistry. Orgel (1998a, p. 491)
states, “It is hard to believe that the ease with which sugars, amino acids,
purines and pyrimidines are formed under reducing-atmosphere conditions
is either a coincidence or a false clue planted by a malicious creator.”
p. 93
“If God did not . . .”: as quoted in Wills and Bada (2000, p. 41).
p. 93
extremely dilute solution: The improbability of biochemical re-
actions arising from the dilute primordial soup has emerged as the central
objection to the Miller hypothesis in the theories of Günter Wächtershäuser.
In a dilute solution with hundreds or thousands of different solutes, the
chance that a desired chemical reaction will occur between any two mol-
ecules is small. He states, “As far as I’m concerned, the soup theory is more of
a myth than a theory, because it doesn’t explain anything.” (Hagmann 2002,
p. 2007). For a more comprehensive critique, see Wächtershäuser (1994).
p. 93
another nagging problem: Stanley Miller himself often ac-
knowledges this difficulty. In a 1992 Discover article, he said, “The first step, making the monomers, that’s easy. We understand it pretty well. But then
you have to make the first self-replicating polymers. . . . Nobody knows how
it’s done.” (Radetsky 1992, p. 78). Miller repeated this refrain in a 1998 Discover article: “It’s a problem. How do you make polymers? That’s not so
easy.” (Radetsky 1998, p. 36).
7
HEAVEN OR HELL?
p. 95
“It is we . . .”: Gold (1999, p. v).
p. 96
Metabolism: For a useful overview of the surprising diversity of
microbial metabolism, see Nealson (1997a).
p. 96
Our view of life: For a description of this research, see Radetsky
(1992).
p. 97
On this particular dive: In 1979, scientists discovered that some
of these vents spew out lots of dissolved minerals that precipitate in a thick
black cloud as ocean and vent waters mix—a so-called “black smoker.”
p. 97
“Could the hydrothermal vents . . . ”: Jack Corliss as quoted in
Radetsky (1992, p. 76).
p. 97
others close to the story: [John Baross to RMH, 24 June 1998
and 10 March 2004; Sarah Hoffman to RMH, 23 July 2004] Jack Corliss did
not respond to requests for information. Hoffman provided a 28-page docu-
264
GENESIS
ment with a detailed history of the development of the hydrothermal-ori-
gins hypothesis and its subsequent presentation at lectures and in print.
p. 98
“ideal reactors . . .”: Corliss et al. (1981, p. 62).
p. 98
much too hot: Several papers from the Miller group focus on
the supposed instability of amino acids under hydrothermal conditions, in-
cluding S. L. Miller and Bada (1988), Bada et al. (1995), and Bada and
Lazcano (2002). Other authors attempted to counter these arguments (Holm
1992).
p. 98
“. . . a real loser”: Stanley Miller as quoted in Radetsky (1992,
p. 82).
p. 99
Eventually the Corliss: The Corliss et al. (1981) paper appeared
in a supplementary section of papers presented at a symposium on the “Ge-
ology of the Oceans,” which was part of the 26th International Geological
Congress in Paris. A later paper was authored by Baross and Hoffman (1985).
p. 99
John Baross remains active: Much of John Baross’s recent work
focuses on barophilic (pressure-loving) and thermophilic (heat-loving) mi-
crobes. See, for example, Baross and Deming (1995).
p. 99
Sarah Hoffman’s graduate: Corliss’s abandonment of origins
research was underscored when he delivered a lecture on his origin hypoth-
esis, “Emergence of Living Systems in Archean Sea Floor Hot Springs,” at the
Geophysical Laboratory on January 8, 2001. The lecture offered no new
insights beyond his work of the 1980s; indeed, he often interjected that “this
is a 1986 lecture.” He seemed to forget many of the details of his model—
temperatures, depths, organic chemistry—and his answers to several ques-
tions were vague and uninformative.
p. 100
Everywhere they looked: Dozens of recent books and articles
document microbes in extreme environments (Madigan and Marrs 1997,
Wharton 2002), including Antarctic ice (Price 2000, Thomas and Dieckmann
2002), boiling hot springs (Stetter et al. 1990, Hoffman 2001), acidic pools
and streams (Zettler et al. 2002), deep-ocean hydrothermal zones (Pedersen
1993), and crustal rocks (Krumholz et al. 1997, Chapelle et al. 2002).
Concurrent with discoveries of abundant deep microbes were the find-
ings of molecular biologist Carl Woese (Woese and Fox 1977; Woese 1978,
1987). Woese applied the techniques of molecular phylogeny to construct a
tree of life (see Chapter 10). He discovered that the traditional divisions of
life into five kingdoms was incorrect and that the most primitive living cells
(i.e . , microbes deeply rooted in the evolutionary tree of life) are
extremophiles that live in hydrothermal conditions (Pace 1997). This result
suggested to some researchers that the first life-forms might have been simi-
lar extremophiles. Such a conclusion is not certain, however, because life
might have arisen in a cooler surface environment and subsequently radi-
NOTES
265
ated into extreme environments. A large impact might then have killed off
all surface organisms, leaving extremophiles as our last common ancestors.
p. 100
S
avannah River: Frederickson and Onstott (1996) provide a
popular account of this research.
p. 100
loaded with microbes: The Savannah River samples from a
depth of 400 meters support from 100 to 10 million microbes per gram of
rock. By comparison, a typical gram of topsoil might hold a billion microbes
per gram.
p. 101
Subsequent drilling studies: Parkes et al. (1993), Stevens and
McKinley (1995), Krumholz et al. (1997), Pedersen et al. (1997), Chapelle et
al. (2002), and D’Hondt et al. (2002, 2004).
p. 101
Tullis Onstott: Frederickson et al. (1997), Colwell et al. (1997),
Tseng and Onstott (1998) and Onstott et al. (1998). For popular accounts of
this research, see Frederickson and Onstott (1996), Monastersky (1997), and
Kerr (2002b).
p. 101
“It was ‘Don’t . . .’ ”: Schultz (1999, p. 1).
p. 102
Thomas Gold: Bondi (2004).
p. 103
In 1977: Gold (1977). The first peer-reviewed publication of
these ideas appeared two years later (Gold 1979). See also Gold and Soter
(1980).
p. 104
Siljan Ring: Gold (1999, pp. 105-123).
p. 104
Seven years: The controversy was summarized for Science by
reporter Richard Kerr (1990). Additional points of view are provided by
Donofrio (2003) and by reviewers of Gold’s book (Brown 1999, Margulis
1999, Parkes 1999, Von Damm 1999). Brown’s review in American Scientist,
“Upwelling of Hot Gas,” is particularly contemptuous. Few authors seem to
have considered the possibility of a middle ground. Might hydrocarbons
arise from both surface life and from deep sources? After all, there’s a lot of
carbon, and hydrocarbons happen.
p. 104
“the deep hot biosphere”: Gold (1992, 1997, 1999).
p. 104
invited Gold: The seminar, entitled “The Deep Hot Biosphere,”
took place on April 28, 1998.
p. 105
Tommy Gold helped: Gold died on June 22, 2004, two weeks
after suffering a massive heart attack. On June 7, 2004, he had sent me a
preliminary review of the first half of this book. “The only comment I want
to make before I have read it all very carefully is that you refer too often to
the ocean vents,” he wrote. He argued that many other deep environments
also contribute organic molecules and might have been more conducive to
the origin of life. “But more about all this when I have read with some care
what you sent me.” Sadly, that addendum never came. [Thomas Gold to