Life: Origin & Evolution

by Clair Edwin Folsome

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0716710323
• ISBN13: 9780716710325
• Release Date: January 1979
• Publisher: W.H. Freeman & Company
• Length: 148 Pages

Customer Reviews

THOUGH MORE THAN 30 YEARS OLD, MANY OF THESE ARTICLES ARE STILL RELEVANT

Scientific American has always been a more "scientific" magazine (albeit for a semi-"popular" audience) than, say, OMNI or Discover. Noteworthy scientists often contributed articles, that discussed cutting-edge research. The articles in this 1979 collection were actually written between 1952 and 1978; and although research has sometimes superseded the conclusions reached, many of these articles are still interesting--as least for historical purposes. In George Wald's August 1954 article, "The Origin of Life," for example, he includes the following famous quotation: "Time is in fact the hero of the plot. The time with which we have to deal is of the order of two billion years. What we regard as impossible on the basis of human experience is meaningless here. Given so much time, the 'impossible' becomes possible, the possible probable, and the probably virtually certain. One has only to wait: time itself performs the miracles." Also included are Harold Urey's 1952 article, "The Origin of the Earth"; Geoffrey Eglinton and Melvin Calvin's "Chemical Fossils"; Francis Crick's "The Genetic Code: III"; Su-Shu Huang's "Life Outside the Solar System," and many others.