The talk.origins Interactive FAQ Server

                   FAQ: Abiogenesis Book Recommendations

                               Chris Stassen

(Last updated: 02/27/92)

Here are references and short reviews of some interesting titles relevant
to the origin of life.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cairns-Smith, A. G., Seven Clues to the Origin of Life; New York, Cambridge
University Press, 1985; ISBN 0-521-39828-2

     Cairns-Smith is the best-known proponent of the "clay life"
     hypothesis. This book describes what Cairns-Smith believes to be
     the main problems with "standard" abiogenesis scenarios, and an
     overview of his own. If you want a more technical book with lots
     of references, get his book, "Genetic Takeover" instead (sorry, I
     don't have reference information).

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Loomis, William F., Four Billion Years: An Essay on the Evolution of Genes
and Organisms; Massachusetts, Sinauer Associates, 1988; ISBN 0-87893-476-6
(0-87893-475-8 hardback)

     Loomis gives a relatively detailed treatment of "standard"
     abiogenesis scenarios. I like this reference, because Loomis
     spends the most time on the hardest problems -- many other texts
     seem to gloss over the difficulties and get detailed only when it
     is "safe."

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fox, Ronald W., Energy and the Evolution of Life; New York, W. H. Freeman
and Company, 1988; ISBN 0-7167-1870-7 (0-7167-1849-9 hardback).

     Fox explains abiogenesis, mainly from a perspective of flow of
     energy, thermodynamics, etc. The book is reasonably technical.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shapiro, Robert, Origins: A Skeptic's Guide to thhe Creation of Life on
Earth; New York, Bantam Books, 1986; ISBN 0-553-34355-6

     Shapiro gives a skeptical overview of several different
     abiogenesis scenarios. Despite the creationist-sounding sub-title
     ("Creation of life"), Shapiro is no creationist. I have seen
     creationists recommend the book, however, because of Shapiro's
     high level of skepticism. I believe this work is slightly dated
     and some of Shapiro's criticisms are no longer as appropirate.
     Still, it is a good read.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hanawalt, Philip C., editor, Molecules to Living Cells; San Francisco, W.H.
Freeman and Company, 1980; ISBN 0-7167-1209-1

     This is a collection of reprints of Scientific American articles
     relevant to the topic of the origin of life. It includes several
     interesting articles and many references to the technical
     literature. The only problem is that there is little to tie it
     together into a unified whole; it is a mish-mash of various
     authors' views.
End**************************************************************************