With the rapid growth of new evidence from astronomy, space science and biology that supports the theory of life as a cosmic rather than terrestrial phenomenon, this book discusses a set of crucial data and pictures showing that life is still arriving at our planet. Although it could spark controversy among the most hardened sceptics this book will have an important role in shaping future science in this area.
Author(s): Milton Wainwright, Nalin Chandra Wickramasinghe
Publisher: World Scientific Publishing
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 232
City: Singapore
Contents
Foreword by Gensuke Tokoro
Chapter 1 — Introduction
Chapter 2 — Microbes and How They Gain a Living
How Might Life on Earth have Originated?
Did Life begin in Hydrothermal Vents?
The Clay World Hypothesis
The RNA World
Life-Particles or Jeewanu
Organics from Space and Life’s Origin
Importance of Aerobic Heterotrophy to the Development of Intelligent Life on Earth
Silicon and Life
Chapter 3 — Historical Overview of Life’s Origins
Andrew Crosse and an Early Attempt to Create Life
Darwin and the Origin of Life
Microbial invasion from Venus!
Chapter 4 — History of Ideas About Life on Other Planets
Comets as the Source of Panspermic Life
De Maillet: Arguably the First “Modern” Proponent of Panspermia
Chapter 5 — The Astronomy of Panspermia
Carbon Dust in the Cosmos
From Dust to Organic Molecules
Chapter 6 — The Dawn of Modern Astrobiology
Chapter 7 — The Clues from Comets
Chapter 8 — The Microbiology of Panspermia
The Space-Life Carriers
The Cosmically Inoculated Consommé
Microbes and Panspermia
Survivability of Microbes in Extreme Cosmic Conditions
Necropanspermia, Necrosymbiosis and the Origin of Life
Chapter 9 — Evidence for Fossilised Life in Meteorites
Darwin and Meteorites
Henri Becquerel and Meteorite-Microbes
Hans D. Pflug and Meteorite Microfossils
Chapter 10 — Our Evidence for Meteoritic Microfossils
Amazing Fossils in the Polonnaruwa Meteorite
Further Details of the Evidence Showing that the Pollonaruwa Stone is Meteorite
The Sheffield-Examination of the Polonnaruwa Meteorite for Fossils
Fossilized Worm-like Structures Complete the Polonnaruwa Meteorite Story
Chapter 11 — Proving that Microbial Life of Space Origin Exists in the Stratosphere
Some Personal Recollections (MW)
Chapter 12 — Evidence that Life is Continually Arriving from Space — Neopanspermia
Could the Transfer of Microbes from Earth to the Stratosphere Have Influenced Evolution on Earth?
Large DNA-Staining Biological Entities in the Stratosphere
Chapter 13 — Strange Biological Entities in the Stratosphere-Personal Recollections of MW
The Sheffield-based Stratosphere Balloon Sampling
Control Flights
What We Found in the Stratosphere
How Can we be Certain that Biological Entities Originate from Space?
Chapter 14 — Conclusions
Postscript
Appendix
The Beginnings of Astrobiology
References
Acknowledgements
Biographies of Authors
Further Reading
References to Technical Literature by Subject
Index
