Origins of Life

Fülszöveg

How did the Universe begin? How was 'our Earth formed? What is the origin of life on our planet? Could life have begun by chance, or must there be a purpose behind it? Could there be life elsewhere in the Universe?
'The scientific environment from the late 1960s through to the 1980s was made for studies of the origins of life,' writes Jim Brooks.
Unmanned spacecraft have visited other planets. Geologists have learned techniques for detecting tiny amounts of fossils in very ancient rocks - and in meteorites. Astronomers and cosmologists are making significant discoveries about the nature of the Universe, probing back to its earliest beginnings.
Dr Brooks is a geochemist, and his closest knowledge is of what the oldest rocks can tell us about when life began, and how it might have happened. But his book also shows an up-to-date and detailed understanding of scientific work in the other relevant areas. He combines scientific precision with a sense of the mystery of life.
This is... Tovább

Fülszöveg

How did the Universe begin? How was 'our Earth formed? What is the origin of life on our planet? Could life have begun by chance, or must there be a purpose behind it? Could there be life elsewhere in the Universe?
'The scientific environment from the late 1960s through to the 1980s was made for studies of the origins of life,' writes Jim Brooks.
Unmanned spacecraft have visited other planets. Geologists have learned techniques for detecting tiny amounts of fossils in very ancient rocks - and in meteorites. Astronomers and cosmologists are making significant discoveries about the nature of the Universe, probing back to its earliest beginnings.
Dr Brooks is a geochemist, and his closest knowledge is of what the oldest rocks can tell us about when life began, and how it might have happened. But his book also shows an up-to-date and detailed understanding of scientific work in the other relevant areas. He combines scientific precision with a sense of the mystery of life.
This is a book for everyone, scientists and non-scientists alike. The text explains everything from first principles, with technical details in special boxed articles. And the many colour photographs and illustrations bring the themes to life for everyone interested in this fascinating theme.
Dr Jim Brooks, B Tech, M Phil, PhD, C Chem, FRSC, F Inst Pet, FGS, Assoc BIT, is an oil explorationist with Britoil. He was recently elected a Vice-President of the Geological Society
(See back flap for more about the author)

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Dk Jim Brooks, B Tech, M Phil, PhD, C oChem, FRSC, F Inst Pet, FGS, Assoc BIT, works within the Exploration Division of Britoil, based in Glasgow. His career to date has involved university lecturing in chemistry, geochemistry and energy, as well as consultancies to various European and American companies and his present and previous jobs in the field of petroleum exploration. His experience has given him an interesting base from which to study Pre-Cambrian palaeochemistry and the origins of life.
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He has published numerous papers; and seven books, including Origin and Development of Living Systems (with G. Shaw), as well as lecturing in Europe, North America, India and USSR. He was UK Exchange Scientist to USSR in 1971 and Royal Society Visiting Scientist to India in 1977.
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Dr Brooks was recently elected a Vice-President of the Geological Society, and gave the 1983 Christmas lecture on Ancient Rocks, Meteorites and the Origin of Life'. Vissza