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Submit a ProposalOrigin of Life via Archaea
 | Shaped Droplets to Archaea First with a Compendium of Archaea Micrographs By Richard Gordon Series: Astrobiology Perspectives on Life in the Universe Copyright: 2024 | Status: Published ISBN: 9781119901020 | Hardcover | 1254 pages Price: $350 USD  |
One Line Description
This book surveys the models for the origin of life and presents a new model starting with shaped droplets and ending with life as polygonal Archaea; it collects the most published micrographs of Archaea (discovered only in 1977), which support this conclusion, and thus provides the first visual survey of Archaea.
Audience
This book will be used by astrobiologists, origin of life biologists, physicists of small systems, geologists, biochemists, theoretical and vesicle chemists.
This book will be used by astrobiologists, origin of life biologists, physicists of small systems, geologists, biochemists, theoretical and vesicle chemists.
Description
Origin of Life via Archaea’s purpose is to add a new hypothesis on what are called “shaped droplets”, as the starting point, for flat, polygonal Archaea, supporting the Vesicles First hypothesis. The book contains over 6000 distinct references and micrographs of 440 extant species of Archaea, 41% of which exhibit polygonal phenotypes. It surveys the intellectual battleground of the many ideas of the origin of life on earth, chemical equilibrium, autocatalysis, and biotic polymers.
This book contains 17 chapters, some coauthored, on a wide range of topics on the origin of life, including Archaea’s origin, patterns, and species. It shows how various aspects of the origin of life may have occurred at chemical equilibrium, not requiring an energy source, contrary to the general assumption. For the reader’s value, its compendium of Archaea micrographs might also serve many other interesting questions about Archaea.
One chapter presents a theory for the shape of flat, polygonal Archaea in terms of the energetics at the surface, edges and corners of the S-layer. Another shows how membrane peptides may have originated. The book also includes a large table of most extant Archaea, that is searchable in the electronic version. It ends with a chapter on problems needing further research.
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Origin of Life via Archaea’s purpose is to add a new hypothesis on what are called “shaped droplets”, as the starting point, for flat, polygonal Archaea, supporting the Vesicles First hypothesis. The book contains over 6000 distinct references and micrographs of 440 extant species of Archaea, 41% of which exhibit polygonal phenotypes. It surveys the intellectual battleground of the many ideas of the origin of life on earth, chemical equilibrium, autocatalysis, and biotic polymers.
This book contains 17 chapters, some coauthored, on a wide range of topics on the origin of life, including Archaea’s origin, patterns, and species. It shows how various aspects of the origin of life may have occurred at chemical equilibrium, not requiring an energy source, contrary to the general assumption. For the reader’s value, its compendium of Archaea micrographs might also serve many other interesting questions about Archaea.
One chapter presents a theory for the shape of flat, polygonal Archaea in terms of the energetics at the surface, edges and corners of the S-layer. Another shows how membrane peptides may have originated. The book also includes a large table of most extant Archaea, that is searchable in the electronic version. It ends with a chapter on problems needing further research.
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Author / Editor Details
Richard Gordon, Ph.D., is a theoretical biologist with a B.Sc. in Mathematics from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. in Chemical Physics from the University of Oregon, retired from the Department of Radiology, University of Manitoba in 2011. Presently he is a volunteer at Gulf Specimen Marine Lab & Aquarium, Panacea, Florida. Interest in exobiology (now astrobiology) dates from 1960s undergraduate work on organic matter in the Orgueil meteorite with Edward Anders. He has published critical reviews of panspermia and the history of “discoveries” of life in meteorites.
Richard Gordon, Ph.D., is a theoretical biologist with a B.Sc. in Mathematics from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. in Chemical Physics from the University of Oregon, retired from the Department of Radiology, University of Manitoba in 2011. Presently he is a volunteer at Gulf Specimen Marine Lab & Aquarium, Panacea, Florida. Interest in exobiology (now astrobiology) dates from 1960s undergraduate work on organic matter in the Orgueil meteorite with Edward Anders. He has published critical reviews of panspermia and the history of “discoveries” of life in meteorites.
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Table of Contents
Preface
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
1. A Fresh Start on the Problem of the Origin of Life
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Physics vs Chemistry as Explanations for the Origin of Life
1.3 The Improbability of Life
References
2. By the Light of the Moon
Richard Gordon and George Mikhailovsky
References
3. There Were Plenty of Day/Night Cycles that Could Have Accelerated an Origin of Life on Earth, Without Requiring Panspermia
Richard Gordon and George Mikhailovsky
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Conclusion
Acknowledgement
References
4. Emergence of Polygonal Shapes in Oil Droplets and Living Cells: The Potential Role of Tensegrity in the Origin of Life
Richard Gordon, Martin M. Hanczyc, Nikolai D. Denkov, Mary Ann Tiffany and Stoyan K. Smoukov
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Shaped Droplets
4.3 Oil-Based Protocells
4.4 Polygonal Prokaryotes
4.5 Mechanisms Controlling the Shapes of Prokaryote Cells
4.6 Possible Functions of a Polygonal Shape of Cells
4.7 Polygonal Diatoms
4.8 Conclusion
4.9 Acknowledgements
4.10 Chapter 4 Appendix 1: Overview of Tensegrity Structures
4.11 Chapter 4 Appendix 2: A Toy Model for the Polygonal Shape of Shaped Droplets
References
5. When We Were Triangles: Shape in the Origin of Life via Abiotic Shaped Droplets to Living, Polygonal Archaea During the Abiocene
5.1 Introduction
5.2 What Correlates with Archaea Shape? Nothing!
5.3 Archaea’s Place in the Tree of Life
5.4 The Discovery and Exploration of Shaped Droplets
5.5 Shaped Droplets as Protocells
5.6 Comparison of Shaped Droplets with Archaea
5.7 The S-Layer
5.8 The S-Layer as a Two-Dimensional Liquid with Fault Lines
5.9 The Analogy of the S-Layer to Bubble Rafts
5.10 Energy Minimization Model for the S-Layer in Polygonal Archaea
5.11 Discussion
5.12 Conclusion
5.13 Acknowledgements
References
6. The Fish Ladder Toy Model for a Thermodynamically at Equilibrium Origin of Life in a Lipid World in an Endoreic Lake
Richard Gordon, Shruti Raj Vansh Singh, Krishna Katyal, Natalie K. Gordon and David Deamer
6.1 The Fish Ladder Model for the Origin of Life
6.2 Could the Late Heavy Bombardment Have Supplied Enough Amphiphiles?
6.3 How Many Uphill Steps to LUCA?
6.4 How Long Would the Origin of Life Take After the CVC is Achieved?
6.5 Conclusion
Acknowledgements
Chapter 6 Appendix
Discussion with David Deamer
Richard Gordon
References
7. How to Make a Transmembrane Domain at the Origin of Life: A Possible Origin of Proteins
Richard Gordon and Natalie K. Gordon
7.1 Introduction
7.2 The Initial “Core” Amino Acids
7.3 The Thickness of Membranes of the First Vesicles
7.4 Carbon-Carbon Distances Perpendicular to a Membrane
7.5 The Thickness of Modern Membranes
7.6 A Prebiotic Model for the Coordinated Growth of Membrane Thickness and Transmembrane Peptides
Conclusion
Acknowledgements
References
8. An Ensemble Approach to the Origin of Life
Bradly Alicea, Bashir Ahmad and Richard Gordon
8.1 Introduction: A Toy Model for the Origin of Life
8.2 Double Droplets
8.3 Autocatalysis
8.4 Analogies
8.5 Cosmic Context
8.6 Fluctuations
8.7 Nanoconfinement
8.8 Countering Counterarguments: Rare Events
8.9 Membrane Permeability Versus Time
8.10 Quasi-Equilibrium
8.11 PAH
8.12 Amino Acids
8.13 Statistical Mechanics
8.14 A Toy Model Analogous to the Origin of Life: Braitenberg Vehicles
8.14.1 Wheels
8.14.2 Body Morphology
8.14.3 Light Sensors
8.14.4 Interneurons
8.14.5 Developmental Viability
8.14.6 Structural Viability
8.14.7 Relationship Between the Developmental and Structural Viability
8.14.8 Estimating the Number of Viable Vehicles
8.15 Computer Simulation of a Vesicle
8.16 Computational Model of Spontaneous Autocatalysis
8.17 Placing Our Numeric Model in Context
8.18 Conclusion
Acknowledgement
References
9. A Review of the Archaea First Hypothesis for the Origin of Life
9.1 Introduction
9.2 The Lipid Divide
9.3 What was LUCA (Last Universal Common Ancestor)?
9.4 Conclusions
Acknowledgment
References
10. The Astrobiology of Archaea
References
11. A Survey of the Battlefield for the Origin of Life
11.1 General Considerations for the Origin of Life
11.2 The Improbability of Solving the Origin of Life in the Messy Environment of Origin of Life Research
11.3 Who’s on First?
11.4 Where Did Life Start?
11.5 Whence Homochirality?
11.6 Back to General Considerations
11.7 The Background
11.8 Chemistry
11.9 The Tar Problem
11.10 Inorganic Molecules and Elements
11.11 Miscellany
Conclusion
References
12. Bibliometrics of Archaea and Where to Find Them
12.1 Bibliometrics
12.2 Where to Find Archaea
References
13. Resources
13.1 Astrobiology Journals and Book Series
13.2 Archaea
13.3 Conferences and Webinars
13.4 E-mail, Web Sites, Courses, Societies
13.5 Books, Popular, Technical, Textbooks, and Proselytizing on Origin of Life
13.6 Careers, Interviews, Histories, Historical Articles and Biographies
13.7 Alerts
13.8 Databases of Publications
13.9 Reference Software
References
14. Compendium of Archaea
14.1 Introduction
References
15. Analysis of Micrographs
16. Some Open Research Questions
References
Addendum
Back to Top
Preface
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
1. A Fresh Start on the Problem of the Origin of Life
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Physics vs Chemistry as Explanations for the Origin of Life
1.3 The Improbability of Life
References
2. By the Light of the Moon
Richard Gordon and George Mikhailovsky
References
3. There Were Plenty of Day/Night Cycles that Could Have Accelerated an Origin of Life on Earth, Without Requiring Panspermia
Richard Gordon and George Mikhailovsky
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Conclusion
Acknowledgement
References
4. Emergence of Polygonal Shapes in Oil Droplets and Living Cells: The Potential Role of Tensegrity in the Origin of Life
Richard Gordon, Martin M. Hanczyc, Nikolai D. Denkov, Mary Ann Tiffany and Stoyan K. Smoukov
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Shaped Droplets
4.3 Oil-Based Protocells
4.4 Polygonal Prokaryotes
4.5 Mechanisms Controlling the Shapes of Prokaryote Cells
4.6 Possible Functions of a Polygonal Shape of Cells
4.7 Polygonal Diatoms
4.8 Conclusion
4.9 Acknowledgements
4.10 Chapter 4 Appendix 1: Overview of Tensegrity Structures
4.11 Chapter 4 Appendix 2: A Toy Model for the Polygonal Shape of Shaped Droplets
References
5. When We Were Triangles: Shape in the Origin of Life via Abiotic Shaped Droplets to Living, Polygonal Archaea During the Abiocene
5.1 Introduction
5.2 What Correlates with Archaea Shape? Nothing!
5.3 Archaea’s Place in the Tree of Life
5.4 The Discovery and Exploration of Shaped Droplets
5.5 Shaped Droplets as Protocells
5.6 Comparison of Shaped Droplets with Archaea
5.7 The S-Layer
5.8 The S-Layer as a Two-Dimensional Liquid with Fault Lines
5.9 The Analogy of the S-Layer to Bubble Rafts
5.10 Energy Minimization Model for the S-Layer in Polygonal Archaea
5.11 Discussion
5.12 Conclusion
5.13 Acknowledgements
References
6. The Fish Ladder Toy Model for a Thermodynamically at Equilibrium Origin of Life in a Lipid World in an Endoreic Lake
Richard Gordon, Shruti Raj Vansh Singh, Krishna Katyal, Natalie K. Gordon and David Deamer
6.1 The Fish Ladder Model for the Origin of Life
6.2 Could the Late Heavy Bombardment Have Supplied Enough Amphiphiles?
6.3 How Many Uphill Steps to LUCA?
6.4 How Long Would the Origin of Life Take After the CVC is Achieved?
6.5 Conclusion
Acknowledgements
Chapter 6 Appendix
Discussion with David Deamer
Richard Gordon
References
7. How to Make a Transmembrane Domain at the Origin of Life: A Possible Origin of Proteins
Richard Gordon and Natalie K. Gordon
7.1 Introduction
7.2 The Initial “Core” Amino Acids
7.3 The Thickness of Membranes of the First Vesicles
7.4 Carbon-Carbon Distances Perpendicular to a Membrane
7.5 The Thickness of Modern Membranes
7.6 A Prebiotic Model for the Coordinated Growth of Membrane Thickness and Transmembrane Peptides
Conclusion
Acknowledgements
References
8. An Ensemble Approach to the Origin of Life
Bradly Alicea, Bashir Ahmad and Richard Gordon
8.1 Introduction: A Toy Model for the Origin of Life
8.2 Double Droplets
8.3 Autocatalysis
8.4 Analogies
8.5 Cosmic Context
8.6 Fluctuations
8.7 Nanoconfinement
8.8 Countering Counterarguments: Rare Events
8.9 Membrane Permeability Versus Time
8.10 Quasi-Equilibrium
8.11 PAH
8.12 Amino Acids
8.13 Statistical Mechanics
8.14 A Toy Model Analogous to the Origin of Life: Braitenberg Vehicles
8.14.1 Wheels
8.14.2 Body Morphology
8.14.3 Light Sensors
8.14.4 Interneurons
8.14.5 Developmental Viability
8.14.6 Structural Viability
8.14.7 Relationship Between the Developmental and Structural Viability
8.14.8 Estimating the Number of Viable Vehicles
8.15 Computer Simulation of a Vesicle
8.16 Computational Model of Spontaneous Autocatalysis
8.17 Placing Our Numeric Model in Context
8.18 Conclusion
Acknowledgement
References
9. A Review of the Archaea First Hypothesis for the Origin of Life
9.1 Introduction
9.2 The Lipid Divide
9.3 What was LUCA (Last Universal Common Ancestor)?
9.4 Conclusions
Acknowledgment
References
10. The Astrobiology of Archaea
References
11. A Survey of the Battlefield for the Origin of Life
11.1 General Considerations for the Origin of Life
11.2 The Improbability of Solving the Origin of Life in the Messy Environment of Origin of Life Research
11.3 Who’s on First?
11.4 Where Did Life Start?
11.5 Whence Homochirality?
11.6 Back to General Considerations
11.7 The Background
11.8 Chemistry
11.9 The Tar Problem
11.10 Inorganic Molecules and Elements
11.11 Miscellany
Conclusion
References
12. Bibliometrics of Archaea and Where to Find Them
12.1 Bibliometrics
12.2 Where to Find Archaea
References
13. Resources
13.1 Astrobiology Journals and Book Series
13.2 Archaea
13.3 Conferences and Webinars
13.4 E-mail, Web Sites, Courses, Societies
13.5 Books, Popular, Technical, Textbooks, and Proselytizing on Origin of Life
13.6 Careers, Interviews, Histories, Historical Articles and Biographies
13.7 Alerts
13.8 Databases of Publications
13.9 Reference Software
References
14. Compendium of Archaea
14.1 Introduction
References
15. Analysis of Micrographs
16. Some Open Research Questions
References
Addendum
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