Life's Solution: Inevitable Humans in a Lonely Universe

Life's Solution: Inevitable Humans in a Lonely Universe Simon Conway Morris Cambridge University Press, 2003 In a voluminous work that contains much solid information, S. C. Morris deals with the fundamental question of whether the evolution of organic forms was inevitable. He provides a mass of solid information; but as his book progresses, many of his readers will conclude that he is sympathetic to the unprovable notion of "intelligent design," which is presently fashionable among those who wish to build a bridge between evolution and traditional beliefs in monotheistic causation. In some respects, his technical approach is similar to that adopted earlier by R. Riedl in his books on The Strategy of Genesis and Biology of the Theory of Cognition? However, Morris openly professes his intent to find a "metaphysics of evolution," an approach that is in line with the religious sensibilities of "creationists." To do this, he first leads the reader through a number of evolutionary facts concerning the closeness of man to the apes. Here he cites a genetic difference of "only" 0.4%. In a passage that appears to be seeking to leave the door open for the theory of "intelligent design," he stresses what he sees as the unpredictability of the process of evolution, citing as an example the many possible assemblies of proteins. If only 20 varieties of amino acids combine in a relatively simple protein, consisting of, for the sake of argument, 100 building blocks, the potential number of proteins is in the range of 20100 or 10130, making the process of evolution highly uncertain. The number of proteins that are encymatically active would be astronomical, and the actual number of proteins known to exist on Earth is a small fraction of the total. Morris concludes that the probability of finding similar proteins on some other planet is exceedingly small. But, he says, in spite of this enormous variability, there is a strong similarity of developed forms and organs on Earth. Thus, he argues, it matters little where the starting point may have been if there is what he calls a "convergence to similar ends." The known amino acids in nature are a small fraction of those possible, and some forms have been found in meteorites that are not found on Earth. Their total number is likely to be around 1018, and the structure of earthly DNA is just one possible form in a multitude of other forms, perhaps realized on other planets. This leads to the question: is life a cosmic principle? Tackling this question, Morris outlines the fundamental contingencies of the astrophysical world and the boundary conditions that would be necessary for life to exist on other planets. At this point, he looks at the solar system as it was during its formation, when comets brought in the basic raw material, carbon, water, nitrogen, etc., to install a natural laboratory on Earth, some four billion years ago. Morris casts some doubt on the well-developed ideas as to how the precursors of life have formed. The formation of compounds like formaldehyde and hydrogen cyanide are in themselves no guarantee for the formation of amino acids, hydrocarbons, sugars, etc., as fundamentals to DNA. Morris points out that, so far, life has not been created in a scientific laboratory. A functioning cell has not yet been created, due to the difficulty of forming ATP (Adenosin-Triphosphate), even though it has been possible to make a virus, which is a much simpler structure than a living cell. Morris also outlines the complex problem of ribose, a sugar important for the formation of DNA. However great the difficulties of retracing the origin of life on Earth, we have to keep in mind that progress has been made and that this process of the creation of life went through development during billions of years, and as such is not simple to repeat in a laboratory setting. Morris discusses the important tests by Miller and Urey as though they are something not remotely germane to the original situation on the early Earth. …