The search for an explanation for the origin of life started long before the publication of Charles Darwin’sOrigin of Species in 1859. The first naturalistic theory of life arising from non-life, known as spontaneous generation, is attributable to Aristotle and ancient Greek philosophy.
Darwin rejected the Genesis account of creation written by Moses. Lingering doubts over the origins of life, however, forced Darwin to reject atheism and embrace agnosticism –
“The mystery of the beginning of all things is insoluble by us, and I, for one, must be content to remain an Agnostic.”
Faced with the failure of the Stanley-Urey model to explain the origin of life, evolutionary scientists have been exploring the RNA World theory. With only the four nucleic acids required to form RNA (pictured left) rather than the twenty amino acids to form a protein, the chance probability tipped the advantage to the RNA-first theory, but that is not all.
“This is the RNA World. To see how plausible it is, we need to look at why proteins are good at being enzymes but bad at being replicators; at why DNA is good at replicating but bad at being an enzyme; and finally why RNA might just be good enough at both roles to break out of the Catch-22.”
In the mid twentieth century, using a simple laboratory experiment, Stanley Miller (pictured left) and Harold Urey (pictured right) was the first to demonstrate how life may have started from simple molecules and energy. In the excitement, addressing the scope of the Miller-Urey probability issue was postponed.
Darwin, Then and Now, the Most Amazing Story in the History of Science, is a chronicle of who Darwin was, how he developed his theory, specifically what he said, and what scientists have discovered since the publication of The Origin of Species in 1859.
The book traces the rise and fall of evolution's popularity as a scientifically valid theory. With over 1,000 references from Darwin and scientists, Darwin Then and Now retraces developments in the most amazing story in the history of science. DarwinThenandNow.com focuses on understanding the intersection of biological evolution and science.
The search for an explanation for the origin of life started long before the publication of Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species in 1859. The first naturalistic theory of life arising from non-life, known as spontaneous generation, is attributable to Aristotle and ancient Greek philosophy.
Faced with the failure of the 
