Oxygen is one of life’s most essential atomic elements. As molecular biologist Michael Denton highlights in his book “Nature’s Destiny, How the Laws of Biology Reveal Purpose in the Universe,” oxygen is the key element for “one of the most important chemical reactions on Earth.”
While oxygen is the third most abundant chemical element in the universe, after hydrogen and helium, oxygen is the most abundant chemical element by mass in the Earth’s biosphere, air, sea, and land adding one more agonizing Achilles Heel to the theory of evolution.
The scourge of evolution has re-emerged−this time with renewed vengeance.Scientists have long known that extremely low levels of free-oxygen [< 10-5] atmosphere on early Earth are critical for any viable origin of life model of evolution.
The atmospheric concentration of oxygen in the origin of life controversy stems from the laws of organic chemistry. The autonomous assembly of complex organic molecules has only been observed in an oxygen-free atmosphere.
Geophysicists Stephen C. Meyer of the University of Cambridge notes in Signature in the Cell that “even a small amount of atmospheric oxygen will quench the production of biologically significant building blocks and cause biomolecules otherwise present to degrade rapidly.” Oxygen-free has not always been an evolution scourge, however.
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.
