© Cambridge University Press Cambridge

Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-87102-0 - Fitness of the Cosmos for Life: Biochemistry and Fine-Tuning Edited by John D. Barrow, Simon Conway Morris, Stephen J. Freeland and Charles L. Harper Index More information

Index

“abiotic infusion” 55, 56 rejection of 282 abiotic world, progressing from395–7 relation to fine-tuning and fitness 386–8 abundance strong 28, 66, 74n.7, 154 of elements 367, 369, 373, 377, 380 and teleology 152 of ions 380 weak 75, 87, 154–5 of metals 412–13 anthropic reasoning 350, 387, 408–9, 410–11 accidentalism393 antisensitivity 389 ADP 172, 173, 175 Aquinas, Saint Thomas 61, 62 Agassiz, Louis 53 Archaean period 157 aging 335–6 Aristotle 52n.5, 54n.10, 85 agnosticism61 and categorical types 297 albedo 401 and “chain of being” 289 Alexander, Samuel 152 and metaphysics 52 algorithm, search 293 and teleology 53 allometry 329–33, 335 armadillo 206 Alzheimer’s 228, 241 artificial intelligence 102 amino acids, simplest 444–5 Atkins, Peter 102 ammonia, radio emission by 370 atmospheres of planets 380 AMP 173, 177 atoms, stability of 139 amphiphiles 190, 191, 421, 425, 429, 434, 440, ATP 173, 174, 175, 176, 332 452 assembly of 174, 176 cosmic origin of? 190 central role of 172–3, 186 designed 445 as Mg–ATP 463, 468 membrane-forming 179, 421, 427–9, 430–2, mystery of its evolution xvi, 194 433 ATPases xvi prebiotic? 443 Augustine, Saint 54, 62, 89 self-organization of 421, 432–4 automata, cellular 407 amyloidosis 241 autotrophs 390, 406 amyloids 227, 228, 241–3, 245, 246 autotrophy 192 Anfinsen, Christian B. 244, 271 anthropic bias 409–10 bacteria 429 anthropic evidence 415–16 chemoautotrophic 398 anthropic null hypothesis 386, 391–4 Bahcall, John 125 anthropic principles 72, 74, 77, 78, 133, 260, 280, Bak, Per 147 350, 387 Baltcheffsky, Herrick 187, 435 and carbon resonance 258, 384 Baltcheffsky, Margaret 187, 435 and cosmological constant 121 Banavar, Jayanth 268, 271, 275, 331 and dark energy 120 Chapter 12 (author) 225–55 and fine-tuning 136, 169 BAR domain 273 interpretations of 409–16 Barrow, John 72n.4, 110, 126 paradoxes of 53 and alternative mathematics 101 pragmatic 385 Chapter 8 (author) 132–50 range of 385 and Henderson’s work 20

491

© Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-87102-0 - Fitness of the Cosmos for Life: Biochemistry and Fine-Tuning Edited by John D. Barrow, Simon Conway Morris, Stephen J. Freeland and Charles L. Harper Index More information

492 Index

Barrow, John (cont.) Cambrian explosion 198, 211 and inflation 88n.21 Cambrian fauna 160 and metaphysics 50 Cannon, Walter Bradford 6, 10, 14 and physical constants 126 carbon 27, 28–9, 79, 80, 84 and simulation 103 abundance of 27, 28, 29, 377, 409 Bartlett, Gail J. 264 chain of reactions 376 base-pairing 352–5, 356–9 covalent bonding of 24 Bayesian posterior 414 crucial role in life 22–4, 115–17 Bayesian priors 393, 411, 415 necessary for life? 422–3 Bayesian reasoning 87, 102, 387, 392, role in biochemistry 135 411 synthesis of 116 Bayesian structure 410–13 see also resonance in carbon Bayes’ theorem387, 411 carbon dioxide 6, 9, 21–2, 84 Behe, Michael 76n.10 carbon monoxide in interstellar space 371, 372, 375, Benner, Steven 203 381 Bennett, Albert F. 203 carbonic acid 21 Bentley, Richard 136 Carter, Brandon 27–9, 72, 74, 126–7, 140 Bergmann, Carl 330 Carus, Karl Gustav 268 Bergson, Henri Louis 56, 82, 152 catalysis xiii–xiv, 171, 185–6 Bernal, John Desmond 12, 435 catalysts xiv, xvi, xvii, 109 Bernard, Claude 8, 14, 84 metal-ion 185 beryllium28 peptides as 185 Berzelius, JönsJakob 259 causality, secondary 62 Big Bang 27, 31, 32, 101, 115, 120 cell division 182 biochemistry cells 181, 190–1 dichotomy of 305–6 necessary for life? 426–7 of earth 280–9 origin of xv–xix fine-tuning in 153–4, 351–2, 353–4 cellular automata 407 future of 306–7 Chadbourne, Paul Ansel 134 how unique its parameters? 355–62 chance universality of 202 constraints on 163 biogenesis 107–9 and fine-tuning 86 biology change and stability 213–15 convergence in 158–60 Chaplin, Martin 148 fine-tuning in 80–3 Chela-Flores, Julian: Chapter 9 (author) 151–66 bipedalism58 chemical transitions, robustness of 402–3 Bohr, Niels 138 chemistry Boltzmann H-theorem 396 cosmic 184–5, 187, 191–2 Bonaventure, Saint 61 fine-tuning in 79–80, 140–7 Bonnet, Charles 289n.1 of heliumions 376 BOOMERANG 124 interstellar 366–82 Borges, Jorge Luis 55n.11 and life’s origin 200–2 Bosch, Thomas C. G. 214 and sensitivity 132–48 Boyle, Robert 82 chemists, culture of 147 Boyle Lectures 34 chemoautotrophs 398 Boyle’s law 146 chemotrophs 105 Bradford, Walter 5 chemotypes 475, 476, 477, 484, 485, 488 brain 475, 483–4 cooperation among 474 Brandon, Carl 266 defined 459 Brenner, Steven E. 267 evolution of 476, 484 Bridgewater Treatises 34 impact on DNA 487 Brinkley, John 136 chirality 179, 184, 194, 281, 424 Brinton, Crane 3–4, 5 see also homochirality Brown, James H. 334 chlorophyll 174, 176 Browne, Janet 63 choices in evolution 205–6 Brownlee, Donald 133, 169 cholesterol 432, 468 Bryngelson, Joseph D. 239 Chothia, Cyrus 263, 267 Bull, James J. 207 Cioran, Emile M. 49, 68 citric-acid cycle 202 Cairns-Smith, Alexander Graham 435 cloud Barnard 68 374 Calvin–Benson cycle 390 coarse tuning 421–36

Index 493

codons 286, 300, 301, 306 cosmic rays 374 assignments of 301–5 ionization by 379 COE genes 214 cosmological constant 78, 118, 120, 121, 138, 282 cofactors 172 cosmology 52, 70, 76–9, 350 Collins, Barry 72, 73n.6 and fine-tuning 136–8 comets 106, 157 inflationary 101 “Comparative Method” 298 and life 114–28 complexity Coulomb force 142 hierarchy of 404–8 coupling mechanisms 174–5 irreducible 55, 57, 60 Creator see God and metaphysics 49–68 Cretaceous–Tertiary impact 199 staggering 55, 57, 60 Crick, Francis 81n.16, 287, 299, 300, 353n.1, 457 computer critical phenomena 236 extending cognition with 217, 476 “culture” of chemists and physicists 147 harboring a “virtual world” 200 Curtis, Charles P. 5 as model of cell xv Cziko, Gary 35 modeling peptides with 445 see also Turing machine dark energy 117–23 Conant, Gavin C. 208 Darveau, Charles-A. 332 conservation, genetic 213 Davies, Paul C. W. 353 constants, variability of 132, 133, 137, 138, Chapter 6 (author) 97–113 140–2 Dawkins, Richard 44, 212, 281, 308, 309, 324 constraints de Chardin, Pierre Teilhard 82 bioenergetic 318–39 de Duve, Christian 81n.16, 163, 457, 485 internal vs. external 325–6 Chapter 10 (author) 169–96 of resources 388 Deamer, David 190 contingency 43–4, 45, 46, 58, 162, 193–4, 198 Demetrius, Lloyd 339 constraints on 163, 318–39 dendrimers 426 elsewhere in universe 83 Dennett, Daniel 55n.11, 59n.14, 60, 65, 306 many sources of 81 and contingency 65 at molecular level 354 and Darwinism64 as openness to possibilities 45 and inevitability of intelligence 44, 57 “radical” 57 and SETI 54, 58–9 vs. necessity 44, 59 and “skyhooks” 291 convergence 40, 82, 215–16, 298, 389 density of matter 366 in biochemistry 154 Denton, Michael J. 21, 22, 228 in biology 158–60 Chapter 13 (author) 256–79 at cosmic level 156–8 Descartes, René50n.2, 323 cultural 155 design 82–3, 84, 135–6 and design 82 “Designer” 32, 33 “eeriness” of 41 detergents, peptide 448 evolutionary 162, 298 deuterium114 in future evolution 160–4 abundance of 377, 380, 381 higher-level 210–13 Dicke, Robert 71–2, 137 in phenotypes 208 Dicke superradiance 399 related to environment 64 Dirac, Paul 71, 137 of temperature 328 divergence 215–16 Conway Morris, Simon 321 divine action 33, 34, 36 Chapter 11 (author) 197–224 Dobson, Chris M. 242 and convergence 39–40, 41–2, 43, 298 Dobzhansky, Theodosius 62n.19 and inevitability of evolution 146, 170, 298 Dodson, Bert 225 and “ultra-Darwinists” 60, 308 Donohue, Jerry 353n.1 Cooke, Josiah 134 drift in evolution 294–7 Copenhagen interpretation 138 dualism, Cartesian 67 Cope’s Rule 326 Dzuba, Vladimir 142 Coppens, Yves 58 Corey, Robert B. 266 earth, early history of 225 Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) 114, 120 “East Side Story” 58 cosmic microwave background 72, 118, 124, 366 ecomorphs 210–11 cosmic purpose 32, 33, 34, 36 Eddington, Arthur 71, 72 divine 32 Edsall, John T. 5, 6

494 Index

efficiency of photosynthesis 401 structuralismin 393 Einstein, Albert 54n.10, 78, 97, 323 trends in 322–6, 337–9 Eldredge, Niles 322 viewed by inorganic chemists 456–88 electric force 142 in vitro 359 electron transfer 173–4 existence, extent of 98 electroweak scale 120 exobiology 282, 283 elements exons 469 abundance of 367, 369, 373, 377, 380 extinctions 164 biological 460–5 extraterrestrial intelligence 126–8 heavy 27–9 extraterrestrial life 164 instability of mass 5 27, 28–9 extremophiles 104–5, 107, 108, 182, 390 emergence 31, 33, 63 Ezekiel 397, 404 of protein-based life 256–76 enclosures, pre-membrane 443–4 Fandrich, Marcus 242 endothermy 329n.5 Fatigue Laboratory 4 energy 186–9 fauna, Cambrian 160 as determinant of biological structure 331 feedback loops 213 and evolution 477–8 “feed-down” 404–8 in living things 172–6 fields, scalar 137 nuclear 478 fine-structure constant 139–40, 143–4 entelechy 56–7 possible time variation of 123–6, 138, 142 entropy xi fine-tuning 31–46, 70–92, 135–6, 169 and evolution 485 and anthropic principles 386–8 environment in biochemistry 153–4 cosmic 97–112 in chemistry 140–7 human influence on 476–7 for metabolism 384–416 link to biological structure 385 “nomic” 75 relation to life 394–5 in physics and cosmology 136–8 role in evolution 457, 466, 476–7 in stars and atoms 139–40 enzymes 171–2 Finkelstein, Alexei V. 266 equilibrium, punctuated 396 Fischer–Tropsch reaction 429 Eschenmoser, Albert 201, 397 fish, Arctic and Antarctic 159 Chapter 16 (author) 349–65 Fisher, Ronald 62n.19 etiology 350 fitness “landscape” 295–7, 298 eugenics 324 Fitness of the Environment, eukaryogenesis 161 The 5–7, 20–30, 38–6 eukaryotes Flambaum, Victor 142 emergence of 390 Flanagan, Owen 43 multicellular 470–5 folding see protein folding unicellular 465–9 formamide 425 Europa 161 Fowler, William29, 258, 387, 409, 413, 415 evolution xv Fox, Sidney W. 399 conditions for 320 fractals 101 Darwinian 290–1 Frauenfelder, Hans 270 directed by environment 466 Fraústoda Silva, JoãoJoséR. 200, 319 and DNA 484 Chapter 21 (author) 456–89 end points of 478–9, 485 free energy 396, 397, 398 of energy sources 477–8 fromradioactivity 402 and entropy 485 free-energy “landscape” 237–41, 245, 246, 270 future of 217–18, 476 Freeland, Stephen J.: Chapter 14 (author) 280–317 gradualismin 393 Freeman, Gary 214 “horizontal” 485 Friedmann equation 125 inevitability of 81, 205–6, 216–17, 307–9, 457, 487 future of evolution 476 influence of toxins on 477 molecular basis of 214 Gaia 339 “noise” and drift in 294–7 galaxies, formation of 121 possible final steady state of 478–9 Gamow, George 27 prebiotic 245 Gassendi, Pierre 323 predictability of 199–200, 289–92 Geller, Uri 43 progress in 337–9 genes purpose in 337–9 as gatekeepers 391–4

Index 495

lateral transfer of 394 Harrison, Edward 86n.19 regulatory 163 Haught, John F. 65n.21, 152, 338 genetic code 178, 284 Chapter 3 (author) 31–48 frozen or adaptable? 300–1 Hawking, Stephen 72, 73n.6, 98 genetic conservation 213 Heisenberg uncertainty principle 140 genetic innovation 213 helices (in proteins) 227, 232, 237, 249, 260, 263, 265 genetics of Marx 324 combinations of 265, 266, 267 genome 181 constraints on 237 minimal 405–6 in core 263 viral 299 and hydrogen bonds 236, 247 geometry and Pauling 247, 266 of cellular life 404–5 stability of 242, 266 non-Euclidean 70–1 helium27, 114 Gibbs equilibrium396 abundance of 377 Gilbert, Walter 433 heliumion chemistry376 Gillespie, Rosemary 210 hemerythrin 204, 205 Gilson, Etienne 62n.17 hemoglobin xviii, 204, 205, 260, 262, 264 Gingerich, Owen 308n.4 Henderson, Lawrence J. 63, 256–8, 350, 351, 352, Chapter 2 (author) 20–30 388, 410 globin fold 263, 264, 271, 273 conclusion to his book 29–30 God 35, 36, 38, 61, 62, 98 and cosmic evolution 250 contingent 99 and design 84 as Creator 75–6, 89, 90, 91, 155, 290, 291, 308 and environment 20–3, 83–6, 100, 153, 225, 249, Einstein’s 97 275, 320, 384 nature of 99–100 later support for 259, 269, 354 gods, multiple 102 legacy of 109–12 Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von 268 life and achievements of 3–16, 134–5 Gonzalez, Guillermo 133 and multiverse 84 Göring, Hermann 429n.2 and nature as an organism275 Gould, Stephen Jay 44, 60, 81n.15, 289n.1, 290, and water 197 308, 322 heterotrophs 390, 398 challenged by Conway Morris 39 histones 469 and contingency 44, 57, 324 Hoagland, Mahlon 225 and Lewinton 293, 296 Hoang, Trinh X. 242 and metaphysics 90 Hofman, Michel A. 217 and “NOMA” 90 Hofmeister, Franz 4 and primacy of chance 53, 58, 146, 208, 297, Homans, George 5 318, 323 homeotherms 328n.4 gradients 487 homochirality 179 chemotactic 482 homoplasy 211, 215 of conducting ions 474 Horsehead nebula 374 gravitational, magnetic, chemical 465 Hoyle, Fred 152, 415 of pH 404 and carbon resonance 28, 79, 116, 139, 258, 384, of voltage 404 386, 411–13 gradualism393 and Gamow spoof 27 grand unification 120, 139 and initial conditions 410 graviton 118 and probability 281 gravity Hubble, Edwin 70, 114 modified theory of 119 Hubble telescopes 114 Newtonian 142 humankind 475–6 quantum138 vulnerability of 477 Gray, Asa 53, 290, 291 Humphrey, Nicholas 42 GTP 173 Hurst, Lawrence D. 301 Guth, Alan 76, 87 Huxley, Thomas 53n.8, 324, 330 hydrogen 84 H-theorem396 hyperfine transition in 370 Haig, David 301 molecular 372 Haldane, J. B. S. 134 radio emission by 371 Haldane, J. S. 14–15, 134 role in biochemistry 135 Haller, Albrecht von 289n.1 hydrogen bonding 25, 26 haplodiploidy 212 hydrogen peroxide 24

496 Index

“hydrophobic effect” 425 Lavoisier, Antoine 367 hyperfine transition 370 Le Chatelier principle 379, 397 Le Chatelier stability 403 Idealism65 Leakey, Richard 58 inflation 77, 78, 88, 101 least action principles 137 eternal 122, 133, 137 Lee, Marcus C. S. 273, 336 information Lee, Ronald 339 binary 307 Leibniz, Gottfried 137 biological 176–9, 189–90, 479–84 Lemaˆıtre,Georges 70 definition of 479–80 Levitt, Michael 263 flow of 392 Lewontin, Richard 293, 296 speed of transfer of 482 Lieb, Elliott 140 stored in brain 475 life inherency, evolutionary 206 cradle of 192–3 inheritance, robustness of 392 definition of xii–xiii, 170, 394 initial conditions 138, 410, 414 early 389 innovation, genetic 213 features of 225 intelligence history of 333–7 inevitability of 54 improbability of xi–xix in plants 209–10 inevitability of 283, 487 “Intelligent Design” 40, 46, 52n.6, 76n.10, necessarily carbon-based? 422–3 291 organic building blocks of 183–5 and “abiotic infusion” 55, 56 origins of 200–2, 362–4, 421–5, 436 and complexity 57, 60 oxidative 401 inter-organismal investment 334 probability of 193–4 introns 469 requisites of 182–91 ions, abundance of 380 stability of xiv Irving–Williams series 462 unique biochemistry of 355–62 “isotopomers” 372, 381 lifespan 335–6 Lillie, Ralph S. 11–12 James, Leo C. 270, 271 Linde, Andrei 78 Jay, Daniel G. 433 Linnaeus, Carl 289 Jonas, Hans 338 LINUS (computer program) 267 Jupiter 128 lipids 179–81, 190, 259, 299, 390, 405, 430 Kaluza–Klein models 125 archaeal 430 Kant, Immanuel 308n.4, 415 liposomes 190 Karplus, Martin 270 Livio, Mario: Chapter 7 (author) 114–31 Kauffman, Stuart A. 109 Locascio, Annamaria 214 Keck telescope 142 Loeb, Jacques 6 Kendrew, John C. 262 Lovejoy, Arthur 67, 68 Kepler, Johannes 122, 228, 246 Lowe, Christopher J. 214 Khalturin, Konstantin 214 Lowell, Abbott Lawrence 4 Kimura, Motoo 243 Luisi, Pier Luigi 432 King, Jack L. 243 Lull, Richard Swann 291 Kleiber, Max 330 lunar ranging 120 Klemperer, William: Chapter 17 (author) 366–83 Kolakowski, Leszek 51, 52n.7 M theory 101, 122 Kolesnikov, Alexander I. 106 Mack, Richard N. 216 Kornberg, Arthur 226 magnets 236 Krebs cycle 175, 185, 403 Mahan, Bruce Herbert 376 Kuiper belt 158 Maimonides, Moses 52n.6 Kurtz, Donald M., Jr. 205 “many worlds” 138 Maritan, Amos 268, 271, 275 Lamarck, Jean-Baptiste 290, 291, 456, 484 Chapter 12 (author) 225–55 “landscape” Mars 106 of fitness 295–7, 298 possible life on 194, 258, 288 see also free-energy “landscape” search for life on 161 Langevin rate 376 Marx, Karl 56n.12 language 483 genetics of 324 laser ranging, lunar see lunar ranging mass, scaling of 329–33

Index 497

matter Morowitz, Harold J. 109, 184, 426 density of 366 Chapter 18 (author) 384–420 phases of 228–9 Mulder, Gerrit Jan 259 Maupertuis, Pierre Louis 137 “multimers” 185–6, 187 Maurer, Armand 61 multiverse 73, 83, 87–9, 90, 111, 137–8, 169, 282, MAXIMA 124 308 Maxwell, James Clerk 136, 146 and carbon abundance 413 Maxwell–Boltzmann distribution 146 fitness of 100–4 Mayr, Ernst 296, 297 and Henderson 84, 85 McMullin, Ernan: Chapter 5 (author) 70–94 and inflation 78–9 membrane proteins 179–81 and range of existence 98 membranes 179–81, 190 “reason” for 90 development of 467 muonic atoms 148 early 430–2 Murchison meteorite 156, 157, 444 necessary for life? 426–7 Murphy, Michael 142 primitive 427–9 mutations 243 Mendel, Gregor 294 stochastic 293 Mendelsohn, Everett L.: Chapter 1 (author) 3–19 Mycoplasma genitalium xiv, 405 Merz, John Theodore 6 Mesozoic era 160 NAD 174 messengers, chemical 468 NADH 404 metabolism 397–403 Nagel, Thomas 66n.22 core 406–8 nanotubes 445–50 fine-tuning for 384–416 nanovesicles 445–50 reducing 397–401, 402, 415 NASA 104, 283 scaling of 329–33 native-state protein structures 232 metals, abundance of 412–13 natural selection 11, 12, 41, 55, 63, 158, 162 metaphysics 49–68, 307–9 briefly defined 281 Aristotelian 56 and Henderson 10, 15 definition of 49n.1 insufficiency of 34, 40 meteorites 201 and natural theology 61 Ivuna and Orgueil 156, 444 of proteins 243, 274 Murchison 156, 157, 444 natural theology 7, 61, 62, 152–3, 154, 164 methane 24 naturalism, right-wing 46 micelles 433 Needham, Joseph 134 microbes 104 networks 226 influence on higher organisms 206 Newton, Isaac 29, 136 social 209–10 Nicolson, Garth L. 426 microwave background see cosmic microwave Nietzsche, Friedrich 68 background nihilism308 Milky Way 366 “noise” in evolution 294–7, 333 Miller, Stanley 183, 188, 302, 303, 423, 435, NTP 177, 186, 187, 189, 194 457 nuclear energy 478 Milne, Edward Arthur 135 nuclei, stability of 139 mind, inevitability of 218 nucleosynthesis 156, 157 miracles 42 numerosity 217 Misner, Charles 72 mitochondria 178 Oakes, Edward T.: Chapter 4 (author) molecular biology, summary of 283–7 49–69 molecules Oklo natural reactor 124 heavy ones in space 373 omega (in cosmology) 73n.5 hybrid 428 Oört cloud 158 organic, in space 373 organelles 471 rotational spectra of 371 organic molecules in space 373 self-assembly of 440–52 Orgel, Leslie E. 435 Monod, Jacques 169, 194, 256, 271, 308, 393 origins xi–xii and catalysis 259 Orion molecular cloud 372, 379 and chance 269 orthogenesis 291–2 and nature’s indifference 38 Ourisson, Guy 190 monopole, magnetic 77n.11 Chapter 19 (author) 421–39 Monte Carlo simulations 237 Owen, Richard 256, 268

498 Index

oxygen 23, 24–6, 27–9, 74, 84 prebiotic earth xi–xii, xv, xvii, xviii absence on early earth 460 simulations of 304 abundance of 27, 28 Primus, Alex 214 addition to oceans 390 “Principle of Indifference” 23, 72, 74, 77, 78, 85, 88, in atmosphere 403 91 atomic, in space 378 “principle of mediocrity” 116, 120, 121 nuclear resonance in 79, 258 Prins reaction 431 as a poison 403 process theology see natural theology role in biochemistry 135 Proclus 61 ozone 24, 128, 474, 480 progress, abiotic to biotic 395–7 prokaryotes 389 Paleozoic era 160 in extreme environments 390 Paley, William7, 53, 57, 60, 135 propulsion, bacterial 197 parallelism, evolutionary 215 Protein Data Bank 237 Parascandola, John 5 protein design 303 Pareto, Vilfredo 5 protein folding 228, 232, 236, 239, 241, 242, Pascal, Blaise 68, 318, 339 256–76 Paterno–Büchireaction 431 fitness of 270–3 Paul, John 328 and hydrogen bonds 26 Pauling, Linus 25, 236, 247, 266 limitations of 246, 260–2 Pearl, Raymond 13 Monte Carlo simulation of 241 peptide detergents 448 rate of 239 peptides restrictions on 267–8 amphiphilic 452 unique fitness of? 273–5 as early catalysts 185 see also superfolds lipid-like 457 proteins “periodic table” of proteins 262, basic simplicity of 249 268–70 functions of 247 Perutz, Max 262, 263, 264 interactions of 244 phase diagramwith tubes 237, 239 morphology of 265–8 phase transition overview of 259–60 in proteins 244, 249, 268 role in terrestrial life 225–50 in tubes 235 taxonomy of 262–5 phases of matter 228–9 proton, lifetime of 123 phosphorylations 174, 175 Prout, William8, 134 photochemical relaxation 401–2 Prout’s hypothesis 8 photodissociation 401 pruning rule 413 photosynthesis 105, 211, 401–2 Przytycka, Teresa 269 efficiency of 401 Ptitsyn, Oleg B. 266 origin of 464 punctuated equilibrium396 physicists, culture of 147 purpose 153, 154 physics divine 339 and fine-tuning 136–8 in evolution 337–9 statistical 395 see also cosmic purpose Planck scale 120 pyrite 188 planets pyrophosphate 187 atmospheres of 380 extrasolar 126, 161 quantumfield theory 97 plants, intelligence of? 209–10 quantumgravity 138, 152 plate tectonics 106 quantummechanics Plato 67 Copenhagen interpretation of 138 Platonism64, 67 and early life 108–9 “pocket universes” 121, 123 “many worlds” interpretation of 138 Poiseuille flow 331 quasar spectra 142, 378 Polkinghorne, John 152 “quintessence” 118–19 polymers cross-linking of 471 radio astronomy 371, 381 RNA 274 radio emission porphyrins xviii by ammonia 370 positronium148 by hydrogen 371 prayer 42 by molecular clouds 371

Index 499

Ramachandran, Gopalasamudram N. 247, 265 Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Ramachandran plot 265 see SETI Randi, James 43 self-assembly, molecular 440–52 Ray, John 82 self-organization 385 reactions Seno, Flavio 242 autocatalytic xviii sensitivity redox 173 in chaotic systems 146–7 recombination 121 and chemistry 132–48 redox reactions 173 in complex systems 388–9 redox stress 397 minimizing 389 redshifts 114, 115 in networks 144–7 reductionism37 SETI 58, 65, 161, 169 reductions, biosynthetic 175–6 Shannon, Claude E. 386 Rees, Martin 100 Shapiro, Robert 57n.13 relativity 142–4 sheets (in proteins) 227, 232, 237, 249, 260, 263, 265, relaxation 402, 404, 408 266, 267 and core metabolism 397–403 constraints on 265 photochemical 401–2 in core 263 resonance in carbon xiv, 12 28–9, 79, 139, 258, 384, and hydrogen bonds 236, 242, 247 386, 409, 410, 411–13 and Pauling 247 and not-so-fine-tuning 117 Shekman, Randy 273 respiratory proteins 203–5 siderophores 466 Reynolds number 389 silicon as basis for life 422–3 ribose 304 simplicity in protein structure 249 ribozymes 172, 185, 274, 305, 361, 391, Simpson, George Gaylord 323 445 simulations 102–3 Richards, Jay W. 133 Singer, S. Jonathan 426 Richards, Theodore W. 4 Slipher, Vesto 114 Ringsdorf, Helmut 432 Smith, Adam 474 RNA folding 287 Smith, Eric: Chapter 18 (author) 384–420 RNA world xvi, 185, 305, 360, 399 Smith, Maynard 243, 456 Robinson, Edwin Arlington 3, 4n.1 Social Darwinism324 Robinson Crusoe 54 Society of Fellows 4 robustness in chemical transitions 402–3 solar system106 ROSETTA (computer program) 267 Sommer, R. J. 215 Rossman fold 263 space Royce, Josiah 8, 135 bombardment of earth from xi rTCA cycle 398–400, 402, 403, 404, dimensionality of 133 405 extra dimensions of 138 Rubner, Max 330 species 484–5 Rudel, David 215 spectroscopy, absorption 367 Russell, Bertrand 8 Spencer, Herbert 289 Rutherford, Ernest 20 spin glasses 245 spongiformencephalopathies 241 Salpeter, Edwin 28, 127 stability “saltations” 53 and change 213–15 Salthe, Stanley 327 of life xiv Sandvik, H˚avard Bunes 126 stars Sanger, Frederick 261 formation of 115, 116, 121 Sarton, George 4 massive 71n.2 Sasisekharan, V. 265 thermonuclear reactions in 140 scaling statistical physics 395 of lifespans 334–5 “Strasbourg scenario” 421, 430–2 mass and metabolism 329–33 string theory 101, 122, 132 Schloss, Jeffrey P.: Chapter 15 (author) 318–46 structuralism393, 394 Schrödinger, Erwin 170, 299 Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite 377 Schrödingerequation 110, 140–1, 152 superfolds 264 Schwann, Theodore 256 supergravity 121 scientific method xii supernovas 117, 156 “scientific naturalism” 42–3, 44 type II 157 search algorithm293 superradiance 399

500 Index

symmetry Monte Carlo simulations with 237 breaking of 138 phase diagramof 237, 239 in protein structure 244, 245, 246 phase transition of 235 synthesis Turing machine 103 chemical 349–50 of nuclei in stars uncertainty principle 140 see nucleosynthesis universality, biological 389–97 of nucleic acids 178 universe of proteins 178, 179 accelerated expansion of 117 system, chaotic 146–7 composition of 122 Szathmáry, Eörs305, 307, 456 fine-tuning of 376 universes, multiple tautomers, defined 353n.3 see multiverse Tawfik, Dan S. 270, 271 unpredictability 292–7 tectonics see plate tectonics Urey, Harold 188, 302 Tegmark, Max 98, 101 teleology 13, 53, 101, 135, 151, 154, 275, 321n.2, 393 vacuum adaptive 11 de Sitter 123 Aristotelian 15, 29 false 123 in biochemistry 153 polarization of 139 and Conway Morris 41 Vacuemenergy 126 and Darwin 56, 60 Vacuemstate 132 devitalized 13 vents, ocean 104, 199 and Henderson 7, 9–11, 15, 29, 85, 153, 257 Venus 21, 318–46 and Lillie 12 Vermeij, Geerat 327 and Marx 56n.12 vesicles 429 and Royce 8 Vilenkin, Alexander 78n.12 temperature of interstellar matter 367, 374 viscosity 197 template molecule 177–8 vitalism13, 15 Tennyson, Alfred 337 vitamins 473 terpenes 422, 432 Voet, Donald 266 theodicy 61 Voet, Judith G. 266 theology volcanoes 187, 188–9, 192, 398 Aristotelian 52 Voltaire 294 Catholic 290 and Darwinism152 Wächtershäuser, Günter184, 188, 400 metaphysical 52 Wagner, Andreas 208 see also natural theology Wald, George 16, 49, 402 “Theory of Everything” 137 Wallace, Alfred Russel 134 thermonuclear reactions in stars 140 Ward, Peter 133, 169 thermoregulation 327–9 water 9, 20–2, 84, 183 thioesters 175, 176, 186, 187, 188 abundance of 27 Thirring model 97 central to life 170, 386, 440 Thomas Aquinas complexity of 441 see Aquinas, Saint Thomas in molecular clouds 377 Tipler, Frank 20, 72n.4, 88n.21 molecule of 25–6 Titan 184 necessary for life? 425–6 Tooze, John 266 prebiotic role 440–52 topology of cellular life 404–5 properties of 197 toxins and evolution 477 special features of 6, 104–7, 110, 134 transcription 287 structure of 440–3 transduction, transmembrane 397 Watson, James 259, 353n.1, 457 trends Watson–Crick base pairing 352–5, 356–9 bioenergetic 326–9 Weaver, Warren 386 in evolution 322–6, 337–9 Webb, John 123, 124, 125, 126, 142 of inter-organismal investment 334 Weber, Arthur 303 Trovato, Antonio 242 Weismann, August 294 tubes (in protein model) 228–9, 232–6, 268, 271, Wellington, Duke of 108 275 West, Geoffrey B. 330, 331, 332, 333, compared with data 236–7 334 marginally compact 230–2, 234, 237 Westheimer, Frank H. 435

Index 501

Whaling, Ward 387, 409, 413 Wilson, Edward O. 36, 37 Whewell, William20, 50n.2, 135 Wittgenstein, Ludwig 49, 51n.3, Whitehead, Alfred North 4, 8, 152 52n.4 Whitesides, George M.: Foreword (author) xi–xi Wolynes, Peter G. 239 Wickramasinghe, Chandra 410 Wray, Greg A. 214 Wieland, Theodor 186 Wigner, Eugene 66n.23 Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Xogen 371 115, 120, 122 Williams, George C. 296, 324 Williams, Robert Joseph Paton 200, 319 Zhang, Shuguang 429 Chapter 21 (author) 456–89 Chapter 20 (author) 440–55