Announcing My Book on How Life Started!!!

Back in 2004 in order to complete my Chemistry Degree, I decided to take an Introduction to Philosophy class. It was here that the professor informed us that one of life's biggest questions, exactly how life had started on Earth, was not yet answered! I was so taken aback by this revelation that I nearly toppled over backwards in my chair. For nearly two decades I was under the mistaken impression that we knew exactly how it all had happened. The reason I was under such an impression was because back in the summer of 1987 I had read the Scientific American book called Molecules to Living Cells. By the end of which, I remember, being very convinced that we already knew exactly how life had started; but then again, I was only seventeen and, I guess, very impressionable.

Well that same day in 2004 when I returned home from my philosophy class, I found Molecules to Living Cells and began rereading it. By the time I had read the first quarter of the introduction, I realized that- yes- I was a very impressionable seventeen year-old. Back in 1987 I was only five years an atheist, and just beginning to hone my critical thinking skills. Impressionable or not, the articles in that book are very profound and convincing. What else could have been expected from an impressionable seventeen year old, when they were written by some of the most brilliant scientists of the twentieth century. So I thought, consoling myself, with that kind of mental prowess behind these articles anyone would have been convinced; especially, when it fits their world view.

Shortly after reading the book for the first time, my world view and belief- that we knew exactly how life had started- was further solidified when I became a junior biomedical investigator in the Institute of Animal Behavior at Rutger's University in Newark, New Jersey during the summer of 1989. There, under the guidance of Dr. Barry Komizaruk, I learned how to conduct double-blind experiments and do proper research using scientific journals. While working in that laboratory, I assisted Dr. Komizaruk and his colleagues with their experiments in neuro-anatomy, isotope assays of proteins, and even performed surgery on live rats as controls for their experiments. After seeing the scientific method in action, up close and personal, I was convinced that there was nothing- with its proper use- it could not solve. This belief was also continuously reinforced by the scientific method's ever increasing body of published successes, and my witnessing of their application to an array of astounding modern technologies.

It was, precisely, because I was so aware of these successes that I was later so taken aback by my philosophy professor's statement. Until that moment, I was content in my world view and had held it as being irrefutable. That was also precisely the moment that I realized what my new goal in life would be. That new goal was to develop the theory that would precisely explain how life began on Earth. Since that moment, and for over a decade, I have incessantly contemplated and researched this very question until I came up with its solution! This book is the explanation of that solution!

I had researched this question so incessantly, that I alienated all my friends and relatives; almost my wife and kids too. I had spent nearly every waking moment reading through all my books on: organic chemistry, biochemistry, molecular cell biology, and genetics (among others); and when I was not reading, I was on-line. On-line researching the questions that I produced during my time contemplating my theory. Which was most of the time that I was not either reading or on-line. This incessant contemplation was also what made me more forgetful, absent minded, and not present in my personal life; making it very empty. In spite of all that, and with my wife and kids' continued love and support, I was able to achieve my goal! The elucidation of that goal is the purpose of this book.

The goal- that I worked for over a decade to achieve- was to produce a theory that would explain exactly how life emerged on Earth. Well, after so many years of dedication and sacrifice, not only did I produce a theory that works and has published evidence supporting it, I also discovered an emergent mechanism that is the central theme of my theory. A mechanism that arose from the undeniable and ever present forces of nature. A mechanism that was subject to evolutionary pressures and natural selection. A mechanism that- once set in motionwould inevitably result in the emergence of life on Earth or anywhere else these same conditions would converge.

This mechanism resulted in very specific conclusions about what its output would have been and what traces would have been left behind. Every time I came up with a specific trace of what this mechanism would have left behind; I researched it on-line. Every time I did so, I found evidence for it and not just any evidence- published peer-reviewed evidence. Published articles written by the most respected scientists in their respective fields. So there can be no question as to the validity of these articles; therefore every referenced article in this book should be seen as another validation of the predictive ability of my theory. That being the reason why- in this book- I have taken the bold step of calling my repeatedly confirmed hypothesis a theory.

In section one, Local Conditions of Prebiotic Earth, I elaborate first on the little known fact that, until recently, there was no consensus among geologist on what were the exact conditions on the Prebiotic Earth. I then used articles published more recently to show how my assertions on the conditions of Prebiotic Earth are supported. Next, I used modern observations of the forces of nature to help elucidate the conditions of Prebiotic Earth. And thus by showing how my assertions are supported I set the stage for explaining how my theory functioned.

In section two, Difficulties of Other Hypothesis, I list a series of assumptions that origin of life investigators have been using for years. I then proceed to break down every assumption, and show why these do not clarify how life arose on Earth. I then posed questions about life that naturally arise when these assumptions are challenged. These questions serve to help us better understand what life actually is; therefore, setting the stage where Emergent Chemical Evolution can answer these questions and fill in the gaps.

Finally in the section, Emergent Chemical Evolution, I give a detailed description of my theory. In this section I have one chapter that mathematically shows the output of its central emergent mechanism. In this section I also present in very clear materialistic steps an explanation of how chemicals coalesced and how their products evolved into becoming life. Then -for every materialistic step I describe- I present a published article by an imminent scientist in that field as evidence. Again and again at every step presenting evidence after evidence of why my theory, Emergent Chemical Evolution, is the best solution for the emergence of Life.