The Quest for a Universal Theory of Life: Searching for Life As We Don't Know ItIntegrating both scientific and philosophical perspectives, this book provides an informed analysis of the challenges of formulating a universal theory of life. Among the issues discussed are crucial differences between definitions and scientific theories and, in the context of examples from the history of science, how successful general theories develop. The central problem discussed is two-fold: first, our understanding of life is still tacitly wedded to an antiquated Aristotelian framework for biology; and second, there are compelling reasons for considering that familiar Earth life, which descends from a last universal common ancestor, is unrepresentative. What is needed are examples of life as we don't know it. Potential sources are evaluated, including artificial life, extraterrestrial life, and a shadow biosphere right here on Earth, and a novel strategy for searching for unfamiliar life in the absence of a definition or general theory is developed. The book is a valuable resource for graduate students and researchers studying the nature, origins, and extent of life in the universe. |
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The Quest for a Universal Theory of Life: Searching for Life As We Don't Know It Carol E. Cleland No preview available - 2019 |
Common terms and phrases
abiotic abstract ALife alternative amino acids anomalies archaea Aristotle Aristotle,s astrobiologists autopoiesis basic biofilms biologists carbon causal cell century Chapter characteristics contingent criteria Darwinian evolution defining descriptive theory discovery discussed in Section early Earth empirical environment eukarya eukaryotes evolutionary example explain extraterrestrial familiar Earth formulate functional genes genetic genome geochemical living things logical LR experiment Martian metabolic microbes microbial communities microbial world microorganisms models molecular molecules motion nanobacteria nanobes natural kind natural kind terms natural phenomena natural selection necessary and sufficient Newton,s nonliving nonstandard definitions nucleic acids nucleobases nutrient oligomers ontology origin philosophers physical pluralist principles problem processes prokaryotes proteins question reproduction RNA oligomers RNA World scientific theories scientifically fruitful scientists semantic conception shadow biosphere shadow microbes SM World species structure sufficient conditions synthesized theoretical concepts theoretical framework theoretical identity statements thermodynamic unicellular universal biology universal theory viruses