A Brief History of Creation ─ Science and the Search for the Origin of Life

From the ancient belief that mice sprang from stores of grainto cutting-edge debates in modern science, this is the storyof humankind’s search for the “how” of life’s creation. Thevery existence of God has often seemed to hinge on whetherlife can, or cannot, spring from nonlife. From Leeuwenhoek’sdiscovery of a teeming world of microbes to Pasteur’s defenseof divinity, astonishing discoveries and vast achievements havebeen driven by our obsession with this enduring mystery. ABrief History of Creation beautifully and accessibly narratesthe stories of these scientists who dared to address the mostchallenging question of all. Today, debates rage between “ventists”who believe life originated in underwater volcanoes andthose who believe that simple organisms self-assembled fromingredients delivered from outer space or formed in the earth’searly toxic atmosphere. But even if we soon have the answer,can we ever know “why” life began?