Resent-Date: Sat, 11 Jan 1997 11:24:25 -0800
From: "Eric D. Pyle" <Eric.D.Pyle-1@ou.edu>
To: "'scichr-list@eskimo.com'" <scichr-list@eskimo.com>

I just finished reading a book by Charles B. Thaxton, Walter L. Bradley, and 
Roger L. Olsen called _The Mystery of Life's Origin_ subtitled:
_reassessing current theories_

ISBN: 0-929510-02-8
(Lewis and Stanley, 1984 & 1992)

This book focuses almost entirely on Chemical Evolution and other
situtuations relating to abiogenesis.

The Chapters are:

Crisis in the Chemistry of Origins
The Theory of Biochemical Evolution
Simulation of Prebiotic Monomer Synthesis
The Myth of Prepiotic Soup
Reassessing the Early Earth and its Atmosphere
Plausibility and Investigator Interference
Thermodynamics of Living Systems
Thermodynamics and the Origin of Life
Specifying How Work is to be Done
Protocells
Summary and Conclusion

I wish to motivate those who have biochemistry background to read
this book.  It is chaulk full of chemical equations and reactions.
As well as statistics and probability calculations.

This is the most *scientific* theist book I have ever read.
I'm not educated enough in biochemistry to make a critique
of their conclusions.

The authors evaluate current abiogenesis theories and measure
their plausibility in light of current scientific knowledge.
They also use apply the second law of thermodynamics to chemical 
evolution and living systems by evaluating isolated, closed@equalibrium,
closed@far from equalibrium, open, and living systems with respect
to thermal and configurational entropy concepts.

Their conclusion after assessing major naturalistic pathways to life:

"...the undirected flow of energy through a primordial atmosphere and ocean
is at present a woefully inadequate explanation for the incredible complexity
associated with even simple living systems, and is probably wrong."

In the epilogue, alternative models are described and concidered, such as
panspermia, new natural laws, special creator within the cosmos, 
and special creator beyond the cosmos. 

Some interesting notes:

1.Most "successful" abiotic experiments include some sort
of investigator interference, thus testing a naturalistic hypothesis illegitimat
ely.

2. There is a need for determining acceptable investigator involvement in
abiotic experiments. 

3. Lack of connection between entropy and information.

4. Theories often take in to consideration chemical work, thermal entropy
work, or configurational entropy work, but no satisfactory theories include
both thermal entropy and configurational entropy in consideration.

5. Scientific theories often are made without geological considerations.

...

I am interested in reading a critique of this book by someone else on
this list who specializes or is well educated in bio-chemistry and 
has an interest in the plausibility of abiogenesis.

Eric D. Pyle