Intro
Preface
Objectives
Acknowledgments
Contents
1: Prologue
1.1 Genesis
1.2 Early Theories of the Origin of Life
1.3 Panspermia
1.4 Abiogenesis: The Oparin-Haldane Theory
1.5 The Miller-Urey Experiment: Life in a Test Tube
1.6 Clue from Outer Space
1.7 Conclusions
References
2: Defining Life
2.1 What Is Life?
2.2 Attributes of Life
2.3 Attempts to Define Life
2.4 Conclusions
References
3: Biological Information Systems
3.1 The Concept of Information in Biology
3.2 Biological Information Systems

3.3 Where Did Life's Information Systems Begin?
3.4 Destruction of Information: The Key to Abiogenesis
3.5 Transfer of Information
3.6 Prebiotic Information Systems
3.7 Conclusions
References
4: Origin of Life: A Model of Hierarchical Complexity
4.1 The Complexity of Living Systems
4.2 The Hierarchy of Prebiotic Synthesis of Organic Compounds
4.3 The Cosmic Stage
4.4 The Geological Stage
4.5 The Chemical Stage
4.6 The Digital Information Stage
4.7 The Biological Stage
4.8 Conclusions
References
5: Cosmic Connections

5.1 Supernova Explosion and the Origin of the Solar System
5.2 Asteroids and Comets
5.3 The Hadean Eon: The Origin of Earth and the Moon
5.4 Moon-Forming Impact and Iron Catastrophe
5.5 After the Moon's Formation
5.6 Collision and Creation: The Building Blocks of Life
5.7 The Solvent of Life
5.8 Conclusions
References
6: The Cradle of Life
6.1 Geological Constraints on the Origin of Life
6.2 A Habitable Eoarchean World
6.2.1 Eoarchean Crustal Evolution
6.2.2 Impact Origin of Archean Cratons

6.3 Habitat of Hyperthermophiles: A Window to Life's Beginnings
6.4 Hydrothermal Systems and the Prebiotic Environment
6.5 Geologic Setting of Hydrothermal Systems
6.5.1 Submarine Hydrothermal Vents
6.5.1.1 Black Smokers
6.5.1.2 Lost City
6.5.2 Arguments Against Submarine Hydrothermal Vents
6.5.3 Terrestrial Hydrothermal Systems
6.5.3.1 Darwin's Warm Little Pond Revisited
6.5.3.2 Impact-Generated Hydrothermal Crater Lakes
6.6 Morphology and Distribution of the Impact Crater Lakes
6.7 Reconstruction of Impact Crater Lakes in the Vaalbara Supercontinent

6.8 Microbial Colonization in Impact Crater Lakes
6.9 The Plausible Cradle for Life's Beginnings
6.10 Conclusions
References
7: Bioenergetics and Primitive Metabolism
7.1 Thermodynamics and Energy Conversions
7.2 Energy Sources for Emerging Life
7.3 Global Energy Sources
7.3.1 Solar Energy
7.3.2 Impact Shock Waves
7.4 Energy Sources in Localized Environments
7.4.1 Thermal Energy
7.4.2 Chemical Energy
7.4.3 Electrochemical Energy
7.5 Metabolic Energy
7.5.1 The Origin of Metabolism
7.5.2 The Role of Mineral Surfaces in Protometabolism