Life in the Universe: From the Miller Experiment to the Search for Life on other Worlds (Cellular Origin, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology): 7 - Softcover

Reseña del editor

H. BALTSCHEFFSKYChairman Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Arrhenius Laboratories, Stockholm University, S-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden. Professor Stanley Miller, Professor K. R. Srinivasan, Organizers and Sponsors of this Conference, Ladies and Gentlemen; WearegettingreadyfortheAbdusSalamLecture,honoringtwomostdistinguishedsci- tists. Bothhaveverysigni?cantlycontributedtotherapidgrowthofthesphereoffun- mentalknowledgeinthesecondhalfofthetwentiethcentury. Abdus Salam,theoreticalphysicist,NobelPrizewinner,creatorandlongtimeleader of The Abdus Salam Center of Theoretical Physics. With his active interest in the origin oflifeheplayedaleadingroleininstigatingtheseconferencesonChemicalEvolutionand theOriginofLifehereinTrieste,whichstillareofsuchprimaryimportanceinthis?eld. Heleftthisworldin1996. And Stanley Miller,whomostgenerously,astheAbdusSalamLecturer,isgoingto giveushis"Recollectionsofthebeginningofchemicalevolutionexperiments": DearStanley,itisagreatprivilege,andindeedapleasuretointroduceyou. Thisisina wayaquiteeasytask,becauseweallalreadyknowthat"theMillerexperiment",whichis mostappropriatelyplacedinthetitleofthisconference,in1953,exactly50yearsago,was amajorbreakthrough,openingupanewresearch?eldwith,andfor,rationalandadvanced chemicalexperimentationonthemolecularoriginoflife. Itwouldtaketoomuchtimetotrytodescribehereyourscienti?ccarrier,yourprices, yourPresidencyofISSOLandyourmanyothersuccesses. SoIratherwillendthisint- ductionwithacoupleofpersonalrecollections. First I would like to combine something of Abdus Salam and Stanley Miller. Abdus Salamgavethevery?rstinvitedlectureoftheUniversityofStockholmInternationalL- turesonHuman,GlobalandUniversalProblems,in1975. And10yearslater,atLidingo ¨ closetoStockholm,StanleyMillergavetheopeninglectureofaconferenceontheMol- ularEvolutionofLife. OnapictureItook,asaco-arrangeroftheseevents,Stanleyisseen approachinginhisusual,modestway,morefocussedonscienti?cdiscussionthanonthe camera. Last but not least, I shall tell you the true story about when we learned that Stanley isanenthusiasticenvironmentalist,inthebestsenseoftheword. About25yearsago,in Stockholm, Stanley, my wife and I strolled in the King's Garden. Its elmtrees were full 7 J. Seckbach et al. (eds. ), Life in the Universe,7-8. C 2004 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands. 8 of young people who, some even spending nights in the trees, prevented the authorities from removing the elmtrees, by ax and saw. Also Stanley signed a petition to save the elmtrees-andtheyweresaved! Stanley, I believe that your greatness as a scientist and as a friend must be linked to the many facets of your wonderful personality. We much look forward to your lecture. THE BEGINNING OF CHEMICAL EVOLUTION EXPERIMENTS Recollections and Perspectives 1 2 3 S. L. MILLER , J. L. BADA , and A.

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The year 2003 was the 50th anniversary of the seminal experiment of Stanley Miller. This was a unique opportunity for highlighting the current interest in this most interdisciplinary subject. The leading space agencies: the European Space Agency (ESA) as well as NASA, the American Space Agency, have planned missions that will elucidate some of the still unknown questions underlying research in the origin of life. New results are surpassing our ability to keep well informed: the reviews that we were presented at the Trieste meeting will bring the readers of this well-documented and timely book up to date in this fast-moving area.

An important component of the conference was the review of the Cassini-Huygens mission due to arrive in the Saturn system just one year after the conference convened in Trieste. There was particular interest in the status of the experiments that will take place inside the atmosphere of Titan, the large satellite, which is a testing ground for the theories and experiments in the field of chemical evolution.

The Jovian system is currently under study with the view of investigating the possibility of life underneath the frozen surface of the Galilean moon Europa; the ESA mission "Mars Express" and Mars Odyssey received special attention. Some of the world leaders in the field gathered in Trieste in September 2003 - that was a most timely date for reviewing recent data and discussing the prospects of future research.