How did life begin? Did it start here, by blind chance or by necessity, or was Earth seeded by extraterrestrial visitors? (And, if so, how did they arise?) Physicist and science writer Paul Davies tackles these heavy questions and more in The Fifth Miracle: The Search for the Origin and Meaning of Life, a wide-ranging survey of the field of biogenesis. From the "Martian meteorite" ALH84001 to the hardy microorganisms living on--and under!--our sea beds, Davies looks for evidence pointing toward our first ancestor. His willingness to consider any possibility makes for a fun, fascinating journey through our solar system and beyond.

The Fifth Miracle provides convincing arguments that life flourishes, and may indeed have begun, deep within the earth's crust, and not in Darwin's "warm little pond." And if in our planet's crust, why not in others'? Indeed, he shows that it is not just possible but likely that living organisms have passed between Earth and Mars embedded within meteorites. Davies's command of the data and his facility with explaining it to nonprofessionals give the lie to his self-description as "a simple-minded physicist" intruding in another's domain. The best scientists hate to see questions finally answered and love to see new ones raised; by that standard (and by any other), The Fifth Miracle is a first-rate book of scientific speculation. --Rob Lightner


From Publishers Weekly
With ease and charm, and without dumbing down the pertinent technical and philosophical issues, popular-science writer Davies (Are We Alone?: The Philosophical Basis of the Search for Extraterrestrial Life, etc.) combines research results from disparate fields to explore possible approaches to the question of biogenesis. Although he was trained as a physicist, Davies skillfully draws together insights from hot areas in microbiologyAsuch as the study of extremophiles (bacteria that thrive in dangerous levels of acidity, cold, heat, radioactivity), the discovery of a third domain of life and the controversy over whether traces of carbon on Martian meteorites are actually fossilized bacteriaAin his pursuit of a fundamental question: What is the origin of biological (and thus genetic) information? He is skeptical that purely biochemical forces could spark the leap from nonlife to life. At stake is another question: Is the universe bio-friendly? Davies believes that the answers to these questions involve identifying a new "law" of nature, which may come from advances in information and complexity theory. He contends it is possible that quantum mechanics also may be found to play a role in the relationship between life and the universe at large. This book is sure to engage and provoke readers curious about the raging controversies over the origin of life, on Earth or elsewhere. Seven line drawings. Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From School Library Journal
YA-In recent years, scientists have made huge strides in understanding the origin and scientific nature of life. New discoveries have been made about its persistence in places previously believed impossible-deep inside the Earth's crust, inside volcanic vents, under extremely high and low temperatures, in radioactive environments, in space, and perhaps even in meteorites from Mars. These discoveries have overturned many past assumptions and offer future scientists a whole new set of challenges and possibilities. Touching upon the variety of approaches it is possible to take to this new information, Davies shows how the philosophical debates of past generations are still being played out by physicists, chemists, and biologists. Although much of the material here is highly technical-especially in the first chapters, which deal with the mysteries and complexities of genetic information-the author writes with a clarity that makes it possible to grasp the outlines even when all of the details might not be fully understood. In an approachable style, using logic, analogy, and fascinating fact, he poses ideas in terms that teens should find reader-friendly. Those reading at a high comprehension level who are interested in philosophy, pure science, computer science, space science, or science fiction will be brought up to speed regarding recent developments in the field, and gain a broad perspective on these important questions.Christine C. Menefee, Fairfax County Public Library, VA Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
In 1966, NASA scientists announced that they had detected evidence of microbial life in a Martian meteorite. In 1977, researchers discovered bizarre biological organisms living near hydrothermal vents in the deep ocean. What do these two events have in common? Possibly, they offer an explanation for the origin of life on Earth and even elsewhere in the universe. This subject is somewhat of a departure for Davies, who has written several books popularizing physics, astronomy, and the philosophy of science. Still, nobody is better at the simple art of explanation, and this skill serves Davies well in tying together so many diverse strands of theory. Other books have dealt with aspects of this subject (see Joseph Cone's Fire Under the Sea, LJ 7/91, and Amir Aczel's Probability 1, Harcourt, 1998), but Davies connects them admirably. For all public and academic libraries.?Gregg Sapp, Univ. of Miami Lib., Coral Gables, FLCopyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.


The New York Times Book Review, Lee Smolin
If you are going to read only one book on the origin of life, seriously consider this one.


From Scientific American
The title is catchy but misleading. It derives from a line in Genesis: "Let the land produce vegetation."That is the first biblical mention of life and, according to Davies, seems to be the tale's fifth miracle. But he does not intend to suggest that the origin of life was a miracle. His thesis is that "the first terrestrial organisms lived deep underground, entombed within geothermally heated rocks in pressure-cooker conditions."Davies also looks at the theories that life began by chemical assembly in a watery medium and that it came to the earth from space in the form of already viable microbes--the panspermia hypothesis. "We have,"he says, "a good idea of the where and the when of life's origin, but we are a very long way from comprehending the how."He is confident, however, that science will "eventually give a convincing explanation"of the how.


From Kirkus Reviews
Davies is an astrophysicist who often writes about the famous question posed in the title of Erwin Schr"dinger's What Is Life? (1944). Here he tries a different answer from that offered in his Are We Alone? Philosophical Implications of the Discovery of Extraterrestrial Life (1995). If his new hypothesis turns out to be true, then we all end up as Martians. The author claims that life may have started on Mars and later traveled to Earth on meteorites. But what kind of alternative state of matter qualifies and describes life? This puzzle and that of biogenesis, have puzzled humanity for over 2.5 millennia, leading to many biogenetic theories, such as the ``primordial soup hypothesis. Davies tells a different story. He replaces the chemical-soup metaphor with that of information-processing systems in which the secret of lifethe transformation of chemistry into biochemistrylies in the ability of genetic codes to organize, process, and transmit information. No familiar law of nature can adequately account for such a complex phenomenon. ``Something funny must thus have occurred in our bio-friendly universe three billion years ago which was predestined to produce life. Like Stephen Jay Gould's ``punctuated equilibrium,'' Davies's mysterious and open-ended explanation will prompt fundamentalist Christians to fill any lingering gap with their preference for divine intervention. Davies himself attempts to fill the same gap by relying on the recent discovery of rock-eating, volcanic microbessuperbugsliving deep within the earth's geothermal vents, their temperatures rising well over boiling point. Basing his suppositions on new evidence found in meteorites in Antarctica (and despite heated contrtoversies over interpreting the evidence on these meteorites), he theorizes confidently that ancestors of our superbugs traveled to Earth via Martian asteroids. His new work offers testimony to Davies's passionate curiosity and to masterful writing, which reads like science fiction. (Book-of-the-Month Club dual main selection/Quality Paperback Book Club alternate selection) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.


Review
John Gribbin author of Companion to the Cosmos Paul Davies has been writing excellent books about science for so long that it is hard to believe that he is still getting better. But on this evidence, he is....Delightful.


Book Description
ARE WE ALONE IN THE UNIVERSE? In his latest far-reaching book, The Fifth Miracle, internationally acclaimed physicist and writer Paul Davies confronts one of science's great outstanding mysteries -- the origin of life. Three and a half billion years ago, Mars resembled Earth. It was warm and wet and could have supported primitive organisms. If life once existed on Mars, might it have originated there and traveled to Earth inside meteorites blasted into space by cosmic impacts? Davies builds on the latest scientific discoveries and theories to address the larger question: What, exactly, is life? Is it the inevitable by-product of physical laws, as many scientists maintain, or an almost miraculous accident? Are we alone in the universe, or will life emerge on all Earth-like planets? And if there is life elsewhere in the universe, is it preordained to evolve toward greater complexity and intelligence? On the answers to these deep questions hinges the ultimate purpose of mankind -- who we are and what our place might be in the unfolding drama of the cosmos.


About the Author
Paul Davies is a theoretical physicist and the bestselling author of more than twenty books. He won the 1995 Templeton Prize for his work on the philosophical meaning of science. His books include About Time, The Mind of God, and God and the New Physics.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

In his latest far-reaching book, The Fifth Miracle, internationally acclaimed physicist and writer Paul Davies confronts one of science's great outstanding mysteries -- the origin of life.

Three and a half billion years ago, Mars resembled Earth. It was warm and wet and could have supported primitive organisms. If life once existed on Mars, might it have originated there and traveled to Earth inside meteorites blasted into space by cosmic impacts?

Davies builds on the latest scientific discoveries and theories to address the larger question: What, exactly, is life? Is it the inevitable by-product of physical laws, as many scientists maintain, or an almost miraculous accident? Are we alone in the universe, or will life emerge on all Earth-like planets? And if there is life elsewhere in the universe, is it preordained to evolve toward greater complexity and intelligence?

On the answers to these deep questions hinges the ultimate purpose of mankind -- who we are and what our place might be in the unfolding drama of the cosmos.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

With ease and charm, and without dumbing down the pertinent technical and philosophical issues, popular-science writer Davies (Are We Alone?: The Philosophical Basis of the Search for Extraterrestrial Life, etc.) combines research results from disparate fields to explore possible approaches to the question of biogenesis. Although he was trained as a physicist, Davies skillfully draws together insights from hot areas in microbiology--such as the study of extremophiles (bacteria that thrive in dangerous levels of acidity, cold, heat, radioactivity), the discovery of a third domain of life and the controversy over whether traces of carbon on Martian meteorites are actually fossilized bacteria--in his pursuit of a fundamental question: What is the origin of biological (and thus genetic) information? He is skeptical that purely biochemical forces could spark the leap from nonlife to life. At stake is another question: Is the universe bio-friendly? Davies believes that the answers to these questions involve identifying a new "law" of nature, which may come from advances in information and complexity theory. He contends it is possible that quantum mechanics also may be found to play a role in the relationship between life and the universe at large. This book is sure to engage and provoke readers curious about the raging controversies over the origin of life, on Earth or elsewhere. Seven line drawings. (Mar.)

Library Journal

In 1966, NASA scientists announced that they had detected evidence of microbial life in a Martian meteorite. In 1977, researchers discovered bizarre biological organisms living near hydrothermal vents in the deep ocean. What do these two events have in common? Possibly, they offer an explanation for the origin of life on Earth and even elsewhere in the universe. This subject is somewhat of a departure for Davies, who has written several books popularizing physics, astronomy, and the philosophy of science. Still, nobody is better at the simple art of explanation, and this skill serves Davies well in tying together so many diverse strands of theory. Other books have dealt with aspects of this subject (see Joseph Cone's Fire Under the Sea, LJ 7/91, and Amir Aczel's Probability 1, Harcourt, 1998), but Davies connects them admirably. For all public and academic libraries.--Gregg Sapp, Univ. of Miami Lib., Coral Gables, FL

School Library Journal

YA-In recent years, scientists have made huge strides in understanding the origin and scientific nature of life. New discoveries have been made about its persistence in places previously believed impossible-deep inside the Earth's crust, inside volcanic vents, under extremely high and low temperatures, in radioactive environments, in space, and perhaps even in meteorites from Mars. These discoveries have overturned many past assumptions and offer future scientists a whole new set of challenges and possibilities. Touching upon the variety of approaches it is possible to take to this new information, Davies shows how the philosophical debates of past generations are still being played out by physicists, chemists, and biologists. Although much of the material here is highly technical-especially in the first chapters, which deal with the mysteries and complexities of genetic information-the author writes with a clarity that makes it possible to grasp the outlines even when all of the details might not be fully understood. In an approachable style, using logic, analogy, and fascinating fact, he poses ideas in terms that teens should find reader-friendly. Those reading at a high comprehension level who are interested in philosophy, pure science, computer science, space science, or science fiction will be brought up to speed regarding recent developments in the field, and gain a broad perspective on these important questions.-Christine C. Menefee, Fairfax County Public Library, VA Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Lee Smolin - The New York Times Book Review

...Davies makes a persuasive case that advances in biology and astronomy are turning the origin of life from a mystery into a solvable problem....If you are going to read only book on the origin of life, seriously consider this one....I willnot be surprised if the first astronaut who drills into the Martian permafrost looking for life will be brought there by a great fascination first kindled when her parents gave her this book.

Scientific American