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FITNESS OF THE COSMOS FOR LIFE
Biochemistry and Fine-Tuning
Thishighlyinterdisciplinarybookhighlightsmanyofthewaysinwhichchemistry
playsacrucialroleinmakinglifeanevolutionarypossibilityintheuniverse.Cos-
mologists and particle physicists have often explored how the observed laws and
constants of nature lie within a narrow range that allows complexity and life to
evolve and adapt. Here, these anthropic considerations are diversified in a host of
newwaystoidentifythemostsensitivefeaturesofbiochemistryandastrobiology.
Celebrating the classic 1913 work of Lawrence J. Henderson, The Fitness of the
Environment,thisbooklooksanewatthedelicatebalancebetweenchemistryand
theambientconditionsintheuniversethatpermitcomplexchemicalnetworksand
structures to exist. It will appeal to scientists, academics, and others working in a
rangeofdisciplines.
John D. Barrow is Professor of Mathematical Sciences in the Department
of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics at the University of Cambridge
andDirectoroftheMillenniumMathematicsProject.HeistheauthorofTheArtful
UniverseExpanded(OxfordUniversityPress,2005)andTheInfiniteBook:AShort
Guide to the Boundless, Timeless and Endless (Cape, 2005), as well as co-editor
of Science and Ultimate Reality: Quantum Theory, Cosmology and Complexity
(CambridgeUniversityPress,2004).
Simon Conway Morris is Professor of Evolutionary Palaeobiology at the
Earth Sciences Department, University of Cambridge. He is the author of Life’s
Solution: Inevitable Humans in a Lonely Universe (Cambridge University Press,
2003).
Stephen J. Freeland is Associate Professor of Biological Sciences at the
University of Maryland, Baltimore County. His research focuses on the evolution
ofthegeneticcode.
Charles L. Harper, Jr.isanastrophysicistandplanetaryscientistandserves
as Senior Vice President of the John Templeton Foundation. He is co-editor of
Science and Ultimate Reality: Quantum Theory, Cosmology and Complexity
(CambridgeUniversityPress,2004);VisionsofDiscovery:NewLightonPhysics,
Cosmology,andConsciousness(forthcomingfromCambridgeUniversityPress).
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CambridgeAstrobiology
SeriesEditors
BruceJakosky,AlanBoss,FrancesWestall,DanielPrieurandCharlesCockell
Booksintheseries
1. PlanetFormation:Theory,Observations,andExperiments
EditedbyHubertKlahrandWolfgangBrandner
ISBN978-0-521-86015-4
2. FitnessoftheCosmosforLife:BiochemistryandFine-Tuning
EditedbyJohnD.Barrow,SimonConwayMorris,StephenJ.Freelandand
CharlesL.Harper,Jr.
ISBN978-0-521-87102-0
3. PlanetarySystemsandtheOriginsofLife
EditedbyRalphPudritz,PaulHiggsandJonathonStone
ISBN978-0-521-87548-6
ii
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FITNESS OF THE COSMOS FOR LIFE
Biochemistry and Fine-Tuning
Editedby
JOHN D. BARROW
UniversityofCambridge
SIMON CONWAY MORRIS
UniversityofCambridge
STEPHEN J. FREELAND
UniversityofMaryland,BaltimoreCounty
CHARLES L. HARPER, JR.
JohnTempletonFoundation
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cambridge university press
Cambridge,NewYork,Melbourne,Madrid,CapeTown,Singapore,Sa˜oPaulo
CambridgeUniversityPress
TheEdinburghBuilding,CambridgeCB28RU,UK
PublishedintheUnitedStatesofAmericabyCambridgeUniversityPress,NewYork
www.cambridge.org
Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9780521871020
(cid:2)C CambridgeUniversityPress2008
Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception
andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements,
noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithout
thewrittenpermissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.
Firstpublished2008
PrintedintheUnitedKingdomattheUniversityPress,Cambridge
AcatalogrecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
ISBN 978-0-521-87102-0hardback
CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyofURLsforexternalor
third-partyinternetwebsitesreferredtointhispublication,anddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuch
websitesis,orwillremain,accurateorappropriate.
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Contents
Listofcontributors page vii
Foreword:Theimprobabilityoflife
GeorgeM.Whitesides xi
Preface xxi
Acknowledgments xxiii
PartI Thefitnessof“fitness”:Hendersonincontext
1 Locating“fitness”andL.J.Henderson 3
EverettMendelsohn
2 RevisitingTheFitnessoftheEnvironment 20
OwenGingerich
3 Isfine-tuningremarkable? 31
JohnF.Haught
4 Complexityincontext:themetaphysicalimplicationsof
evolutionarytheory 49
EdwardT.Oakes
5 Tuningfine-tuning 70
ErnanMcMullin
PartII Thefitnessofthecosmicenvironment
6 Fitnessandthecosmicenvironment 97
PaulC.W.Davies
7 Theinterconnectionsbetweencosmologyandlife 114
MarioLivio
8 Chemistryandsensitivity 132
JohnD.Barrow
9 Fitnessofthecosmosfortheoriginandevolutionoflife:from
biochemicalfine-tuningtotheAnthropicPrinciple 151
JulianChela-Flores
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vi Contents
PartIII Thefitnessoftheterrestrialenvironment
10 Howbiofriendlyistheuniverse? 169
ChristiandeDuve
11 Tuningintothefrequenciesoflife:aroarofstaticora
precisesignal? 197
SimonConwayMorris
12 Lifeonearth:theroleofproteins 225
JayanthR.BanavarandAmosMaritan
13 Protein-basedlifeasanemergentpropertyofmatter:thenatureand
biologicalfitnessoftheproteinfolds 256
MichaelJ.Denton
14 Couldanintelligentalienpredictearth’sbiochemistry? 280
StephenJ.Freeland
15 WouldVenusevolveonMars?Bioenergeticconstraints,allometric
trends,andtheevolutionoflife-historyinvariants 318
JeffreyP.Schloss
PartIV Thefitnessofthechemicalenvironment
16 Creatingaperspectiveforcomparing 349
AlbertEschenmoser
17 Fine-tuningandinterstellarchemistry 366
WilliamKlemperer
18 Framingthequestionoffine-tuningforintermediarymetabolism 384
EricSmithandHaroldJ.Morowitz
19 Coarse-tuningintheoriginoflife? 421
GuyOurisson
20 Plausiblelipid-likepeptides:prebioticmolecularself-assembly
inwater 440
ShuguangZhang
21 Evolutionrevisitedbyinorganicchemists 456
R.J.P.WilliamsandJ.J.R.Frau´stodaSilva
Index 491
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Contributors
JayanthR.Banavar
Box262,104DaveyLaboratory,PennsylvaniaStateUniversity,UniversityPark,
PA16802-6300,USA
JohnD.Barrow
DepartmentofMathematicalSciences,UniversityofCambridge,Wilberforce
Road,CambridgeCB30WA,UK
JulianChela-Flores
TheAbdusSalamInternationalCentreforTheoreticalPhysics,StradaCostiera
11,34104Trieste,Italy
InstitutodeEstudiosAvanzados,ApartadoPostal17606,ParqueCentral,
Caracas1015-A,Venezuela
SchoolofTheoreticalPhysics,DublinInstituteforAdvancedStudies,
10BurlingtonRoad,Dublin4,Ireland
SimonConwayMorris
DepartmentofEarthSciences,UniversityofCambridge,DowningStreet,
CambridgeCB23EQ,UK
PaulC.W.Davies
CollegeofLiberalArtsandSciences,ArizonaStateUniversity,300E.
University/POBox876505,FoundationBldg,Suite2470,Tempe,AZ
85287-6505,USA
ChristiandeDuve
deDuveInstituteandLouvainMedicalSchool,CatholicUniversityofLouvain,
AvenueHippocrate75-B.7550,B-1200Brussels,Belgium
TheRockefellerUniversity,1230YorkAvenue,Box282,NewYork,NY
10021,USA
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viii Listofcontributors
MichaelJ.Denton
DepartmentofZoology,UniversityofSindh,Jamshoro,Sindh,Pakistan
AlbertEschenmoser
Laboratoriumfu¨rOrganischeChemie,ETHHo¨nggerberg,HCIH309,CH-8093
Zu¨rich,Switzerland
J.J.R.Frau´stodaSilva
Fundac¸a˜oOriente,RuadoSalitre,66/68,1269-065Lisboa,Portugal
CentrodeQu´ımicaEstrutual,InstitutoSuperiorTe´cnico,Av.RoviscoPais,
1049-01,Lisboa,Portugal
StephenJ.Freeland
DepartmentofBiologicalSciences,UniversityofMaryland,BaltimoreCounty,
1000HilltopCircle,Room115,Baltimore,MD21250,USA
OwenGingerich
Harvard-SmithsonianCenterforAstrophysics,60GardenStreet,Cambridge,MA
02138,USA
JohnF.Haught
DepartmentofTheology,GeorgetownUniversity,Washington,D.C.20057,USA
WilliamKlemperer
DepartmentofChemistryandChemicalBiology,HarvardUniversity,12Oxford
Street,Cambridge,MA02138,USA
MarioLivio
SpaceTelescopeScienceInstitute,3700SanMartinDrive,Baltimore,MD21218,
USA
AmosMaritan
InstitutoNazionaleperlaFisicadellaMateria,DipartimentodaFisicaG.Galilei,
UniversitadiPadova,ViaMarzolo8,35131Padova,Italy
ErnanMcMullin
PrograminHistoryandPhilosophyofScience,UniversityofNotreDame,
Box1066,NotreDame,IN46556,USA
EverettMendelsohn
HarvardUniversity,ScienceCenter371,Cambridge,MA02138,USA
HaroldJ.Morowitz
KrasnowInstituteforAdvancedStudy,EastBuilding207(MS1D6),George
MasonUniversity,Fairfax,VA22030,USA
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Listofcontributors ix
EdwardT.Oakes
UniversityofSt.MaryoftheLake/MundeleinSeminary,1000EastMaple
Avenue,Mundelein,IL60060,USA
GuyOurisson
CentredeNeurochimie,Universite´ LouisPasteur,5rueBlaisePascal,F-67084
∗
StrasbourgCedex9,France
JeffreyP.Schloss
DepartmentofBiology,WestmontCollege,955LaPazRoad,SantaBarbara,CA
93108,USA
D.EricSmith
SantaFeInstitute,1399HydeParkRoad,SantaFe,NM87501,USA
GeorgeM.Whitesides
DepartmentofChemistry,HarvardUniversity,12OxfordStreet,Cambridge,MA
02138,USA
R.J.P.Williams
InorganicChemistryLaboratory,UniversityofOxford,SouthParksRoad,
OxfordOX13QR,UK
ShuguangZhang
CenterforBiomedicalEngineeringandtheCenterforBitsandAtoms,
MassachusettsInstituteofTechnology,500TechnologySquare,NE47-379,
Cambridge,MA02139-4307,USA
∗ ProfessorOurissonpassedawaywhilethisbookwasinproduction.
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