Life in the Universe

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.

Dedication.- Biodata of editors.- Preface by the editors.- Acknowledgements.- Group photograph and List of Attendees.- I. Opening.- II. Where did the Chemical Elements Come From and When did Life Begin?- III. Physical Constraints on the Origin of Life.- IV. From the Miller Experiment to Chemical and Biological Evolution.- V. Alternative Scenarios for the Origin and Evolution of Life.- VI. Cosmological and Other Space Science Aspects of Astrobiology.- VII. Planetary Exploration in our Solar System: The Interstellar Medium, Micro-Meteorites.- and Comets.- VIII. Earth Analogues of Extraterrestrial Ecosystems.- IX. On the Question of Life on Mars and on the Early Earth.- X. Searching for Extraterrestrial Life, Europa, Titan and Extrasolar Planets.- XI. The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI).- XII. The Search for Evolution of Intelligent Behavior and Density of Life.- XIII. Epistemological and Historical Aspects of Astrobiology.- List of Participants.- Index.