Vital dust

the long version

This book by Nobel prize-winning biochemist Christian de Duve surveys the molecular evidence and biochemical processes that testify to the origins of life and our universal descent from a last universal common ancestor. The book is divided into seven parts (I-VII) with at least two or more chapters in each. Part I, for example, which is entitled "The Age of Chemistry," contains four chapters - The Search for Origins; The First Catalysts of Life (including a treatment of thioesters); The Fuel for Emerging Life; and The Advent of RNA. -- While Part II is entitled "The Age of Information," etc. - A sampling from the preface: "...our knowledge of present-day metabolism yields insights into life's beginnings" - "the human version of cytochrome c differs from that of a rhesus monkey by a single amino acid and from those of the dog, rattlesnake, bullfrog, tuna fish, silkworm, wheat, and yeast by 11, 14, 18, 21, 31, 43, and 45 amino acids, respectively"