How Life Began

Theorigin of life is a hotly debated topic. The Christian Bible statesthat God created the heavens and the Earth, all in about seven daysroughly six thousand years ago. This episode in Genesis departsmarkedly from scientific theories developed over the last twocenturies which hold that life appeared on Earth about 3.5 billionyears ago in the form of bacteria, followed by unicellular organismshalf a millennia later. It is this version of genesis that AlexandreMeinesz explores in this engaging tale of life's origins andevolution.

HowLife Began elucidates three origins, or geneses, of life—bacteria,nucleated cells, and multicellular organisms—and shows howevolution has sculpted life to its current biodiversity through fourmain events—mutation, recombination, natural selection, andgeologic cataclysm. As an ecologist who specializes in algae, thefirst organisms to colonize Earth, Meinesz brings a refreshinglynovel voice to the history of biodiversity and emphasizes here therole of unions in organizing life. For example, the ingestion of somebacteria by other bacteria led to mitochondria that characterizeanimal and plant cells, and the chloroplasts of plant cells.

AsMeinesz charmingly recounts, life’s grandeur is a result of anevolutionary tendency toward sociality and solidarity. He suggeststhat it is our cohesion and collaboration that allows us to solve theenvironmental problems arising in the decades and centuries to come.Rooted in the science of evolution but enlivened with manyillustrations from other disciplines and the arts, How Life Beganintertwines the rise of bacteria and multicellular life withVermeer’s portrait of Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, the story of Genesisand Noah, Meinesz’s son’s early experiences with Legos, and hisown encounters with other scientists. All of this brings a very humanand humanistic tone to Meinesz’s charismatic narrative of the threeorigins of life.