> Since the Scopes trial (
> http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/scopes/scopes.htm ) the
> culture of the USA includes the teaching of evolution simply because
> schools are not allowed to provide /any/ other theory.  Either the 'other'
> theory is religiously based, and cannot be part of secular teaching, or
> the 'other' theory is not strong enough to present (seeded by an alien
> race /could/ be secular, but I've yet to see that in a serious 'secular
> scientific' journal).

A paper and a book are available by someone who could hardly be more famous.
The formal name given to this concept is panspermia. If it's done
purposefully by the aliens it's termed "directed panspermia". Just dug up a
book I have on the subject.

In April 1953 Crick & Watson wrote a letter to nature briefly outlining
their discovery of the double helical structure of DNA. For this discovery
they received the Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine in 1962. While they
did not necessarily remain the worlds foremost experts in this vast field,
they were of course very well up with the play and remained so for decades.

You would expect that if anyone had a good grasp of the reasonableness of
the concept of the formation and evolution of life from inanimate matter,
they would. Interestingly, in 1981, almost 30 years after the discovery of
the structure and role of DNA,  Francis Crick published a book titled "Life
Itself". A significant portion of this book and its essential core is
dedicated to the proposal of the theory of directed panspermia for the
existence of life on earth and an analysis of the various related issues.
(Crick & Orgel originally wrote a paper on directed panspermia in 1973 and
the book expands on this).

The book notes:    "An honest man, armed with all the knowledge available to
us now, could only state that in some sense, the origin of life appears at
the moment to be almost a miracle, so many are the conditions which would
have had to have been satisfied to get it going."

No quantum changes in the state of knowledge on the origins of life have
been made since the book was written. If anyone disagrees I'd be extremely
pleased to have instances and references.

"Life Itself - it's origin and nature"
Francis Crick.
Simon and Schuster, New York, 1981
ISBN 0-671-25562-0

I find it fascinating that a person of Crick's stature would feel the need
to advance such a theory and to write a book on it. I am not aware of how
many books per se that Crick wrote. ABE has 4 - the 3 others listed below.
Two appear to be as much philosophy as science and the 3rd may be as well.

Life itself is not a marvellous book to read, alas. I had hoped for far
better. But it's worth at least skimming to see what one of the leaders of
the revolution really thought.



        RM

_____________________________________

Crick's 3 other books that I could discover:

1.    What Mad Pursuit: A Personal View of Scientific Discovery
ISBN:0465091385

One of the co-discoverers of the double helix of DNA recounts the unusual
combination of choice and chance that led to the discovery that launched the
molecular biological revolution.

OR

The man who is widely acknowledged to be the best biologist since Darwin,
the co-discoverer of DNA, tells his side of the story in this widely-praised
memoir.

OR

 Francis Crick's account of the discovery of the structure of DNA, and the
work he did on molecular biology in the decade or so that followed.

(Second hand copies available from $US4.95 to $US2500 ! :-) ).

2.    The Astonishing Hypothesis: The Scientific Search for the Soul
1994.
        Now, Crick is once again at the frontier of scientific discovery,
turning his attention to the mysteries of human consciousness. Bent on
deciphering the complexities of the brain, Crick maps out the neurobiology
of vision. The result is a cogent, witty, and richly detailed analysis of
how the brain "sees," and a daring exploration of some of the most
fundamental questions of human existence: Do we have free will? What exactly
makes us sentient beings different from other animals? Is there such a thing
as a soul, or are we nothing more than an immensely complex collection of
neurons? In this groundbreaking, provocative work, Francis Crick challenges
the very foundations of current scientific, philosophical, and religious
thought.


3.    "Of molecules and men"         ISBN: 1591021855.
            These three 1966 lectures by Noble laureate Crick explain why
"vitalism," the idea that an intangible life force beyond the grasp of
science distinguishes the animate from the inanimate, is itself dead. In his
first lecture he dismisses vitalism as unnecessary; in the second he
explains why he believes it to be unnecessary due to his understanding of
DNA, RNA and their associated array of enzymes; in the third, he predicts
that vitalism, in which everyone believed in the past, and some believe in
the present, will in the near future be the exclusive territory of cranks.

_______________________________________________
http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive
View/change your membership options at
http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist