Preface; 1. Illustrious predecessors; 2. Experiments and theories; 3. A toy model; 4. Open questions; Bibliography; Author index.

"How did life on Earth originate? Did replication or metabolism come first in the history of life? In this extensively rewritten second edition, Freeman Dyson examines these questions and discusses the two main theories that try to explain how naturally occurring chemicals could organize themselves into living creatures." "The majority view is that life began with replicating molecules, the precursors of modern genes. The minority belief is that random populations of molecules evolved metabolic activities before exact replication existed and that natural selection drove the evolution of cells toward greater complexity for a long time without the benefit of genes. Dyson analyzes both of these theories with reference to recent important discoveries by geologists and biologists, aiming to stimulate new experiments that could help decide which theory is correct."--Print book jacket