The carbon compounds of the primeval atmosphere

The question of how and when life originated on t his planet has always been an intriguing one, exceeded perhaps in fascination only by that area of speculation which concerns itself with death and the afterlife . The latter problem has generally been approached along theological lines; the former problem , that of the origin of life, has been widely investigated along scientific lines as well . Indeed, the origin of life has always been one of the fundamental problems of science, and the increasingly sophisticated answers to the problem reflect the increasing potence and applicability of the methods of science