closetoStockholm,StanleyMillergavetheopeninglectureofaconferenceontheMol- ularEvolutionofLife. OnapictureItook,asaco-arrangeroftheseevents,Stanleyisseen approachinginhisusual,modestway,morefocussedonscienti?cdiscussionthanonthe camera. Last but not least, I shall tell you the true story about when we learned that Stanley isanenthusiasticenvironmentalist,inthebestsenseoftheword. About25yearsago,in Stockholm, Stanley, my wife and I strolled in the King's Garden. Its elmtrees were full 7 J. Seckbach et al. (eds. ), Life in the Universe,7-8. C 2004 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands. 8 of young people who, some even spending nights in the trees, prevented the authorities from removing the elmtrees, by ax and saw. Also Stanley signed a petition to save the elmtrees-andtheyweresaved! Stanley, I believe that your greatness as a scientist and as a friend must be linked to the many facets of your wonderful personality. We much look forward to your lecture. THE BEGINNING OF CHEMICAL EVOLUTION EXPERIMENTS Recollections and Perspectives 1 2 3 S. L. MILLER, J. L. BADA, and A.

Dedication Biodata of editors Preface by the editors Acknowledgements Group photograph and List of Attendees I. Opening Introduction to Life in the Universe; T. Johnson The Abdus Salam Lecture; H. Baltscheffsky The Beginning of Chemical Evolution Experiments; S. Miller, J.L. Bada and A. Lazcano An Overview of Cosmic Evolution; George V. Coyne Physical Phenomena underlying the Origin of Life; Juan Perez-Mercader II. Where did the Chemical Elements Come From and When did Life Begin? The Origin of Biogenic Elements; F. Matteucci and C. Chiappini Thermochemistry of the Dark Age; D. Puy Searching for Oldest Life on Earth: A Progress Report; S. Moorbath and B.S. Kamber The European Exo/Astrobiology Network Association; Andre Brack III. Physical Constraints on the Origin of Life The Origin of Biomolecular Chirality Salam Hypothesis and The Role af Phase Transition in Amino Acids; W. Wang, N. Yao, Y. Chen and P. Lai A Mechanism for the Prebiotic Emergence of Proteins; H.P. De Vladar, R. Cipriani, B. Scharifker and J. Bubis Functional, Self-Referential Genetic Coding; R.C. Guimarães and C.H.C. Moreira Importance of Biased Synthesis in Chemical Evolution Studies; A. Negron-Mendoza, S. Ramos-Bernal and F.G. Mosqueira When Did Information First Appear in the Universe; J.G. Roederer IV. From the Miller Experiment to Chemical and Biological Evolution Prebiotic Organic Synthesis and the Emergence of Life; L. Delaye, A. Becerra, A.M. Velasco, S. Islas and A. Lazcano Origin and Evolution of Very Early Sequence Motifs in Enzymes; H. Baltscheffsky, B. Persson, A. Schultz, J.R. Perez-Castineira and M. Baltscheffsky The Lipid World: From Catalytic and Informational Headgroups to Micelle Replication and Evolution without Nucleic Acids; A. Bar-Even, B. Shenhav, R. Kafri and D. Lancet Coenzymes in Evolution of the Rna World; M.S. Kritsky, T.A. Telegina, T.A. Lyudnikova and Yu.L. Zemskova The Role of Heat in the Origin of Life; P.R. Bahn, A. Pappelis and R. Grubbs A Possible Pathway for the Transfer of Chiral Bias from Extraterrestrial C_ Tetrasubstituted _-Amino Acids to Proteinogenic Amino Acids; M. Crisma, A. Moretto, F. Formaggio, B. Kaptein, Q.B. Broxterman and C. Toniolo Prebiotic Polymerization of Amino Acids. A Makov Chain Approach; F.G. Mosqueira, S. Ramos-Bernal and A. Negron-Mendoza The Electrochemical Reduction of Co2 to Formate in Hydrothermal Sulfide Ore Deposit as a Novel Source of Organic Matter; M.G. Vladimirov, Yu.F. Ryzhkov, V.A. Alekseev, V.A. Bogdanovskaya, V.A. Otroshchenko and M.S. Kritsky Towards a Chronological Order of the Amino Acids; W.J.M.F. Collis Origin and Evolution of Metabolic Pathways; M. Brilli and R. Fani Conserved Oligopeptides in the Rubisco Large Chains; P.B. Vidyasagar, P. Shil and S. Thomas On The Question of Convergent Evolution in Biochemistry; A.A. Akindahunsi and J. Chela-Flores Diversity of Microbial Life on Earth and Beyond; J. Seckbach V. Alternative Scenarios for the Origin and Evolution of Life Mineral Surfaces as a Cradle of Primordial Genetic Material; E. Gallori, E. Biondi and M. Franchi Adsorption and Self-Organization of Small Molecules on Inorganic Surfaces; D.G. Fraser Studies on Copper Chromicyanide as Prebiotic Catalyst; Kamaluddin and S.R. Ali Phosphate Immobilization by Primitive Condensers; F. De Souza-Barros, M.B.M. Monte, A.C.P. Duarte, J.A.P. Bonapace, M.R.D. Amaral Jr., R.B. Levigard, Y.A. Ching-San Jr., C.S. Costa and A. Vieyra Adsorption and Catalysis of Nucleotide Hydrolysis by Pyrite in Media Simulating Primeval Aqueous Environments; A. Vieyra, A.C. Tessis, M. Pontes-Buarque, J.A.P. Bonapace, M. Monte, H.S. De Amorim and F. De Souza-Barros VI. Cosmological and Other Space Science Aspects of Astrobiology Dust and Planet Formation in the Early Universe; G. Vladilo Quasar Absorption-Line Systems and Astrobiology; G. Vladilo