| The Post-Darwin Era (1859- ) - Toward The Compassionate Global Society - Life Comes from Life - Louis Pasteur It is ironic, but in retrospect predictable, that for all accounts and purposes the post-Darwin era actually began in 1859, the year in which Louis Pasteur proved to the world that spontaneous generation of living organisms could not occur. Though Charles Darwin was not first among proponents of evolution of species through natural selection, his book, On the Origin of Species, was introduced to the world also in the year 1859. Louis Pasteur opposed the book's inference that life could arise from non-living sources. Life from Non-Living Materials - Charles Darwin Compelling as Pasteur's discovery was, it did not answer the question of how life itself began on Earth. This imposing question is central to Darwinism which holds that biological evolution may have begun on Earth from non-living materials in an essentially closed system - in contention with panspermia ("Life Comes from Space Because Life Comes from Life" - Cosmic Ancestry). Panspermia (Seeds Everywhere) - Svante Arrhenius It remained for Professor Svante Arrhenius early in the twentieth-century to move life on Earth to life as a universal phenomenon. Arrhenius pursued the theory of panspermia, but his suggested mechanisms for the propagation and distribution of life throughout the cosmos suffered from the limited fund of knowledge and technology then accessible to researchers. The contribution of Svante Arrhenius is considerable nonetheless because of his vision and investigations concerning life as a phenomenon beyond the narrow confines of Earth. Organic Materials in Outer Space - Fred Hoyle and Chandra Wickramasinghe Without doubt, the most significant advancement of panspermia came in the 1970's with research on organic materials in outer space pioneered by astronomers Fred Hoyle and Chandra Wickramasinghe. Their investigations also produced important insight into the manner by which living organisms might be propagated and distributed in the universe, including the arrival of life on Earth. These and other contributions by the late Sir Fred Hoyle and Professor Wickramasinghe, Director of the Cardiff Centre for Astrobiology, are well established in the annals of science. Panspermia - Brig Klyce (Cosmic Ancestry) Signal advances in panspermia made by Hoyle and Wickramasinghe have been reinforced since 1996 by Brig Klyce of Memphis, Tennesse, USA. Brig Klyce maintains the Internet website Cosmic Ancestry which makes the case that "Life Comes from Space Because Life Comes from Life." His concentration relates to the question of open vs. closed system "evolutionary progress." Brig Klyce is sponsoring research in this area at the University of Oklahoma. Astrobiology - Government-Funded Research and Development As the apparent universality of life and life processes has gained increasing recognition, so, too, has momentum gathered for targeted, government-funded research of life and life processes external to Earth. This is a promising development which at first glance would appear to favor panspermia; government policy, however, tends to avoid direct engagement in the debate between advocates of Darwinism and supporters of panspermia. But exciting developments in astrobiology increasingly add credence to approaching the question of the origin of life from "how did life on Earth begin?" to "how did life on Earth emerge?" to, ultimately, the tracing of human cosmic genealogy over time and generations as a quest worthy of human endeavor. Tracing Human Cosmic Genealogy (THCG) Fortunately for THCG in the post-Darwin era, progress in astrobiology by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) - combined with that of other space-oriented entities - has propelled THCG to the frontiers of science, philosophy and religion. This expected expansion of cosmic focus and direction - likely to include (among others in addition to NASA) the European Space Agency (ESA), the Hubble Telescope, the International Space Station, and many if not most of Earth's observatories, bodes well for panspermia and the tracing of human cosmic genealogy (THCG). The Post-Darwin Era (2002- ) It has been shown that two distinct interpretations of life processes captured the attention of scientists and others in 1859, each capable of paradigm status over time (though it is granted that one in theory (Darwinism) did receive a head start). Paradigm shifts are slow in emerging, yet are responsive to rapidly accumulating scientific research and discovery applicable, as for example in this instance, to the axiom that "Life Comes from Space Because Life Comes from Life" (Brig Klyce.) With undying tribute to its progenitor, Louis Pasteur, the post-Darwin era (beyond Darwinism) takes stock of its milestone achievements beginning in 1859 and envisages for the twenty-first century a revitalization of human fulfillment as human empathy and compassion engages, manifests, develops and evolves in a manner basic to The Compassionate Global Society: (a) a healthful, sustainable environment for every planetary citizen, (b) universal health care, publicly supported, (c) education for all based upon individual capability, (d) creative/productive employment for every citizen, (e) financial security upon completion of work career. Forelaws Homepage |
| last edited 12/30/02 |