One can challenge the line in the article, “Science should have the last word” (Editorial page, February 17) which said: “... the origin of life on earth is still unexplained by science.” While it is true that Charles Darwin didn’t mention the origin of life on earth in any of his books — mainly because there were no theories on this subject which were built on firm foundations during his period — he mentions his guesses about the possible means of the appearance of life in some of his letters. But this does not mean that we still have doubts about the origin of life. All theorists now agree that life on earth appeared around 4 billion years ago, which evolved into much complex forms. These conditions on early earth are known from geological evidence. Present theories about the chemical evolution of life on earth are mostly accepted.
The Stanley Miller and Harold Urey experiment is one such example. Theories of science are based on certain generalisations and offer the best possible explanations. We have come far from Darwin’s age today and have evidence of molecular evolution. Complex life evolved from lower forms.
The origin of life is basically chemistry that is rooted in quantum processes. The origin of the cell is the most astonishing phenomenon that gave rise to the complexity of life. All theories of sciences are accepted hypotheses that are based on certain generalisations. They can be proved again and again or disproved. This is what scientific progress is all about.
A. Rajagopal Kamath,
Kottayam, Kerala
