Robert Shapiro (28 November 1935 – 15 June 2011) was professor emeritus of chemistry at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

. He is best known for his work on the

origin of life Abiogenesis is the natural process by which life arises from abiotic component, non-living matter, such as simple organic compounds. The prevailing scientific hypothesis is that the transition from non-living to organism, living entities on ...

, having written two books on the topic: ''Origins, a Skeptic’s Guide to the Creation of Life on Earth'' (1986) and ''Planetary Dreams'' (1999). He opposed the RNA world hypothesis, and held that the spontaneous emergence of a molecule as complicated as

RNA Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a polymeric molecule that is essential for most biological functions, either by performing the function itself (non-coding RNA) or by forming a template for the production of proteins (messenger RNA). RNA and deoxyrib ...

is highly unlikely. Instead, he proposed that life arose from some self-sustaining and compartmentalized reaction of simple molecules: "metabolism first" instead of "RNA first". This reaction would have to be able to reproduce and evolve, eventually leading to RNA. He claimed that in this view life is a normal consequence of the laws of nature and potentially quite common in the universe.Alvin Powell
NYU chemist Robert Shapiro decries RNA-first possibility
''Harvard University Gazette'', 23 October 2008

Works

*''Life Beyond Earth: The Intelligent Earthling's Guide to Extraterrestrial Life'' (with

Gerald Feinberg Gerald Feinberg (27 May 1933 – 21 April 1992) was a Columbia University physicist, futurist and popular science author. He spent a year as a Member of the Institute for Advanced Study, and two years at the Brookhaven Laboratories. Feinberg went ...

) Morrow, 1980. . *''Origins: A Skeptic's Guide to the Creation of Life on Earth'' Summit Books (January 1986) . *''Planetary Dreams: The Quest to Discover Life Beyond Earth'' Wiley; 1 edition (1999) .

References

External links

Faculty page
at

Page about his books
1935 births 2011 deaths American chemists New York University faculty Harvard University alumni City College of New York alumni {{US-chemist-stub