Abstract
To approach the origin of life, the physical inevitability of generation and evolution of life is the fundamental issue that must be first addressed. The question “Why did life generate?” asks essentially the same question as “Why does life evolve?” since it demands a physical reason for the organization of organic molecules to higher complexity in the dynamic environment on Earth. As reviewed in Chapter 1, Earth has been radiating heat to space for the 4.6 billion years since its formation. This indicates from the view of the second law of thermodynamics that the decrease of Earth’s entropy due to radiation of heat is the cause of life’s instigation and its evolution to the present biodiversity.
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Notes
- 1.
When a high-temperature object (T1) is placed in contact with a low-temperature object (T2), heat flows from the high-temperature object to the low-temperature object, until both objects reach the same temperature. If heat flow is ∆Q, the entropy of the low-temperature object increases ∆Q/T2 while that of the high-temperature object decreases ∆Q/T1. The total entropy change ∆S of this “universe,” i.e., the total entropy change of an isolated system is defined as ∆S = ∆Q/T2 −∆Q/T1. Since T2 < T1, the total entropy change (∆S) of the isolated system (“the universe”) is always positive; i.e., it increases during heat flow from a high-temperature object to a low-temperature object.
- 2.
Entropy (S) is given by the expression S = klogW, where k is the Boltzmann constant, k = 1.3806488 × 1023 J/K, and W is the number of states of microparticles. Since the unit of k is J/K, “the amount of heat (Joule)/temperature (K),” it is also involved in macroscopic quantities, such as temperature, heat, and specific heat. Therefore, k is an important constant that connects the macroscopic and micro-particulate realms. The epitaph on the tomb of L. Boltzmann in Vienna, Austria, reads simply “S = klogW” in concise recognition of his most significant achievement.
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Nakazawa, H. (2018). Why Did Life Generate? Why Does Life Evolve? Physical Perspective of the Origin of Life. In: Darwinian Evolution of Molecules. Advances in Geological Science. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-8724-0_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-8724-0_2
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