Table of Contents

Preface

1. Scientific Theories and Laws

2. The First Decade (1936-1946)

3. Relativity

4. The Second Decade (1946-1956)

5. Quantum Mechanics

6. The Third Decade (1956-1966)

7. The Big Bang

8. The Fourth Decade (1966-1976)

9. The Non-Bang

10. The Fifth Decade (1976-1986)

11. The Never-Bang

12. The Sixth Decade (1986-1996)

13. Evolution

14. The Seventh Decade (1996-2006)

15. The Theory of More than Everything

16. The Eighth Decade (2006-2016)

17. Now What?

18. The Ninth Decade (2016-2026)

Appendix A Paintings

Appendix B TTOMTE and a Steady State Universe

Appendix C Musical Compositions

Bibliography

EVOLUTION OF LIFE

Much has happened since the Earth cooled off a bit. About a half a billion years have gone by, but where exactly did life begin? Weren't we watching? The difference between non-life and life is so slight that we can never pick exactly when the magic we call life occurs. How can we point at one creature and say it's not alive and then point to its offspring and say, "Ah, now that one is alive?"

Arbitrarily, we'll start this set of steps where most books on evolution begin, with the single cell, about 3,800,000,000 years ago. These single cells, like bubbles, carry some jellied stuff on the inside, but have no real center³⁵ (again like the bacteria we have around today).

1. These one-celled creatures having a skin, but no particular shape, fill the oceans. They swim, take in some chemicals, grow a little bit, and stay "alive." They mope around without much change for about one billion years. It's a long and dull period, but then one-celled creatures gave birth to all life, even us. So if Uncle Stanley bores you with his stories about his last haircut, you now know why.
2. We shouldn't feel humbled because we came from bacteria. They were, and still are, one of the most successful forms of life around. They have no wasted genes like we do, and they can create a new descendent in about twenty minutes while our cell types take about twenty hours. Bacteria generate many offspring in a short time and change (have an accident in the genes) quickly, so they won't all get killed off if a danger enters their living space. We find out how flexible they are every time they manage to become immune to the latest drug. Some of them even develop a stomach where food can come in and be digested on the inside³⁶. With plenty to eat, one bacteria cell can fill all the oceans with bacteria children, grandchildren, etc. in just two days. The kind of cell we have in our bodies will take two months.

Sections

WHAT IS A SPECIES

IS THERE EVOLUTION EVIDENCE

EVIDENCE FOR EVOLUTION

WHY DOES ANYTHING EVOLVE

WHAT IS PURE CHANCE

WHAT TWO STEPS IN EVOLUTION

WHERE DID LIFE COME FROM

EVOLUTION TOWARDS LIFE

EVOLUTION OF LIFE

EVOLUTION OF PLANT LIFE

EVOLUTION OF ANIMAL LIFE

EVOLUTION OF US

FINAL THOUGHTS

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