One of the greatest questions in science may be close to being answered in the near future.

How and in what environment did life originate on Earth?

Plausible scenarios for the first steps towards life can only be described if sufficient information is available about the place and conditions in which life originated. From a geological perspective, water-filled fractures in the early continental crust provided ideal conditions.

The first author takes readers on his personal journey towards answering what may be the greatest question in biology. He shows how the pieces of the puzzle concerning the development of life fit together and shares his experiences in this complex field of research. While the first seven chapters of the second edition and Chapter 12 have been revised, Chapter 8 is entirely new. It logically connects known facts and presents a possible pathway towards the storage of genetic information in a first cell.

Chapters 9 and 10 contain additional contributions by Christian Mayer. He opens a fundamental discussion about the definition of What is life? by focusing on the relationship between order and complexity, with the first author adding a brief point for discussion on specific aspects in Chapter 11.

Introduction

Global prerequisites
The narrower framework conditions: chemistry physics and physical chemistry without them nothing works
Truly helpful: a brief overview of processes in present day biological cells
The existing models: surveying the great haze
The RNA world: the start with a very special molecule?
The new model: hydrothermal systems of the early continental crust
What can be substantiated and what remains hypothetical?
Life = order + complexity
The emergence of complex order: the path to the first cell
Discussion
After LUCA: what happened next?.