When did life begin? We don’t know exactly, but we can narrow it down to a brief period about 3.8 billion years ago. Where did life begin? We don’t know exactly, but we can think critically about a few options: primordial broth, fumaroles at the bottom of the sea, geothermal fields, meteor impact sites. What did the first forms of life look like? We don’t know exactly, but we are familiar with some pieces of the puzzle: RNA, amino acids, protogens, protocells. In this book two renowned researchers answer these key science questions. The chicken and the egg emerged simultaneously, and we are finally beginning to understand how.

Ernesto Di Mauro teaches Molecular Biology at the Sapienza University in Rome.

Raffaele Saladino teaches Organic Chemistry and Bio-Organics at the Tuscia University in Viterbo.