Life in the Universe - From the Miller Experiment to the Search for Life on Other Worlds

H. BALTSCHEFFSKYChairman Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Arrhenius Laboratories, Stockholm University, S-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden. Professor Stanley Miller, Professor K. R. Srinivasan, Organizers and Sponsors of this Conference, Ladies and Gentlemen; WearegettingreadyfortheAbdusSalamLecture,honoringtwomostdistinguishedsci- tists. Bothhaveverysigni?cantlycontributedtotherapidgrowthofthesphereoffun- mentalknowledgeinthesecondhalfofthetwentiethcentury. Abdus Salam,theoreticalphysicist,NobelPrizewinner,creatorandlongtimeleader of The Abdus Salam Center of Theoretical Physics. With his active interest in the origin oflifeheplayedaleadingroleininstigatingtheseconferencesonChemicalEvolutionand theOriginofLifehereinTrieste,whichstillareofsuchprimaryimportanceinthis?eld. Heleftthisworldin1996. And Stanley Miller,whomostgenerously,astheAbdusSalamLecturer,isgoingto giveushis Recollectionsofthebeginningofchemicalevolutionexperiments : DearStanley,itisagreatprivilege,andindeedapleas uretointroduceyou. Thisisina wayaquiteeasytask,becauseweallalreadyknowthat theMillerexperiment ,whichis mostappropriatelyplacedinthetitleofthisconference,in1953,exactly50yearsago,was amajorbreakthrough,openingupanewresearch?eldwith,andfor,rationalandadvanced chemicalexperimentationonthemolecularoriginoflife. Itwouldtaketoomuchtimetotrytodescribehereyourscienti?ccarrier,yourprices, yourPresidencyofISSOLandyourmanyothersuccesses. SoIratherwillendthisint- ductionwithacoupleofpersonalrecollections. First I would like to combine something of Abdus Salam and Stanley Miller. Abdus Salamgavethevery?rstinvitedlectureoftheUniversityofStockholmInternationalL- turesonHuman,GlobalandUniversalProblems,in1975. And10yearslater,atLidingo closetoStockholm,StanleyMillergavetheopeninglectureofaconferenceontheMol- ularEvolutionofLife. OnapictureItook,asaco-arrangeroftheseevents,Stanleyisseen approachinginhisusual,modestway,morefocussedonscienti?cdiscussionthanonthe camera. Last but not least, I shall tell you the true story about when we learned that Stanley isanenthusiasticenvironmentalist,inthebestsenseoftheword. About25yearsago,in Stockholm, Stanley, my wife and I strolled in the King s Garden. Its elmtrees were full 7 J. Seckbach et al. (eds. ), Life in the Universe,7 8. C 2004 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands. 8 of young people who, some even spending nights in the trees, prevented the authorities from removing the elmtrees, by ax and saw. Also Stanley signed a petition to save the elmtrees andtheyweresaved! Stanley, I believe that your greatness as a scientist and as a friend must be linked to the many facets of your wonderful personality. We much look forward to your lecture. THE BEGINNING OF CHEMICAL EVOLUTION EXPERIMENTS Recollections and Perspectives 1 2 3 S. L. MILLER , J. L. BADA , and A.