(FOR THOSE WHO ARE EVOLUTIONISTS BUT ACCEPT A DIFFERENT THEORY, I WOULD BE INTERESTED IN HEARING IT ALSO)
The Work of Alexander Oparin and J.B.S. Haldane and the Theory of Chemical Evolution
This is the theory that most modern biologist accept. This theory states that the primitive earth was created with pools of chemicals and that the primitive earth an atmosphere that was conductive to the formation of life. With energy supplied by lightning, chemicals in this pre-biotic soup- over a period of billions of years- linked together, and a sample life formed. From there evolution took over.
It was Alexander Oparin who, in 1924, proposed that complex molecular arrangements and the functions of living matter evolved from simple molecules that pre-existed on the early earth. Then in 1928, J.B.S Haldane theorized that ultra-violet light acting in the earth's primitive atmosphere caused sugar and amino acids to concentrate in the oceans, and from there a primordial broth was eventually formed. Nobel winner Harold Urey suggested that the earth's primitive atmosphere made it favorable for organic compounds to have emerged. And finally, University of Chicago professor Stanley Miller decided to test this experimentally. Miller recreated the atmosphere of the primitive earth in a laboratory and shot electricity through it to stimulate the effects of lightning. Very soon, he found that amino acids (the building blocks of life) had been created. To many these proved that life could have emerged from non-living chemicals. So is this a realistic option? Decide after reading more about Stanley Miller's experiment.
Unfortunately for Miller, his results have since been invalidated due to one huge problem. The problem is Miller or Oparin had no proof that the earth's early atmosphere was composed of ammonia, methane, and hydrogen, yet this is what Miller used in his experiment. This experiment was based on physical chemistry. Miller and Oparin wanted to get a chemical reaction that would be favorable so they proposed that the atmosphere be rich in these gases. Oparin knew that if you started with gases like nitrogen and carbon dioxide, the chemicals would not react. So what was the real atmosphere like? From 1980 on, which was well after the Miller experiment, NASA has shown that the primitive earth has NEVER had any methane, hydrogen, or ammonia that would amount to anything. Instead, NASA has consistently shown that the primitive earth was composed of water, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen. With this knowledge, you absolutely cannot get the same experimental results using these proper mixtures. The theory of chemical evolution is dead when given the NASA information on the primitive earth.