Early Evolution

This book aims to fill a gap in the evolution of living things. Actually, over the last few decades there has been increasing interest in the astronomical and physicochemical problems involved in the events which determined the appearance of the first cell; for almost two centuries the evolution of present-day and past species has given rise to a great many investigations and much discussion; moreover, in the last few years important contributions have come from the discoveries about their DNA. By contrast, there has been very little investment in attempts to understand the evolutionary processes which linked the first cell to the first modern organisms, of which are included even the most ancient fossils. In this field, even simple working hypotheses are often lacking. This book discusses at length these missing links and the origin of the basic structures of modern cells ranging from the propelling organelles of bacteria and nucleated cells to the organelles that the nucleated cells acquired by...