Title:

Signs of Life: Criterion System of Exobiology

Creator:

Lederberg, Joshua

Date:

3 July 1965

Periodical:

Nature

Publisher:

MacMillan Magazines

Location:

Box: 82. Folder: 23

Rights:

Reproduced with permission of Nature and http://www.nature.com/nature/index.html

Genre:

Articles

Subject:

Exobiology and Biological Evolution

Format:

Text

Extent:

13 pages

Language:

English

Legacy Source Citation:

Periodical. Lederberg, Joshua. "Signs of Life: Criterion System of Exobiology." Nature 207, 4492 (3 July 1965): 9-13. Article. 13 Images.. Nature. Lederberg UI. P121

Legacy ID:

BBABIQ

NLM ID:

101584906X876

Profiles Collection:

The Joshua Lederberg Papers

Shareable Link:

https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/101584906X876

Annotation:

Author: Joshua Lederberg. Date Written: April 27, 2000. KW: This was an effort to systematize thinking about the question, hoew do we decide what methodology to use in seeking life on Mars. That requires a definition of "life"; a survey of potential administration; a comparable survey of possible signatures, a review of existing information and attention to the constraints of a prefigured, inflexible mission. It was an early application of orthologic, close to what F Zwicky called morphological analysis, and was certainly colored by my contemporary preoccupation with DENDRAL, which embraced a forecasting generator of all possible chemical isomers. (Cf P-300). As a vector to scan analyte signatures, particle (atomic/molecular weight) was ventured, and that came up short with the realization that negentropic local concentrations of almost any target, even elemntal or molecular hydrogen might end up as a sign of life, perhaps even of intelligence (consider a metal cylinder containing H2 gas!); The only philosophical commentary citing the article's method was Hao Wang', the formal and the intuitive in biology, (1984); other citers were preoccupied with my advocacy of optical activity (cf the Pasteur probe) as a signature. more: jl 3/27/00

Story Section:

Launching a New Science: Exobiology and the Exploration of Space

Lederberg Grouping:

P. Published Scientific Article.