"Origins of Life" Prof. Robert M. Hazen (24 Lectures / 30 Minutes Per Lecture /  4x DVD - The Great Courses)
The fundamental mystery of how non-living matter transformed into the first living cells takes center stage in Professor Robert M. Hazen’s multidisciplinary series, Origins of Life. This course functions as a high-level scientific detective story, synthesizing breakthroughs from geology, chemistry, and biology to reconstruct the environments of the early Earth. By evaluating the "primordial soup" theory and the latest research on deep-sea hydrothermal vents, you will examine the critical transition from simple organic molecules to the complex, self-replicating systems that define all biological existence.
 
A comprehensive exploration of "mineral evolution" provides a groundbreaking perspective on how the physical Earth and life itself co-evolved over billions of years. Through the expert lens of a George Mason University researcher, you will analyze the chemical prerequisites for life—carbon, water, and energy—and investigate the controversial role of RNA in the earliest genetic coding. This is not merely a survey of biological facts; it is an intellectually rigorous investigation into one of the greatest scientific questions of our time: whether life is a cosmic fluke or an inevitable outcome of the laws of nature.