The Emergence of Life on Earth: Mystery or Scientific Problem? / Nastanek življenja na Zemlji: misterij ali znanstveni problem?

Until the end of the 19th century, the origin of life on Earth was explained either as the creative act of god or as the result of "spontaneous generation" – the repeated formation of complete organisms from inanimate matter. Only within an evolutionary conception, following Darwin's theory, could the origin of life on the ancient Earth begin to be studied scientifically. Scientists still didn't find an empirical answer to this difficult question and are divided on the nature of the first systems to emerge. They agree however that natural selection was actively involved in the process. They are also united in rejecting the creationistic claims and in supporting the naturalistic worldview. ---- Izvor življenja so vse do konca 19. stoletja razlagali ali kot božje stvarstvo ali kot rezultat spontanega nastanka, torej kot ponovni nastanek celotnih organizmov iz nežive snovi. Šele z evolucijskim konceptom, ki je sledil Darwinovi teoriji, so ga začeli preučevati znanstveno. Raziskovalci še vedno niso našli empiričnega odgovora na to težko vprašanje in se delijo glede na prepričanje o pojavu prvih sistemov. Kljub vsemu se strinjajo, da je bil naravni izbor aktivno vključen v ta proces. Enakega mnenja so tudi pri zavračanju kreacionističnih razlag in pri podpiranju naturalističnega svetovnega nazora.