I have always had nagging questions about different aspects of science. Over the years my continued reading never seemed to connect the dots and the questions stayed with me, still unresolved. When I began my retirement, I expected to commit a significant amount of time to research and link scientific knowledge so that it told a coherent story. But, even in retirement, there are many distractions and “bucket list” items to attend to. International travel was an ongoing distraction as was family, especially when grandkids arrived. Those things, I believe gave me the license to procrastinate as they are worthy uses of one’s time.

The Covid lockdowns that began in early 2020 were a signal that the time had come to get serious about putting word to paper (yes, we once did that). Finally, I had the time and seclusion. I soon realized that I had to write this book.

Growing up I was never very bright about science, but I did have questions. When I was in the 9th grade, I borrowed a book from my science teacher titled something like, “The Chemistry of Life.” My curiosity was brimming at the well, but comprehension, I’m afraid was still in the abyss. I read the book and wondered what it meant. What I did learn from that experience, however, was that it was possible to know things that were not obvious from everyday experience. There were ways of knowing and understanding as evidenced by the fact of the book. I looked out at the world and wondered how did someone gain such an understanding of life chemistry. How could we know something we could not see or sense? I vowed to find out.

Most of us as we mature and learn, we slowly find a path. If at first, we find it isn’t the right one we branch to another path. We meander and stumble and sometimes find our passion. Eventually, I found mine and completed my education in the sciences. Those who pursue research in some area of the sciences, by necessity seek a very narrow focus of study. The frontiers of scientific research require a very large commitment of time and study. That kind of research is usually not compatible with broad knowledge. To gain a broad perspective one needs to gain altitude. A look across the sciences; chemistry, physics, biochemistry, molecular biology, virology, bacteriology, evolution, ecology, etc. will help us understand how they related to one another. That high-altitude overlook helped in my understanding. That is, I was looking for pivotal points in our journey that lead to us and all life. Would life exist elsewhere? Almost certainly as microbes. Would technological life exist on other planets? The answer to that question may be disappointing. My studies led to a different conclusion. Technological life, it seems is a very high mountain to climb.

My 9th-grade curiosity never went away. Though I am satisfied with the work and resultant book, some nagging questions and incomplete spaces still beg to be filled in. I hope this book is a springboard for you. These things cannot be assembled in one’s head at one time. They must be committed to paper (again a metaphor for a computer screen). The facts and ideas must be assembled, dissected, and criticized by others. Finally, the reward after successfully passing through that gauntlet is coherence. It’s difficult to tell a complex story in a little more than 300 pages. It is something that cannot be expressed verbally. It is for posterity, a sequence of ideas from my mind to yours. It is finally my labor of love.

–Richard Anderson