The Deep Hot Biosphere Book

Could there exist, deep within the earth's crust, a second biosphere--composed of very primitive, thermophilic (heat-loving) bacteria, and containing more living matter than the entire surface of the planet? This radical idea, which initially met with skepticism when it was first proposed by the author in the early 1980s, is now supported by a growing body of evidence. The implications are astonishing. The theory proposes answers to often-asked questions about life on other planets and the origins of surface life on earth. Is the deep biosphere where life originated? Can Mars and other seemingly barren planets contain deep biospheres? Is there yet another--deeper, hotter--biosphere within the earth, based on silicon instead of carbon? In the first book on this very controversial and intriguing theory, pioneering physicist Thomas Gold explores the likelihood of a subterranean biosphere, one that exists in a gaseous atmosphere at very high temperature and pressure, and survives on chemical energy--hydrocarbons. This stunning book offers new insights into the origins of life, the origins of natural gas and petroleum, and the distribution of life in the universe.Read More