AUTHOR'S FOREWORD TO THE ENGLISH EDITION

FOR A LONG TIME I have been greatly intrigued by the question as to how life on Earth began and for more than fifteen years have been actively engaged in searching for a solution of the problem which has stirred me so deeply.

The fruits of the meditations and researches along these lines have been presented in a series of scientific articles and popular essays. In 1923 I published a booklet devoted to this problem in which my views according to which life appeared in the gradual evolution of primary organic substances were first expounded. Subsequently I attempted to develop this idea further and to substantiate it with data derived from various investigations carried out by astron-omers, geologists, biochemists and others working in related fields. The information garnered from these various sources has been incorporated in 1936 in my book, "The Origin of Life," a translation of which is now offered to the reader.