Robert Shapiro (chemist)
| Robert Shapiro | |
|---|---|
| Born |
November 28, 1935 New York City, United States |
| Died | June 15, 2011 (aged 75) |
| Nationality | American |
| Fields | Chemistry |
| Institutions | University of Cambridge, New York University |
| Alma mater | City College of New York (BS), Harvard University (PhD) |
| Doctoral advisor | Robert B. Woodward |
| Known for | Work on origin of life |
| Notable awards | Trotter Prize (2004) with Paul Davies |
Robert Shapiro (28 November 1935 – 15 June 2011) was professor emeritus of chemistry at New York University. He is best known for his work on the origin of life, having written two books on the topic: Origins, a Skeptic’s Guide to the Creation of Life on Earth (1986) and Planetary Dreams (2001). He opposed the RNA world hypothesis, and held that the spontaneous emergence of a molecule as complicated as RNA is highly unlikely. Instead, he proposed that life arose from some self-sustaining and compartmentalized reaction of simple molecules: "metabolism first" instead of "RNA first". This reaction would have to be able to reproduce and evolve, eventually leading to RNA. He claimed that in this view life is a normal consequence of the laws of nature and potentially quite common in the universe.
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