ABSTRACT
Scientists picture the primordial Earth as a planet washed by a hot sea and bathed in an atmosphere containing water vapor, ammonia, methane, and hydrogen. Testing this theory, Stanley Miller at the University of Chicago duplicated these conditions in the laboratory. He distilled seawater in a special apparatus; passed the vapor with ammonia, methane, and hydrogen through an electrical discharge at frequent intervals; and condensed the “rain” to return it to the boiling seawater. Within a week, the seawater had turned red. Analysis showed that it contained amino acids, which are the building blocks of protein substances.
