ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we argue that water imparted survivability to the incipient biosphere by providing a testing, but not impossible, environment for geochemistry to become biochemistry. In Earth’s atmosphere, the ability of water to sample all phases around its triple point allows it to exert major inuences on climate. By forcing organic chemistry to the interface with air at the surface of the ocean and with globally distributed atmospheric aerosols, water allowed for concentration, alignment, and, ultimately, synthesis of the biomolecular building blocks of life.
