Where did life come from and where is life going? This is the ultimate question in philosophy and in life science as well. As far as philosophy is concerned, mankind is either the subject or the object. Moreover, mankind is the form of the existence of life on the earth.  Neglecting the essence of life may result in the failure of the full knowledge of mankind itself, let alone the perfect interpretation of philosophy. The complexity of  the origin and evolution of life can be far beyond the dimension of our knowledge of the natural sciences and requires resorting to  philosophical speculations.    

The monograph focuses on the two major fields of life science, the origin of life and the evolution of life. In the book, the writer provides a new idea of the possibility for the origin of life, including how the first living cell appeared on the Earth; how  photosynthesis emerged on Earth; how life evolved against the central dogma; how the processed of cell division and how the formation of genetic mechanisms of cells. In fact, light energy is the origin and development  of life which begins its fantastic journey during the evolution of photosynthetic system. The book reviews the history of the theory of the evolution of life and puts forward a new understanding of the evolution of life based on the knowledge of reproduction and ecology.    

Prof. XIE Ping earned his PhD. degree at Tsukuba University, Japan in 1989. He was awarded the Biwaco Prize in Ecology in 1999 and won the National Natural Science Founding for Outstanding Young Scientists in 2003. Prof. Xie is currently the director of the Water Sub-Center in the Chinese Ecosystem Research Network (CERN), and is responsible for the Chinese Wetland Ecosystem Observation and Research Station Alliance.