Page 50 - The Evolution Impasse 2

48 Miller Experiment, The

a de cep tion, whose in va lid i ty in all ami no ac id had formed in the ab -
re gards was sub se quent ly prov en. sence of any mech a nism, that mol e -
The ex per i ment per formed by cule would have been bro ken down
Miller to prove that ami no ac ids un der the con di tions at the time. As
could give rise to liv ing or gan isms the chem ist Richard Bliss has stat ed,
un der the con di tions of the pri mor - "Without this cold trap, the chem i cal
di al Earth is in valid in sev er al re - pro ducts would be de stroyed by the
gards: [ex per i ment's] en er gy source (elec -
1. Miller used a mech a nism tri cal spark ing)." 43
known as the cold trap to iso late In fact, Miller had fail ed to ob tain
ami no ac ids at the mo ment they even a sin gle ami no ac id in ear li er
formed. Otherwise, the very con di - ex per i ments in which he did not use
tions in which the ami no ac ids a cold trap.
formed would have im me di ate ly de -
stroyed them.
However, there was no such con -
scious ar range ment in the pri mor di -
al world at mos phere. Even if any

Reaction cell

Methane, am mo -
nia wa ter and hy -
Water is add ed to dro gen gas
the con dens er Vacuum

Water boils

The ar ti fi cial at mos phere cre at ed by Miller in his ex per i ment bore no re sem blance to
that of the pri mor di al Earth. For that rea son, the ex per i ment was re gard ed as in valid
by the sci en tif ic world.
The Evolution Impasse II