Earth Log 0005 Inheritance and Change

In the previous entry I described what humanity at this time understands about how life began on Earth — the chemistry that produced the first replicating molecules, and the moment at which ordinary matter first acquired the property of making copies of itself.

I write this entry in the spring of 2026 of the Common Era. The science of heredity is among the most rapidly developing fields in our era; substantial parts of what follows would have been unknown or only dimly suspected fifty years before, and parts of it are still being worked out as I write. I have set out the picture as it is broadly understood at this moment, noting where the picture is settled and where it is still being argued over.