This
note covers the following topics: Life and its Requirements, Origin and
Evolution of Life, Observing Habitable Environments, Contemporary Environ
Issues, Endogenic Processes: Tectonics, Volcanos and Atmospheres, Evolution of
Early Earth, Comets, Meteors.
This note describes the origin and development of life on the
planet Earth within the context of an evolving universe. It begins with an
overview of the origins of the universe from the "Big Bang" to our own solar
system and then integrate the principles of physics, chemistry, geology and
biology to study the origins of life on Earth.