| 释义 |
panspermia|pænˈspɜːmɪə|
Also Anglicized panˈspermy.
[mod.L. panspermia, ad. Gr. πανσπερµία the doctrine of Anaxagoras and Democritus that the elements were a mixture of all the seeds of things, f. πάνσπερµος: see panspermic.]
The biogenetic theory that the atmosphere is full of minute germs which develop on finding a favourable environment. Also called panspermatism. In recent use applied to the idea that micro-organisms or chemical precursors of life are present in space and able to initiate life on reaching a suitable planet.
1842Dunglison Med. Lex., Panspermia. 1857Mayne Expos. Lex., Panspermia.., panspermy. 1882Pop. Sci. Monthly XX. 824 The weight of his opinion in favor of his own theory of panspermy. 1893Syd. Soc. Lex., Panspermia, the physiological system according to which there are germs disseminated through all space which develop when they encounter a suitable soil. 1908H. Borns tr. Arrhenius' Worlds in Making viii. 217 The so-called theory of panspermia really shows a way. According to this theory life-giving seeds are drifting about in space. They encounter the planets, and fill their surfaces with life as soon as the necessary conditions for the existence of organic beings are established. 1938S. Morgulis tr. Oparin's Origin of Life ii. 39 At the beginning of the twentieth century the idea of the transfer of genus from one celestial body to another was again revived in the form of the so-called theory of panspermia, originated by the great Swedish physical chemist S. Arrhenius. 1970Daily Tel. 9 Jan. 19 The theory of ‘panspermia’, the idea that the seeds of life drift through the Galaxy until they find a planet on which to settle, was eagerly discussed on the..final day of the moon-rock conference in Houston. 1971I. G. Gass et al. Understanding Earth ix. 140/2 The hypothesis of ‘panspermia’..is an old one which has never found much favour. 1975Times Lit. Suppl. 25 July 846/3 The possibility of panspermia—the idea, recently revived by Leslie Orgel and Nobel laureate Francis Crick, that life did not originate on earth at all, but arrived here from elsewhere in the universe. |