The Michael Shermer Show What Turns Sand Into Cells? How Nonliving Matter Becomes Alive
Apr 8, 2026
Lee Cronin, Regius Chair of Chemistry at the University of Glasgow and origin-of-life researcher, explores how inert matter organizes into life. He discusses assembly theory and measuring molecular complexity. They examine prebiotic selection, autocatalysis, detecting alien life by complexity, and what instruments to send to Mars. The conversation also touches on consciousness, AI creativity, and the limits of future technologies.
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Giant Inorganic Molecules Sparked The Question
- Cronin joined a German lab making huge inorganic molybdate structures and wondered how small chemistry becomes large, long‑lived assemblies.
- That experience sparked his shift toward studying how templation and persistent structures arise in chemistry.
Why Copy Number Matters
- Copy number matters: complex objects are only diagnostic of life when produced repeatedly at scale, not as single random instances.
- Cronin revised assembly theory to require both high assembly index and high copy number as evidence of a process.
Selection Before Biology
- Assembly theory links causation, selection, and contingency as the pre-biological physics enabling evolution before cells exist.
- Cronin argues causation emerges when molecular networks self-sustain, allowing selection to act in chemical spaces.
