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Asimov wrote about precisely this, and hypothesised, well, exactly this, in his essay “The asymmetry of life” in the collection “The Left Hand of the Electron”

Asimov wrote about precisely this, and hypothesised, well, exactly this, in his essay “The asymmetry of life” in the collection “The Left Hand of the Electron” - in 1972 - right down to gamma ray chirality due to electron spin asymmetry affecting an initial randomly distributed population. See pages 65-67 of the below (pdf pages, not book pages). http://www.arvindguptatoys.com/arvindgupta/asimov-electron.pdf http://www.arvindguptatoys.com/arvindgupta/asimov-electron.p...

mkl 6y ago
Asimov refers to a 1968 paper, and a Nature article [1] refers to a 1967 paper by other researchers, so it seems like it may have been a common hypothesis at the time. However, Asimov doesn't refer to cosmic rays like the original article, but the Nature article does. [1] https://www.nature.com/news/force-of-nature-gave-life-its-asymmetry-1.15995 https://www.nature.com/news/force-of-nature-gave-life-its-as...
jquery 6y ago
This is absolutely incredible. I’ve never read Asimov beyond one or two short stories, now I feel compelled to read his grander works. What an insanely keen mind.
- himinlomax 6y ago
  Be sure to read his paper on the properties of resublimated thiotimoline. It's a disgrace he never got a Nobel prize for this.
  - baxtr 6y ago
    Nice way to spread the story :)
  - eindiran 6y ago
    In case anyone was wondering what this referred to (like I did): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thiotimoline https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thiotimoline > Thiotimoline is a fictitious chemical compound conceived by American biochemist and science fiction author Isaac Asimov. It was first described in a spoof scientific paper titled "The Endochronic Properties of Resublimated Thiotimoline" in 1948. The major peculiarity of the chemical is its "endochronicity": it starts dissolving before it makes contact with water. > Asimov went on to write three additional short stories, each describing different properties or uses of thiotimoline.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]

mkl 6y ago

Asimov refers to a 1968 paper, and a Nature article [1] refers to a 1967 paper by other researchers, so it seems like it may have been a common hypothesis at the time. However, Asimov doesn't refer to cosmic rays like the original article, but the Nature article does. [1] https://www.nature.com/news/force-of-nature-gave-life-its-asymmetry-1.15995 https://www.nature.com/news/force-of-nature-gave-life-its-as...

jquery 6y ago

This is absolutely incredible. I’ve never read Asimov beyond one or two short stories, now I feel compelled to read his grander works. What an insanely keen mind.

himinlomax 6y ago
Be sure to read his paper on the properties of resublimated thiotimoline. It's a disgrace he never got a Nobel prize for this.
- baxtr 6y ago
  Nice way to spread the story :)
- eindiran 6y ago
  In case anyone was wondering what this referred to (like I did): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thiotimoline https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thiotimoline > Thiotimoline is a fictitious chemical compound conceived by American biochemist and science fiction author Isaac Asimov. It was first described in a spoof scientific paper titled "The Endochronic Properties of Resublimated Thiotimoline" in 1948. The major peculiarity of the chemical is its "endochronicity": it starts dissolving before it makes contact with water. > Asimov went on to write three additional short stories, each describing different properties or uses of thiotimoline.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]