This volume contains the lectures presented at the second course of the International School of Space Chemistry held in Erice (Sicily) from October 20 - 30 1991 at the "E. Majorana Centre for Scientific Culture." The course was attended by 58 participants from 13 countries. The Chemistry of Life's Origins is well recognized as one of the most critical subjects of modem chemistry. Much progress has been made since the amazingly perceptive contributions by Oparin some 70 years ago when he first outlined a possible series of steps starting from simple molecules to basic building blocks and...

The fundamental role that Astrochemistry plays into regulating the processes that in interstellar clouds lead to the formation of stars, and how these processes concur into affecting the shape and the dynamics of galaxies and hence into showing the Universe in the way it appears to us is well established. Together with those occurring in the gas phase a special relevance is recognized to processes that involve interstellar dust grains, the solid component of matter diffused among stars. The school on "Solid State Astrochemistry," held at the Ettore Majorana Centre for Scientific Culture in...

The fundamental role that Astrochemistry plays into regulating the processes that in interstellar clouds lead to the formation of stars, and how these processes concur into affecting the shape and the dynamics of galaxies and hence into showing the Universe in the way it appears to us is well established. Together with those occurring in the gas phase a special relevance is recognized to processes that involve interstellar dust grains, the solid component of matter diffused among stars. The school on "Solid State Astrochemistry," held at the Ettore Majorana Centre for Scientific Culture in...

This volume contains the lectures presented at the first course of the Inter national School of Space Chemistry held in Erice (Sicily) from May 10 to May 20 at the 'E. Majorana Centre for Scientific Culture'. The course was attended by 57 participants from 11 countries. The recognition by Professor A. Zichichi that space chemistry is one of the important and rapidly growing scientific disciplines with many and varied appli cations provided the stimulation to initiate this new school. Historically, the study of chemistry in space had its major origins in comets, the solar nebula and...

This volume contains the lectures presented at the first course of the Inter- national School of Space Chemistry held in Erice (Sicily) from May 10 to May 20 at the 'E. Majorana Centre for Scientific Culture'. The course was attended by 57 participants from 11 countries. The recognition by Professor A. Zichichi that space chemistry is one of the important and rapidly growing scientific disciplines with many and varied appli- cations provided the stimulation to initiate this new school. Historically, the study of chemistry in space had its major origins in comets, the solar nebula and...