Abstract

The Oparin hypothesis from 1936 was a milestone in the origin of life research, making a model that was at least in part empirically testable, and changing the course of life studies from a long tradition of metaphysics to a scientific domain of investigation. His hypothesis is based on the idea of the prebiotic synthesis of macromolecules as a fundamental step on the road to first life. Although the Oparin hypothesis brought fresh ideas and concepts, in its description of the steps in the hypothesized transition from the inorganic to the organic world in detail, today some premises are considered unconfirmed, uncertain, or even rejected. With high respect to its metatheoretical reach and scientific impact on prebiotic chemistry, pushing the origin of first life research into an empirical context, from a contemporary viewpoint, its contribution is highly limited in the area of history of science and history of philosophy (of science). Keywords: biology, history of science, Oparin, origin of life, philosophy of science