This is in response to the letter to the editor entitled, "Evolution covers life on Earth only" (SN 4/28). I would like to congratulate the author for stating the obvious - that evolution only covers the origin of life on Earth. Is there life somewhere else in the universe that I'm not aware of? While very likely from a statistical standpoint, there is yet no evidence of extraterrestrial life. If the author knew what he was talking about, evolutionary biology does not cover the theory of the origin of the universe - that is the job of cosmology.

However, if the author would truly like a better understanding of current scientific understanding of how life can be created from lifeless matter, I recommend he read Noam Lahav's "Biogenesis: Theories of Life's Origin."

I do agree with the author that educators should teach within the realm of science, which means not teaching pseudoscientific theories such as creationism and "life seeding" as he seems to have been taught. The author's letter illustrates Mr. Bice's point: that we need to teach evolution and science better in general so that people don't hold misconceptions.

Brian Fairman
human biology senior