Michael Russell is a research fellow@the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre and currently a distinguished visiting scientist@the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. He studied nickel catalysts as an apprentice in the chemical industry before earning a degree in geology from London University. He then studied volcanoes and surveyed hydrothermal copper and gold deposits in the Solomon Islands, and he prospected for silver, molybdenum and other ores in Canada before returning to Britain for a Ph.D.@the University of Durham. There he researched the genesis of lead-zinc deposits in Ireland, which proved to have been associated with 350-millon-year-old hydrothermal springs.@the University of Strathclyde in Scotland, he and his students discovered the hydrothermal chemical gardens, chimneys and accompanying fossil worms that ignited his interest in the emergence of life. Address: Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre, Glasgow G75 0QF, Scotland. Internet: michaelr@chem.gla.ac.uk