# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/robert-shapiro
# Generated: 2026-08-12T18:50:17.326Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/robert-shapiro"
name: "Robert Shapiro"
slug: "robert-shapiro"
description: "Robert Shapiro was professor emeritus of chemistry at New York University. He is best known for his work on the origin of life, having written two books on the topic: Origins, a Skeptic’s Guide to the Creation of Life on Earth (1986) and Planetary Dreams (1999). He opposed the RNA world hypothesis, and held that the spontaneous emergence of a molecule as complicated as RNA is highly unlikely. Instead, he proposed that life arose from some self-sustaining and compartmentalized reaction of simple molecules: \"metabolism first\" instead of \"RNA first\". This reaction would have to be able to reproduce and evolve, eventually leading to RNA. He claimed that in this view life is a normal consequence of the laws of nature and potentially quite common in the universe."
tagline: "American chemist (1935-2011)"
gender: "male"
country:
  name: "United States"
  isoCode: "US"
category:
  name: "Scientists"
  slug: "scientists"
profileType:
  name: "Scientist"
  slug: "scientist"
  entityType: "https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q39631"
birthDate: "1935-11-28"
deathDate: "2011-06-15"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           39.3
  momentum:             0
  historical:           7.006984
  currentAttention:     0
  sourceConfidence:     45
  profileCompleteness:  55
  trendDirection:       "FALLING"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
sources:
  - url: "https://vo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Shapiro_(kiemavan)"
    title: "Robert Shapiro (kiemavan)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%AA_%D8%B4%D8%A7%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%B1%D9%88"
    title: "روبرت شابيرو"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%AA_%D8%B4%D8%A7%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%B1%D9%88_(%D8%B9%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85_%D9%83%D9%8A%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%A1_%D8%AD%D9%8A%D9%88%D9%8A%D9%87_%D9%85%D9%86_%D8%A7%D9%85%D8%B1%D9%8A%D9%83%D8%A7)"
    title: "روبرت شابيرو (عالم كيمياء حيويه من امريكا)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://azb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%AA_%D8%B4%D8%A7%D9%BE%DB%8C%D8%B1%D9%88_(%DA%A9%DB%8C%D9%85%DB%8C%D8%A7%DA%86%DB%8C)"
    title: "رابرت شاپیرو (کیمیاچی)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Shapiro_(Chemiker)"
    title: "Robert Shapiro (Chemiker)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Shapiro_(chemist)"
    title: "Robert Shapiro (chemist)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Shapiro"
    title: "Robert Shapiro"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A8%D0%B0%D0%BF%D0%B8%D1%80%D0%BE%2C_%D0%A0%D0%BE%D0%B1%D0%B5%D1%80%D1%82"
    title: "Шапиро, Роберт"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q446561"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Imported from discovery source: wikidata-dump