The seminar took an historical approach to exploring how the interdisciplinary field of astrobiology emerged, how astrobiology has affected origins of life research, and how astrobiology fits into the larger conceptual scheme of cosmic evolution. How does the emergence of astrobiology compare to the emergence of other subdisciplines in biology? Are there historical lessons astrobiologists can learn in their quest for a universal biology? Discussions were led by invited biologists, historians and philosophers.