Thermodynamics is interesting if taught correctly.
Get your hands on the Gordon-McBride code (CEA), refer to:
http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/CEAWeb/ceaWhat.htm
Lift up the hood and see what makes CEA tick. You'll learn to love equilibrium thermodynamics (it's incredibly elegant). Here's an example: Construct a hypothetical pre-biological terrestrial atmosphere, e.g.
CH4 moles=0.30
CO2 moles=0.10
N2 moles=0.55
Ar moles=0.05
Run CEA for the above formula with the thermodynamic state set to 10 bars at 2000 deg.K. Amino acid precursors will pop out by magic. Biology is built into fundamental thermodynamics.
Gary