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Astrobiology involves the study of the origin and history of life on Earth, planets and moons where life may have arisen, and the search for extraterrestrial life. It combines the sciences of biology, chemistry, palaeontology, geology, planetary physics and astronomy. This textbook brings together world experts in each of these disciplines to provide the most comprehensive coverage of the field currently available. Topics cover the origin and evolution of life on Earth, the geological, physical and chemical conditions in which life might arise and the detection of extraterrestrial life on other planets and moons. The book also covers the history of our ideas on extraterrestrial life and the origin of life, as well as the ethical, philosophical and educational issues raised by astrobiology. Written to be accessible to students from diverse backgrounds, this text will be welcomed by advanced undergraduates and graduates who are taking astrobiology courses. ... Read more

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Several major breakthroughs in the last decade have helped contribute to the emerging field of astrobiology. Focusing on these developments, this fascinating book explores some of the most important problems in this field. It examines how planetary systems formed, and how water and the biomolecules necessary for life were produced. It then focuses on how life may have originated and evolved on Earth. Building on these two themes, the final section takes the reader on a search for life elsewhere in the Solar System. It presents the latest results of missions to Mars and Titan, and explores the possibilities of life in the ice-covered ocean of Europa. This interdisciplinary book is an enjoyable overview of this exciting field for students and researchers in astrophysics, planetary science, geosciences, biochemistry, and evolutionary biology. Colour versions of some of the figures are available at www.cambridge.org/9780521875486. ... Read more

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What is the ultimate destiny of our universe? That is the striking question addressed by James Gardner in The Intelligent Universe.

Traditionally, scientists (and Robert Frost) have offered two bleak answers to this profound issue: fire or ice.

The cosmos might end in fire—a cataclysmic Big Crunch in which galaxies, planets, and life forms are consumed in a raging inferno as the universe contracts in a kind of Big Bang in reverse.

Or the universe might end in ice—a ceaseless expansion of the fabric of space-time in which matter and energy are eternally diluted and cooled; stars wither and die, , and the cosmos simply fades into quiet and endless oblivion.

In The Intelligent Universe, James Gardner envisions a third dramatic alternative—a final state of the cosmos in which a highly evolved form of group intelligence engineers a cosmic renewal, the birth of a new universe.

Gardner's vision is that life and intelligence are at the very heart of the elegant machinery of the universe. It is a viewpoint that has won outspoken praise from an array of leading scientists, including Sir Martin Rees, Britain’s Astronomer Royal, and Templeton Prize winner Paul Davies.

The Intelligent Universe is both a look into the past and a road map for the future of the universe. It explores the mysteries of the universe and of consciousness, and provides a frank and fascinating look at where our minds are taking us. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

Best book available on the universe.Don't miss it!
James N. Gardner, whose crystal-clear prose and exquisitely presented ideas make him one of the finest writers of our era,
is a great thinker who can also write well.In a world where many bright people believe they must present their ideas with
complicated jargon to be respected by their peers, Mr. Gardner stands head and shoulders above everyone else writing on the cosmos today.If you haven't read it yet, you are denying yourself one of the great aesthetic and thoughtful experiences a reader can have.Spending time reading this book is like sitting with an original thinker, clear teacher and a fascinating human being.Give yourself or someone you love that gift.Buy this book.

Intelligent Universe review
An excellent book! James Gardner paints an overview of the Universe based on AI, Physics and life in a very elegant literary style. One of the best books I have ever read and a must read for anyone with a deep interest in the Universe and the reason for our existence.

where's the beef?
Gardner weaves together many conjectures into a grand speculation. He's too eager to maintain scientific credibility while advancing a theory that has vast religious and mythological implications. He should just bite the bullet and not be so concerned with keeping on polite terms with the scientists.www.starlarvae.org presents a more direct treatment of "biocosmic" ideas.

What else is there to think about?
I have often wondered if there will ever be a discovery or event that will change our understanding of the nature of things so profoundly that we can never return to our previous concepts, I think this book provides that.This is the feeling I get when reading of the remarkableness and inconceivably of the evolution our life-friendly universe.I find it hard to imagine anything less when considering how the elements of carbon created from super novas eventually, though the immense span of time, developed into self-aware intelligence.Then when continuing the idea to the reasonable speculation that this may have been the result of a pre-programmed design and will possibly eventually result in replication of another universe, it seems that there is nothing more important to discuss or think about.

I consider this one of the most profound books I have ever read about the most important scientific/philosophical conjectures.What made this book so enjoyable was the author's writing style, his choice of words were succinct and added to the profundity of his thoughts, reading it made me feel more intelligent.If I were to have read this book in my 20's I think I would have decided to become a cosmologist.

disappointing
incredibly speculative, not particularly novel, and not even proofread (spelling mistakes all over). also, the printing is really ugly and difficult to read. ... Read more

Product Description
"This is a wonderful book by two of the best historians of biology in the business."—Michael Ruse, author of Darwin and Design: Does Evolution Have a Purpose?

"The detailed and thorough research underpinning this book is truly remarkable."—Frank Drake, senior scientist and director of the Center for the Study of Life in the Universe, SETI Institute

The Living Universe is a comprehensive, historically nuanced study of the formation of the new scientific discipline of exobiology and its transformation into astrobiology. Among many other themes, the authors analyze how research on the origin of life became wedded to the search for life on other planets and for extraterrestrial intelligence. Many scientific breakthroughs of the last forty years were either directly supported or indirectly spun off from NASA’s exobiology program, including cell symbiosis, the discovery of the Archaea, and the theories of Nuclear Winter and the asteroid extinction of the dinosaurs.

Exobiology and astrobiology have generated public fascination, enormous public relations benefits for NASA, and––on the flip side of the coin––some of the most heated political wrangling ever seen in government science funding. Dick and Strick provide a riveting overview of the search for life throughout the universe, with all of the Earthly complexities of a science-in-the-making and the imperfect humans called scientists. Their book will appeal to biologists, historians and philosophers of science, planetary scientists (including geologists), and an educated general readership interested in the investigation of life on other planets. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Excellent history of astrobiology
Dick and Strick present a history of astrobiological research from the 1950's to the present time. The reader is treated - and I mean treated - to wonderful expositions of the politics and science of NASA's involvement in astrobiology. Featuring early origin of life research, the Viking mission, and the Mars meteorite (among other topics), this work will appeal to scientists and historians alike. Most importantly, it is accessible to non-specialists. Well worth picking up if you are interested in astrobiology and how important that field is to the future of NASA. ... Read more

Product Description
The Question of whether we are alone in the universe isone that has fascinated humankind since early times.But, as CarlSagan once said, "The search for extraterrestrial life must begin withthe question of what we mean by life."Astrobiologists today focus onthe origins of the earliest and simplest life forms, bacteria andother single-celled organisms.Using Earth as a prototypicalenvironment, they and other scientists tackle the question of life inthe universe.

Beginning with the Big Bang and formation of the universe, this richlyillustrated book discusses the emergence of life on Earth and beyond.Monica Grady discusses the factors necessary for the development ofmicroorganisms on Earth, including chemical building blocks likecarbon and water as well as an atmosphere that protects fromultraviolet radiation.She considers the possibility of life on otherplanets in the solar system, describing the conditions and diversehabitats that make Mars as well as some of Jupiter's and Saturn'smoons ideal candidates for research.In a final chapter she looksbeyond the solar system, searching for Earth-like planets or dustydisks of preplanetary material surrounding stars.

Beginning to answer the question "Are we alone" Astrobiologysummarizes what is known and can be extrapolated from our studies ofEarth, the solar system, and the galaxy. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

A most intruiging discussion
I'm sure had I read the book I'd think it was stellar.

Safe & Satisfying
This is one of eight books on Astrobiology which were rushed out after the publication of Joseph's revolutionary and ground breaking text, in May of 2000. Like the other seven competing volumes, this text differs from Joseph's, in that it strictly holds to the "party" line, as approved by the United States government, and repeats, without any critical analysis, mainstream scientific dogma. It you are interested in a very short book, with admittedly, amazing pictures, that provides a "safe" and "politically correct" and very brief overview of standard mainstream scientific dogma,then this is the book for you.

A Brief But Wonderful Little Book
Monica Grady is a world renowned expert and is probably best known for her edited volumes,Catalogue of Meteorites, which have generated rave reviews.Dr. Grady's text, Astrobiology, is a wonderful little book, which provides an excellent overview of the field and which contains numerous photos.It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words, and is this book is well worth reading and would be of interest to anyone desiring a brief but thorough introductory overview of the field of astrobiology. -Rhawn Joseph, Ph.D. author of: Astrobiology, the Origin of Life, and the Death of Darwinism

A very nice introduction
This may be only a small book but the text is accurate and the illustrations well chosen. Indeed, it's an ideal introduction to the subject for a young person interested in science or for a layperson wanting to know the basics of our quest to find life in the universe. I think the earlier reviewer was being unkind and a little mischievous in questioning the author's credentials. Monica Grady is actually head of petrology and meteoritics at the Natural History Museum in London and has carried out extensive research on the Martian meteorites and interstellar grains - topics of central importance to our understanding of what life might be like elsewhere. The truth is that astrobiology is a multidisciplinary science and its experts are drawn from fields as diverse as oceanography, planetary astronomy, origin of life research - and meteoritics. ... Read more

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NASA astrobiologist Dr. Christopher McKay has searched the earth's most extreme environments in his quest to understand what factors are necessary to sustain life.Pamela S. Turner offers readers an inside look at Dr. McKay's research, explaining his findings and his hopes for future exploration both on Earth and beyond.Behind-the-scenes photos capture Dr. McKay, his expeditions, and the amazing microbes that survive against all odds. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Real science - not science fiction
Dr. Chris McKay works for NASA as an astrobiologist, someone who studies extreme environments on earth in an attempt to answer the long-asked question of whether life can exist elsewhere in our universe.This book follows his journey to some of the most lifeless areas of Earth.He searches for tiny microbes in Antarctica, Chile, Siberia, and the Sahara Desert.The underlying theory is that if life is able to survive in the coldest and driest areas of Earth, maybe there is life beyond our planet.The author does a great job at chronicling Dr. McKay's story and making the readers feel like they are along on the journey.The book is filled with colorful pictures of the places that the research team traveled, along with pictures and artist conceptions of Mars and other planets.I especially enjoyed the pictures that compared the surface of Mars to some areas on Earth.This book really got me thinking about whether is it possible that there is life elsewhere in our universe.There are so many science fiction stories about life on other planets, and it was refreshing to hear the case from a scientific standpoint where you can see that the idea is actually possible.There are no "little green men" in this book, only tiny microbes that could be living in places that we would never expect.This book is great for a science fiction fan who wants to learn more about life in our universe from a scientific and realistic standpoint. ... Read more

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Micrometeorites played an essential role in the formation of the atmosphere of the Early Earth and also served as a significant source of activation for organic prebiotic chemistry on mineral surfaces. The present book gives a coherent account of this scenario, embedding the more specific results within a broader framework that considers the creation and evolution of the Early Earth. It thus addresses students and nonspecialist researchers in the fields of planetary atmospheres, biogeophysics and astrobiology. The experienced researcher will find this volume to be a modern and compact reference, as well as a source of material for lectures in this field.

Product Description
Astrobiology is the multi-disciplinary field devoted to the investigation of the origin; physical, chemical and environmental limitations; and the distribution in space and time of life on Earth and in the Cosmos. Astrobiology seeks an answer to one of the most fundamental of all questions: Is Life Restricted to Planet Earth or is Life a Cosmic Imperative? Understanding the characteristics, properties, habits, and diversity of living organisms on Earth is crucial to determine where and how to search for evidence of life elsewhere. New techniques and methodologies must be developed in order to determine a suitable suite of valid biomarkers that is needed to facilitate the differentiation of abiotic processes from true signatures of life. This is crucial to establish the criteria needed to properly evaluate potential biosignatures in ancient Earth rocks and in a wide variety of Astromaterials. This volume includes papers treating many of these topics. They range! from considerations of relict microbial communities of extreme environments to complex organic molecules. Other papers discuss the use of stable isotopes and their biological fractionation as a baseline for evaluating extraterrestrial evidence and the use of chirality and composition of indigenous amino acids for differentiating between terrestrial and extraterrestrial organic matter in Astromaterials. Also treated in this volume are geomorph parallels, sediment patterns, and cyclicities in permafrost sediments of Earth and Mars; the survival of bacteria in space, eclipsing binaries, and advanced DNA and protein chip technology for future robotic missions to search for life in the Solar System.

IOS Press is an international science, technical and medical publisher of high-quality books for academics, scientists, and professionals in all fields.

Some of the areas we publish in:

-Biomedicine
-Oncology
-Artificial intelligence
-Databases and information systems
-Maritime engineering
-Nanotechnology
-Geoengineering
-All aspects of physics
-E-governance
-E-commerce
-The knowledge economy
-Urban studies
-Arms control
-Understanding and responding to terrorism
-Medical informatics
-Computer Sciences ... Read more

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Critical Acclaim for
PLANETARY DREAMS
The Quest To Discover Life Beyond Earth

"The stunning insights provided in Planetary Dreams make it a book for everyone who has the slightest curiosity about our role in the cosmos."——Hugh Downs, ABC News, 20/20

"The broadest and, in a philosophical sense, the deepest book to examine the question of the origins of life in the universe. . . . A wise, kindly, and beautifully written book, Planetary Dreams sets forth a vision of a truly human and humane future and a hope for a richly inhabited universe."——Ben Bova, six-time Hugo Award winner and past president of the National Space Society

"If you are interested in the search for extraterrestrial life. . .then Planetary Dreams is a must read. Delightfully written."——Louis D. Friedman, Executive Director, The Planetary Society

"Combining many narrative elements, including a description of his fanciful institution, the Museum of the Cosmos, Shapiro’s imaginative, multifaceted work should meet the yearnings of space enthusiasts and of the wider public, as Carl Sagan’s books did."——BooklistAmazon.com Review
Are we alone, literally freaks of nature, just one planet of living, breathing things amidst a seemingly infinite, lifeless desert? This is one of the big questions posed by human nature, one that we have traditionally looked to religion to answer, but that is now coming within the grasp of science. Despite--or perhaps because--of this, we find increasing opposition to allocating resources to space exploration. Biochemist Robert Shapiro is an unabashed supporter of this research, and his book Planetary Dreams: The Quest to Discover Life Beyond Earth is both a compelling response to the stay-at-homes and a pleasantly readable overview of what we know and don't know about the origin of life here and elsewhere.

Contrasting those who believe in special creation or a cosmic fluke that produced life only once with adherents to a life principle that favors its development wherever conditions suffice, Shapiro suggests that the best way to resolve the issue is simple: let's go looking. He feels that the importance of this question to most people has been underrated by those who (nobly) want to meet our basic needs here on earth before we take off for new worlds, and that we can accommodate everyone by shifting burdens of research funding and reinspiring the public with a new emphasis on this work as a search for meaning. Whether or not his ideas will move us forward, the lively, thoughtful Planetary Dreams is one of the best starting points for learning about the search for the origins of life here and, maybe, out there. --Rob Lightner ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Very nice.
Very good book.
very scientific and realistic
no fairy tales

i would give it 5 stars but the writer dint not create any craze or excitement in the book.

its just flat and factfull.

worth it though

Dr No denounces defeatism
In science, scepticism comes easily - it's part of the job. If you are fluent with metaphor, as Shapiro certainly is, analyses of others' work can be scathing. In this book he surveys many ideas and thoughts on life's origins. Nearly all are lacking some facet or poorly conceived in his view. His ire is fiercely aroused over laboratory attempts to duplicate life's beginnings. Our understanding of prebiotic conditions is clearly too limited. He insisted the answer lies in Nature's processes. We don't know enough to duplicate them. Since our laboratory research has failed, he argues, we must seek answers elsewhere - off our home world.

As he develops his theme, Shapiro spares no effort in deriding what he deems inadequate. The prominence of any figure or idea simply crumbles under his penetrating gaze. If the work meet his qualification of "extraordinary proof", he demolishes it with scornful imagery. His critiques have led his colleagues to deem him "Dr No" - an appellation he relishes.

Nor does he fail to adapt any mechanism to further his position. He even enlists biblical allegory - albeit rather twisted in his hand. Knowing the biblical myth of a "creation week" is outdated, he simply changes the metaphor. He crams the 12 billion year history of the Cosmos into a seven day framework. In this structure he also places two "schools" of ideas about life - the Christian Fundamentalists and the followers of the Anthropic Principle. The former relies on one of the multitude of "Bibles". The latter accepts scientific observations of Nature, but deems the whole Cosmos is in place just for humanity. Countering this unusual mix is Shapiro's "Sour Lemon School" which sees life's origins as a fluke. We are likely alone in the universe, they claim, since conditions for life are too critical.

Understanding how life originates and evolves, he stresses, is too important to our future. Since he dismisses laboratory attempts to resolve the issue, he uses past space exploration as a foundation for a new programme. Deeming his own philosophy "Cosmic Evolution", asking that a "new story" of life be written. The elements of the story are difficult to perceive because they're distant. Some hints are visible, which he presents in some detail. As an introduction, he describes the "replication learned from clay crystals" proposal of Graham Cairns Smith with slight nod of approval. Gunther Wachtershauser's life formation on pyrite crystals receives a bit more approbation. Shapiro considers it worth further investigation. Developing his plot, he then turns to meteoritic evidence for possible life, but it's Mars that seizes his attention. NASA, he argues, dismissed too readily the data indicating organic material on "the Big Orange". To help him finish his "new story" further effort must follow. He also entertains the possibility of life on satellites of the "gas giant" planets. Even, he suggests, in the atmospheres of those planets.

None of this exploration will take place, he recognises, unless clear goals are developed. His countrymen a reluctant to part with tax dollars for such programmes. They see little result from planetary exploration. This is the chief obstacle, but he knows how to overcome it. Space exploration needs more and better publicity. Improved public knowledge is essential if the species expects to survive. Shapiro aknowledges that too many people retain adherence to old myths - a situation only better education can overcome. He even alludes to similar attitudes in China's Ming dynasty. An educated outlook then, he argues, might have changed the course of European history. We face a bigger challenge. The stars may hold answers to life's beginnings. They might also become refuges for future life here. A start must be made. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

A RatherGood Book
I had this book on my shelf for over a year before I took it down for a read. I thought I might be bored by it, since it is a popular treatment of a subject I know pretty well. But Shapiro brought the subject to life in a rather interesting way, dealing not only with the particular issues asociated with the chemistry of life's origin, but with the deeper philosophical issues that lie behind the debate. I especially liked his illuminating flight of fancy entitled "A Dinner Out of time," which features Frederich Engels, Herbert Spencer, and Teilhard De Chardin (Marxist, libertarian, and Christian exponents of the idea of progress in nature, respectively) at one table, and Jacques Monod, Steven Jay Gould, Fred Hoyle, and William Jennings Bryan (all opposed to the idea) at the other. Shapiro is right on the mark when he asserts that the philosophical bias of the opposing camps has a strong role in directing their interpretations of the data, whether of Earth's history, the Viking results, of the Alan Hills meteorite. He is also right in his thesis stating what the stakes in this apparently abstract controversary actually are. All in all, a fine book.

Very average
This is a subject that I am very interested in. However I found the book quite boring to read. Trying to make it clear, to the general reader he ended out boring, someone who knows a little more.

I found the book being quite bad. The fundamental problem in this subject is the Femni paradox. If they are so many out there, then at least one would be a space faring. If so then estimates vary as to how quickly they could colonise the galaxy. A conservative figure would be between 10 to 300 million years. This period in galaxy history is nothing. If so, we should not have to look at all. Evidence of there existence would be everywhere. The writer very briefly talks about this, then goes off into a tangent and leaves it. Either he has never read any book that discusses this (eg Frank Tipler) or ignores them. In either case its an issue.

Some of his history as well is a bit dubious like his argument about the Ming dynasty navy stopping of exploration. This he claims left their place to be filled by Europeans. The Ming's unlike the Europeans were not traders. There is no evidence to suggest that they would become traders. Their exploration ships showed that China had no enemies in the South. The only result would be, that they would have to spend large sums of money. Those resources were needed, as the Ming bureaucrats stated, where they faced a real threat in the North.This history would prove them correct.And history suggests that the real lesson is that if research is not profitable (in an economic sense) then goverments can and will pull the plug.

The writer goes on and on making some quite fantastic claims that make life far more possible, then it obviously is in reality. Most evidence now seems to suggest that life is very rare. For example recent evidence suggests that water is less important to Mars history then he suggests.

Although I approve of more research for space, this writer often seems to be more on the political rather then scientific.

Another poor book promoting E.T. life
For years scientists have been dicovering the limitations the universe puts on life.In other words, life is very rare.Conservative estimates put one Earth-like planet per galaxy.Ironically it is often theSETI-pushers whom discover these life-limiting constants (i.e. Carl Sagan)but wishful thinking gets in their way.Perhaps their personal philosophyor religion tells them there "must" be millions of worlds, butwishful thinking must give way to reality.

None of the planetery systemsthus found could support life.The "millions ofstars, so there mustbe millions of worlds" argument doesn't hold.Because therequirements for life elimate perhaps 99% of those stars.Its time peoplestop these fantasys.Try reading real science in Denton's "Nature'sDestiny" or the new book "Rare Earth."The "SaganParadigm" is dead. ... Read more

Product Description
Life on Mars would face challenges that are not so different from those faced by organisms in Earth's extreme environments. This book delves into the limits faced by all life by examining the adaptations necessary to survive extreme environments. It proceeds from absolute deserts like the Atacama to the tops of giant mountains like Makalu, exploring the uniting principles behind the limitations to life. The book then applies these principles to the possibility of life on Mars. For ease of reference, it contains species lists and place-name lists with coordinates, as well as a glossary and an extensive reference list. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Misguidance!
I found this fascinating book by misguidance. I searched dear amazon for books about hiking in Chile, with practical intentions in the form of a travel adventure, and this book popped up, with no description and no reviews. The Atacama is the desert region of Chile, the area of all the world with the lowest annual rainfall. Naturally, I ordered it.

Imagine my surprise! It's not a trail guide, not a travel book at all. Instead it's an inventory of plants and other life forms that have adapted to extreme environments - deserts yes, but also glacial fields, acid bogs, salt flats, anaerobic soils and seas, heavy-metal-laden soils, deep aquifers, the highest Himalayas, and Los Angeles.

Actually, I added the last extreme environment myself.

The book discusses in scientific depth, but with compassion for the non-scientist, the limits each environment imposes, and the kinds of adaptations organisms have had to evolve in order to thrive where nothing else could. Some of the most fantastically strange adaptations have indeed occurred in the Atacama of Chile, where "puyas" have diversified to dominate the landscape. The whole annual cycle of uninhabitability of the vernal pools of California is presented - an uninhabitability that blazes into Kodakchrome flowers every spring, and looks utterly dead when most of the life is stirring. Even the temperate forests of northeastern North America - what's left of them - present extreme challenges to the survival of life during the cycle of seasons, yet life has made adaptations that we blind-worm Homo sapiens can walk through in romantic rapture without comprehending.

What a fascinating book! I've never made a more rewarding mistake in shopping in my life. ... Read more

Product Description
This series investigates unusual careers in science-related fields and finds out about commonly considered ways in which science can be put to use. With full colour phtographs and illustrations. Ages 12-16 years. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

An Uncommon Interdiciplinary Collection
The book is a useful collection of paper (some long, some short) on the definition and physics behind the "habitable zones" around stars. While perhaps not technical enough for all applications, it's nice tofinally see many of these issues discussed in one volume, instead of spreadthroughout many different journals and texts. The climate of such planetsis covered of course, but the addition of topics such as how stellarevolution influences the habitable zone (how long is the habitable zonehabitable, for instance), the implications of high planetary obliquity, andatmospheric collapse of tidally locked planets round out the presentation.While somewhat lacking in math for such a text, perhaps the biggestnegative I can see is that some of the material is not as up-to-date as Iwould like, but in a field like this that would be hard to do even if itwas annually updated. ... Read more

Product Description
Astrobiology is the study of the origin, evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe. This book offers an analysis undertaken from the perspective of science education, to discuss the nature of the particular challenges faced by those seeking to facilitate public education in the field of astrobiology. The authors also address the question of the formation of a protocell and its function at the system level. It will further deal with the environmental pressures likely present on the early Earth, as they would have influenced the lifetime of unstable or reactive components needed for the start of life. In addition, the method of the transition from prebiotic organic microsystems to the primordial communities of prokaryotes is explored. The authors also explain some aspects related to aqueous interfacial processes in the context of prebiotic chemistry under the point of view of our current experimental results. Moreover, there is considerable interest in astrobiology in investigating icy worlds and the microbial forms that thrive in extreme environments, especially under those cold conditions that can provide a model for some extraterrestrial environments.This book reviews the general trends concerning the biodiversity and ecology of psychrophilic microorganisms and their molecular mechanisms of adaptation and evolution, as well as summarise the latest results on this topic in samples from icy environments. Other chapters summarise the morphological signatures of flowing water, the astrobiological potential of the dunes, and the theoretical modelling background of the presence of liquid water on Mars today. ... Read more

Product Description
The Second Lunar Analysis Laboratory Workshop was held inconjunction with the International Conference on Space Exploration andthe Future of Humans in Space, in Dijon, which immediately precededthis Workshop. Major areas included:

Lunar Resource Utilization
Life Sciences
Astronomy
Exobiology and the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
Instrumentation and Automation
Advanced concepts and Technology
Earth System Science ... Read more

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Whether we are alone in the Universe is a question that has fascinated humans since the earliest of times. Today the search for extraterrestrial life focuses on understanding how life arose on Earth to investigate the potential for life elsewhere. Beginning with the Big Bang and formation of the Universe, this text investigates the emergence of life on Earth, describing the factors and key stages necessary for the development of microorganisms. It then considers the possibility of life arising under similar conditions on other planets. From the deepest depths of the ocean floor to the outmost edges of the galaxy, the potential for life is explored. Mars, Europa - the water-rich satellite of Jupiter - and Saturn's enigmatic moon, Titan are investigated as ideal candidates for exploration. Beyond the solar system, the search for Earth-like planets is also considered. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review
Every one of us with an ounce of imagination has wondered, atleast once or twice, whether or not living things make their homes... up there. Life on other planets is simply too compelling a subject to let go, and so we spend hundreds of millions of dollars looking for its traces. This search has been documented by the father-son team of cosmochemist David E. Fisher and writer Marshall Jon Fisher with Strangers in the Night, a clever, scientifically rigorous look at the evidence and the explorers hoping to answer the question "Does intelligent life exist elsewhere (or anywhere) in the universe?"

From the lunar canals "discovered" by Schiaperelli in the 19th century to SETI to the Martian meteorite, the Fishers paint a picture of scientists struggling with the excitements and disappointments inherent to their work. Forced to draw inferences from the barest traces of indirect evidence, researchers from fields as diverse as oceanography, cosmology, and microbiology have banded together to develop the still-emerging discipline of exobiology. With a fair and competent assessment of the evidence, Strangers in the Night tells us that, though the answer to the question "are we alone?" is still elusive, we are coming ever closer and may just know for surebefore long.

Keep watching the skies! --Rob Lightner ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Do-be-do-be-do
An informative and engaging account of the history of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.This is the sort of book that whets your appetite for more research and funding as well as for more information onthe subject.I was particularly impressed with their style - clear,entertaining and thorough.It made me want to read more of their books,whatever the topic.A highly recommended book for folks interested inscience but afraid of the math. ... Read more