‘The History of Life: A Very Short Introduction’ by Michael J. Benton
“Talk to the point, and stop when you have reached it. Be comprehensive in all you say or write. To fill a volume upon nothing is a credit to nobody.” The above quotation, written in the 19th century by American author John Neal, might as well be the motto of the Oxford University Press’ Very Short Introduction range of titles. There are currently 193 in the series, covering subjects from the merits of Egyptian Art to an analysis of Game Theory, and seemingly everything in between. This latest title has been written by renowned palaeontologist Michael J. Benton, and it begins its...
Read More‘The Goldilocks Enigma’ by Paul Davies
It is now 40 years since Brandon Carter began thinking about how the preconditions necessary for human existence might bias the view we have of the Universe. Carter showed that fairly simple changes to the laws of the Physics yield Universes which are too simple to allow the emergence of life. For example, you can’t even alter the number of spatial dimensions since planetary orbits are only stable in three dimensions. Our Universe seems to exhibit quite a few examples of such fine-tuning and many of these are discussed in Paul Davies’s book. One way to explain these coincidences is to...
Read More‘Global Catastrophes: A Very Short Introduction’ by Bill McGuire
Much of astrobiology is concerned not only with what conditions life is thought to have emerged under and what environmental extremes it can survive, but also what sorts of hazards can threaten life on a planetary scale. And this pocket-sized book from OUP forms the perfect handbook to all the ways the world could end. Bill McGuire is professor of Geophysical Hazards at University College London and heads their Benfield Hazard Research Centre, so is certainly well-qualified for such doomsaying. Natural hazards such as tsunamis, volcanoes, and earthquakes are all featured in early chapters....
Read More‘Geobiology: Microbial Mats in Sandy Deposits from the Archean Era to Today’ by Nora Noffke
Astrobiology today covers many disciplines, among them being the search for microbial life on planets in our own solar system, such as Mars. Following the discovery of features created by water on Mars, we should be using these features as a starting point to look closer for microbial life. One of the ways in which microbial life can leave an imprint on sandy rocks like those on Mars, is through the formation and preservation of microbial mats and their associated structures. In this book, Nora Noffke deals systematically with these microbially-induced sedimentary structures on Earth, both...
Read More‘FutureWorld: Where Science Fiction Becomes Science’ by Mark L. Brake & Neil Hook
FutureWorld aims to convey the continuous interaction between science fiction, science research and science fact. It focuses on the feed-forward and feedback between plausibility and reality. It takes upon itself the ambitious task of bringing pure science closer to the general public – an admirable feat towards broader education, understanding the world around us and stimulating curiosity for further discoveries. Professor Mark Brake and Reverend Neil Hook achieve a significant impact on the reader in all three of these significant areas. The book relates science fiction to pure science by...
Read More‘From Dying Stars to the Birth of Life’ by Jerry L. Cranford
From Dying Stars to the Birth of Life emphasises the broad multidisciplinary nature of the emerging field of astrobiology. The author, Jerry L. Cranford, is a former professor of psychology and neuroscience who has a passion for stargazing and astrobiology. His book is an informal overview of the emergence of astrobiology as a new and rapidly growing subject, and is as broad as the title implies. The book aims to take the reader on a journey from the Big Bang right through to the development of instruments that allow us to observe extra-solar planet. Key scientific concepts are explained in...
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