‘Formation and Evolution of Exoplanets’ by Rory Barnes (ed.)
A lot of research in astrobiology is directed toward the question of how life can, and did, arise given a certain set of conditions, in an attempt to shed light on how likely it is that it might have happened elsewhere in the Universe. Another area, somewhat less well represented, is the study of how these conditions are created in the first place. That is: what physical mechanisms must conspire for the formation and stable existence of a habitable planet such that chemical and biological can take over and cause life to be created? With an ever-increasing number of observed exoplanets,...
Read More‘Fitness of the Cosmos for Life’ by John D. Barrow (ed)
This volume is a collection of essays written after an interdisciplinary symposium of the same title, held at Harvard University in October 2003 to commemorate 90 years since the publication of Lawrence J. Henderson’s The Fitness of the Environment. In general, the book considers whether the universe is ‘biocentric’ in some way; tailored or fitted for life. The concept of fine-tuning of the universe with respect to the value of different physical constants and how they define the broad architecture of the cosmos and permissible physical processes has been well-explored in the past. For...
Read More‘Extremophiles Handbook’ by Horikoshi, Antranikian, Bull, Robb & Stetter (eds.)
This book encompasses two large volumes, which gives a hint to its nature as a reference book rather than light reading. It contains chapters focusing on the more common extremophiles types – alkaliphiles, halophiles, thermophiles, piezophiles, psychrophiles, xerophiles, toxitolerants, marine subsurface organisms, radiation resistant organisms, and oligotrophs. There are other extremophile types such as acidophiles, cryptoendoliths and osmophiles which do not feature in this book, so although this is an extensive tome it is not entirely comprehensive. I would not recommend this book for...
Read More‘Extrasolar Planets and Astrobiology’ by Caleb A. Scharf
Caleb Scharf is Director of the Columbia Astrobiology Center and provides here a solid and mathematically-rich overview of astrobiology from a planetary perspective. Early chapters of Extrasolar Planets and Astrobiology deal with the astrophysical theory of star and planet formation and the basics of different exoplanetary detection techniques. As a textbook, Extrasolar Planets provides key mathematical derivations in the flow of the narrative. For example, Scharf demonstrates how to model the balance of forces acting on a spherical cloud of interstellar gas and how this collapses and...
Read More‘Exploring the Solar System’ by Peter Bond
If there’s anything you wanted to know about the Solar System, it’s safe to say that it’s probably somewhere in this book. A work of ambitious scope and detail, and clearly a labour of love, Exploring the Solar System guides us through our local universal neighbourhood in great depth. With chapters covering the formation of the Solar System, our Sun, each of the planets, the Kuiper belt and other bodies, as well as solar systems elsewhere in the universe, there is little that Bond leaves out here. This book is dense – each chapter could easily be turned into its own...
Read More‘Exploring the Origin, Extent, and Future of Life: Philosophical, Ethical and Theological Perspectives’ by Constance M. Bertka (ed.)
Exploring the Origin, Extent and Future of Life, edited by Constance M. Bertka, is the result of a series of workshops spanning two years and supported by the AAAS Program of Dialogue on Science, Ethics and Religion. Incorporating work from seventeen collaborators from the wide ranging fields of science, theology, ethics and philosophy, the book deals with three major themes central to astrobiology: the origin of life on Earth and in the universe, the extent of that life in the universe, and the future of terrestrial life as it seeks to colonise the solar system. Split into three sections...
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