The Search For Life In The Universe, 3rd edition

Long recognized as the "Gold Standard" text for astrobiology courses, The Search for Life in the Universe now appears in a completely revised and updated Third Edition. This book engages students in astronomy by presenting a great, unsolved mystery: How likely is life beyond earth, and how can we find it if it exists? The text covers the fundamentals of astronomy and astrophysics, including the discovery of more than 55 planets around other stars, and also provides an overview of biology, geology, evolution, and the possibilities of interstellar travel and communication. Written for readers with no background in mathematics, the book includes 24 color insert pages and brilliantly rendered illustrations by Jon Lomberg.

Table of Contents:
Part One: Why Do We Search? Chapter 1 The Search from the Human Perspective The Quest for Life's Origins The Importance of Mars The Scientific View of the Universe The Laws of Nature Applying Scientific Thinking in Everyday Life The Scientific Method in the Search for Extraterrestrial Life Cosmic Loneliness A Conservative Approach to the Search for Life Summary Key Terms Questions Further Reading Part Two: The Universe Chapter 2 The Universe Small and Large The Distances to Astronomical Objects The Scale of the Solar System Measuring Stellar Distances with the Parallax Effect Estimating Distances with the Inverse-Square Brightness Law The Spectra of Stars Summary Key Terms Questions Further Reading Chapter 3 The Birthplaces of Stars Probing the Spaces Between the Stars Radio Waves from Interstellar Hydrogen Atoms Interstellar Dust Grains Interstellar Molecules Molecular Clouds The Different Types of Molecules in Molecular Clouds Did Life Begin in Interstellar Clouds? The Birth of Stars How Many Stars Form with Planets? Summary Key Terms Questions Further Reading Chapter 4 Energy Liberation in Stars Types of Stars The Temperature-Luminosity Diagram Red Giants and White Dwarfs Stellar Lifetimes How Stars Liberate Energy The Proton-Proton Cycle The Important of Temperature Inside Stars The Struggle Between Gravity and Pressure The Influence of Mass on Stellar Lifetimes Summary Key Terms Questions Further Reading Chapter 5 How Stars End Their Lives Nuclear Fuel Consumption in Stars The Evolution of Stars The Red-Giant Phase White Dwarfs Could Civilizations Exist Around White Dwarfs? Supernova Explosions The Production of Heavy Elements in Supernovae The Effects of Supernovae on Later Generations of Stars Cosmic Rays Black Holes Pulsars: Cosmic Lighthouses? Precise Pulsar Timing Reveals the Existence of Planets! The Binary Pulsar and Gravity Radiation Gamma-Ray Bursters: Mysterious Powerhouses of the Cosmos Summary Key Terms Questions Further Reading Chapter 6 Galaxies and the Expanding Universe Spiral Galaxies Elliptical Galaxies Irregular Galaxies The Formation of Galaxies Star Clusters Radio Galaxies The Doppler Shift and the Expanding Universe The Big Bang The Cosmic Background of Photons The Hypothesis of the Inflationary Universe Dark Matter on the Largest Scales of Distance Is the Universe Finite or Infinite? Will the Universe Expand Forever? Quasars Accretion Disks and Supermassive Black Holes Could Quasars Be Intergalactic Beacons? Summary Key Terms Questions Further Reading Part Three: Life Chapter 7 The Nature of Life on Earth What Is Life? Biologically Important Compounds The Capacity to Reproduce DNA Does More than Govern Reproduction Evolution and the Arrow of Time Energy The Unity of Life Summary Key Terms Questions Further Reading Chapter 8 The Origin of Life How Earth Got Its Atmosphere The Evolution of the Atmosphere The Effects of Life on the Evolution of Earth's Atmosphere Early Ideas About the Origin of Life The Chemical Evolution Model for the Origin of Life An Experimental Test of the Primordial-Soup Model Did Life Really Originate in This Manner? An External Alternative Polymerization Is Our Starting Point Too Advanced? Beyond Polymers Summary Key Terms Questions Further Reading Chapter 9 From Molecules to Minds Prokaryotes Eukaryotes The Great Leap Forward Suitable Stars for Life Life on Other Planets Evolution and the Development of Intelligence Is Intelligence Inevitable? Future Evolution on Earth The Web of Life Summary Key Terms Questions Further Reading Chapter 10 How Strange Can Life Be? The Chemistry of Alien Life The Superiority of Carbon Solvents Nonchemical Life Black Clouds Life on Neutron Stars Gravitational Life The Advantages of Being Average Summary Key Terms Questions Further Reading Part Four: The Search for Life in the Solar System Chapter 11 The Origin and Early History of the Solar System The Formation of the Solar System Comets Asteroids, Meteoroids, and Meteorites Bombardment of the Inner Planets: A Threat to Life? Meteorites Amino Acids in Meteorites Mercury and the Moon The Early History of the Earth and the Moon Human Exploration of the Moon Summary Key Terms Questions Further Reading Chapter 12 Venus The Temperature and Rotation of Venus The Atmosphere of Venus The Greenhouse Effect Why Is Venus So Different from Earth? Life on Venus? Exploration of Venus by Spacecraft Summary Key Terms Questions Further Reading Chapter 13 Mars Modern Observations of Mars Results from Early Space Probes to Mars The Viking Project Mars After Viking Further Missions to Mars Phobos and Deimos Summary Key Terms Questions Further Reading Chapter 14 Is There Life on Mars? How to Find Martian Microorganisms The Viking Results: Atmospheric Analysis The Viking Results: Soil Analysis The Viking Biology Experiments Results of the Viking Biology Experiments Did the Vikings Land in the Wrong Places? An Ancient Eden? Goals for Future Exploration Rocks from Mars! A Preview of Coming Attractions What Went Wrong on Mars? Epilogue: What About That Face on Mars? Summary Key Terms Questions Further Reading Chapter 15 The Giant Planets and Their Satellites Spacecraft to the Outer Solar System The Composition of the Giant Planets Chemistry on the Giant Planets Could Life Exist on the Giant Planets? Rings and Satellites Titan Iapetus: An Intelligence Test for Earthlings? Triton: Chemistry at Low Temperatures Cosmic Messengers Summary Key Terms Questions Further Reading Part Five: The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Chapter 16 Is Earth Unique? Which Characteristics Distinguish Earth as an Abode of Life? Avoiding Regions of Cosmic Violence The Need for Heavy Elements The Importance of Temperature The Threat of Impacts The Advantages of a Large Moon A Conservative Approach: Defining the Habitable Zone Around a Star Which Stars Offer Good Habitable Zones? Can Multiple-Star Systems Provide Good Habitable Zones? Discovering Extrasolar Planets: Six Promising Methods and One Highly Successful One Summary Key Terms Questions Further Reading Chapter 17 The Discovery of Extrasolar Planets The Great Success: Using the Doppler Effect to Discover Extrasolar Planets What Does the Doppler-Shift Method Reveal About Extrasolar Planets? The Doppler-Shift Technique Reveals New Worlds Why Do So Many Extrasolar Planets Orbit Extremely Close to Their Stars? The Importance of Jupiter's Distance The Mystery of Eccentricity How Many Stars Have Planets with the Right Conditions for Life? Alternative Possibilities for Habitable Planets How Many Habitable Planets Exist in the Milky Way? How Can We Discover Earthlike Planets Around Other Stars? Summary Key Terms Questions Further Reading Chapter 18 Extraterrestrial Civilizations: How Many? How Distant? How Many Civilizations Exist? Estimating the Number of Civilizations by Using the Drake Equation The Importance of Survival How Eager are Civilizations for Contact? How Widely Separated Are Civilizations in the Milky Way? Further Advances of Intelligent Civilizations Summary Key Terms Questions Further Reading Chapter 19 Interstellar Spaceflight Sending Information: Photons Versus Rockets Interstellar Spaceships Faster, Larger, More Expensive When Time Slows Down The Difficulties of High-Velocity Spaceflight Automated Message Probes Summary Key Terms Questions Further Reading Chapter 20 Interstellar Radio and Television Messages Where Should We Look? What Frequencies Should We Search? What Frequency Bandwidth and Total Frequency Range to Examine? How Can We Recognize Another Civilization? The Present State of Radio Searches for other Civilizations What Messages Could We Send or Expect to Receive? A Crucial Difference: Beamed Signals versus Eavesdropping Do SETI Searches Limit Themselves Too Severely by Relying on Radio Waves? Summary Key Terms Questions Further Reading Chapter 21 Extraterrestrial Visitors to Earth? What Evidence Do We Seek? Four Representative UFO Sightings Difficulties in Verifying the Spacecraft Hypothesis Classification of UFO Reports Arguments for the Spacecraft Hypothesis Some Conclusions About UFOs What About a Government Conspiracy? Von Daniken: Charlatan of the Gods? Summary Key Terms Questions Further Reading Chapter 22 Where Is Everybody? We May Be Alone, or Nearly So Advanced Civilizations May Have Little Interest in Communication We Are Still a Primitive Civilization Epilogue: The Search Continues Further Reading Appendix Glossary Index

About the Author :
DONALD GOLDSMITH has received the lifetime achievement award in popularising astronomy from the American Astronomical Society, the science writing award from the American Institute of Physics, and the Dorothea Klumpke-Roberts award for increasing public awareness of astronomy from the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. - TOBIAS OWEN was awarded the NASA Medal for Exceptional Scientific Achievement for his work on the Martian atmosphere with the Viking Landers in 1976 and led the group of Voyager scientists who discovered the rings of Jupiter in 1979. He is professor of astronomy at the University of Hawaii where he studies planets, satellites, and comets with the giant telescopes on Mauna Kea.

Review :
"Quite possibly the best astrobiology text available…[it is] clear, interesting and captivating. I highly recommend The Search for Life in the Universe to anyone with a serious interest in astrobiology." --International Journal of Astrobiology "Teachers and students everywhere of wildly popular courses on life in the universe should rejoice to see this update of the classic textbook by Don Goldsmith and Toby Owen." --Frank Shu, University of California at Berkeley