Looking for Life, Searching the Solar System

Broad ranging book covering life, its origins, survival, and the search for other life in the Solar System.

Paul Clancy (Author), André Brack (Author), Gerda Horneck (Author)

9780521824507, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 23 June 2005

364 pages
23.6 x 15.8 x 2.6 cm, 0.732 kg

Review of the hardback: '…the book is an informative and well written account of astrobiology from the the perspective of a contribution from human exploration of the solar system.' The Observatory

How did life begin on Earth? Is it confined to our planet? Will humans one day be able to travel long distances in space in search of other life forms? Written by three experts in the space arena, Looking for Life, Searching the Solar System aims to answer these and other intriguing questions. Beginning with what we understand of life on Earth, it describes the latest ideas about the chemical basis of life as we know it, and how they are influencing strategies to search for life elsewhere. It considers the ability of life, from microbes to humans, to survive in space, on the surface of other planets, and be transported from one planet to another. It looks at the latest plans for missions to search for life in the Solar System, and how these are being influenced by new technologies, and current thinking about life on Earth. This fascinating and broad-ranging book is for anyone with an interest in the search for life beyond our planet.

Preface
Part I. The Imperative of Exploration: 1. Exploration as a metaphor
Part II. How Can We Know Life?: 2. The molecular basis of life on Earth
3. The limits to life
4. The transfer of life between planets
5. What are the signatures of life?
6. After the discovery/life as a cosmic phenomenon
Part III. The Search for Life Beyond Earth: 7. The prospects for long-duration human space-flight
8. Human exploration and the search for life
9. Interplanetary ethics
Part IV. The Cosmic Biological Imperative: 10. The key technologies for human planetary exploration
11. Exploration in space
12. Exploration in time
13. Prediction, imagination and the role of technology
Part IV. Our Cosmic Destiny: 14. Our cosmic destiny
Appendices
Index.

Subject Areas: Popular astronomy & space [WNX], Genetics [non-medical PSAK], Evolution [PSAJ], Solar system: the Sun & planets [PGS], Popular science [PDZ]