Our Cosmic Origins
From the Big Bang to the Emergence of Life and Intelligence

This 1998 book examines the remarkable story of the emergence of life and intelligence through the complex evolutionary history of the Universe.

Armand H. Delsemme (Author), Christian de Duve (Foreword by)

9780521794800, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 25 January 2001

344 pages, 47 b/w illus. 9 tables
22.8 x 15.3 x 1.6 cm, 0.51 kg

'… an excellent overview from the big bang origin of the universe to the development of life … will promote critical thinking on the many aspects of astrobiology bearing on the understanding of the cosmic significance and origins of life … recommended reading.' Richard Taylor, Spaceflight

Our Cosmic Origins, first published in 1998, traces the remarkable story of the emergence of life and intelligence right through the complex evolutionary history of the Universe. Armand Delsemme weaves together a rich tapestry of science, bringing together cosmology, astronomy, geology, biochemistry and biology in this wide-ranging book. In following the complex, chronological story, we discover how the first elements formed in the early Universe, how stars and planets were born, how the first bacteria evolved towards a plethora of plants and animals, and how the coupling of the eye and brain led to the development of self-awareness and, ultimately, intelligence. Professor Delsemme concludes with the tantalising suggestion that the existence of alien life and intelligence is likely, and examines our chances of contacting it. This provocative book provides the general reader with an accessible and wide-ranging account of how life evolved on Earth and how likely it is to exist elsewhere in the Universe.

Preface Christian de Duve
Foreword
1. Locating man in the universe
2. The race towards complexity
3. The stellar alchemy of metals
4. The formation of the planets
5. Emergence of life
6. History of life
7. Awakening of intelligence
8. The other worlds
9. Perspectives
Appendices
Glossary
References
Name index
Subject index.

Subject Areas: Popular astronomy & space [WNX], Palaeontology [RBX], Historical geology [RBGF], Evolution [PSAJ], Cosmology & the universe [PGK], Popular science [PDZ]