Rare Earth de Peter D. Ward

Rare Earth: Why Complex Life is Uncommon in the Universe

Peter D. Ward

Donald Brownlee

en Limba Engleză Paperback – 10 dec 2003

What determines whether complex life will arise on a planet, or even any life at all? Questions such as these are investigated in this groundbreaking book. In doing so, the authors synthesize information from astronomy, biology, and paleontology, and apply it to what we know about the rise of life on Earth and to what could possibly happen elsewhere in the universe. Everyone who has been thrilled by the recent discoveries of extrasolar planets and the indications of life on Mars and the Jovian moon Europa will be fascinated by Rare Earth, and its implications for those who look to the heavens for companionship.

Citește tot Restrânge

Descriere

n November 12, 2002, Dr. John Chambers of the NASA Ames - search Center gave a seminar to the Astrobiology Group at the OUniversity of Washington. The audience of about 100 listened with rapt attention as Chambers described results from a computer study of how planetary systems form. The goal of his research was to answer a dec- tively simple question: How often would newly forming planetary systems produce Earth-like planets, given a star the size of our own sun? By “Ear- like” Chambers meant a rocky planet with water on its surface, orbiting within a star’s “habitable zone. ” This not-too-hot and not-too-cold inner - gion, relatively close to the star, supports the presence of liquid water on a planet surface for hundreds of million of years—the time-span probably n- essary for the evolution of life. To answer the question of just how many Earth-like planets might be spawned in such a planetary system, Chambers had spent thousands of hours running highly sophisticated modeling p- grams through arrays of powerful computers. x Preface to the Paperback Edition The results presented at the meeting were startling. The simulations showed that rocky planets orbiting at the “right” distances from the central star are easily formed, but they can end up with a wide range of water c- tent.

Cuprins

Contents Preface to the Paperback Edition Preface to the First Edition Introduction: The Astrobiology Revolution and the Rare Earth Hypothesis Dead Zones of the Universe Rare Earth Factors 1 Why Life Might Be Widespread in the Universe 2 Habitable Zones of the Universe 3 Building a Habitable Earth 4 Life’s First Appearance on Earth 5 How to Build Animals 6 Snowball Earth 7 The Enigma of the Cambrian Explosion 8 Mass Extinctions and the Rare Earth Hypothesis 9 The Surprising Importance of Plate Tectonics 10 The Moon, Jupiter, and Life on Earth 11 Testing the Rare Earth Hypotheses 12 Assessing the Odds 13 Messengers from the Stars References Index

Recenzii

"...likely to cause a revolution in thinking..."
The New York Times
"...[the book] has hit the world of astrobiologists like a killer asteroid..."
Newsday (New York)
"...a sobering and valuable perspective..."
Science
"...a startling new hypothesis..."
Library Journal
"...Peter Ward and Donald Brownlee offer a powerful argument..."
The Economist
"...provocative, significant, and sweeping..."
Northwest Science & Technology
"...a stellar example of clear writing..."
American Scientist

Rare Earth: Why Complex Life is Uncommon in the Universe

Preț: 230^.72 lei

Carte disponibilă

Specificații

Public țintă

Descriere

Cuprins

Recenzii

Papetărie, jocuri, reviste

Rare Earth: Why Complex Life is Uncommon in the Universe

Preț: 230.72 lei

Specificații

V-ar putea interesa

Public țintă

Descriere

Cuprins

Recenzii

Preț: 230^.72 lei