Life in the Universe, 4th Edition

Cover......Page 1
Title Page......Page 2
Copyright Page......Page 3
Dedication......Page 4
Brief Contents......Page 5
Contents......Page 6
Preface......Page 9
About the Authors......Page 14
How to Succeed in Your Astrobiology Course......Page 15
Credits......Page 17
1. A Universe of Life?......Page 18
1.1. The Possibility of Life Beyond Earth......Page 19
1.2. The Scientific Context of the Search......Page 21
1.3. Places to Search......Page 25
Movie Madness: Cinema Aliens......Page 27
Exercises and Problems......Page 30
2. The Science of Life in the Universe......Page 32
2.1. The Ancient Debate About Life Beyond Earth......Page 33
2.2. The Copernican Revolution......Page 41
2.3. The Nature of Modern Science......Page 49
Movie Madness: Gravity......Page 57
Exercises and Problems......Page 63
Cosmic Calculations 2.1. Kepler’s Third Law......Page 46
Special Topic 2.1. Geocentrism and the Church......Page 48
Cosmic Context Figure 2.16. The Copernican Revolution......Page 51
3. The Universal Context of Life......Page 66
3.1. The Universe and Life......Page 67
3.2. The Structure, Scale, and History of the Universe......Page 68
3.3. A Universe of Matter and Energy......Page 86
3.4. Our Solar System......Page 97
3.5. The Process of Science in Action: Ongoing Development of the Nebular Theory......Page 109
Exercises and Problems......Page 117
Key Astronomical Definitions......Page 73
Cosmic Calculations 3.1. How Far Is a Light-Year?......Page 75
Special Topic 3.1. How do we Know that the Universe is Expanding?......Page 78
Movie Madness: Interstellar......Page 85
Cosmic Context Figure 3.28. Interpreting a Spectrum......Page 95
Cosmic Context Figure 3.29. The Solar System......Page 99
4. The Habitability of Earth......Page 121
4.1. Geology and Life......Page 122
4.2. Reconstructing the History of Earth and Life......Page 124
4.3. The Hadean Earth and the Dawn of Life......Page 138
4.4. Geology and Habitability......Page 142
4.5. Climate Regulation and Change......Page 154
4.6. The Process of Science in Action: Formation of the Moon......Page 161
Exercises and Problems......Page 167
Cosmic Calculations 4.1. Radiometric Dating......Page 132
Key Geological Definitions......Page 137
Movie Madness: Ice Age: The Dawn of the Dinosaurs......Page 141
5. The Nature of Life on Earth......Page 170
5.1. Defining Life......Page 171
5.2. Cells: The Basic Units of Life......Page 182
5.3. Metabolism: The Chemistry of Life......Page 189
5.4. DNA and Heredity......Page 193
5.5. Life at the Extreme......Page 200
5.6. The Process of Science in Action: Evolution as Science......Page 205
Exercises and Problems......Page 211
Key Biological Definitions......Page 176
Special Topic Charles Darwin and the Theory of Evolution......Page 180
Cosmic Calculations 5.1. The Dominant Form of Life on Earth......Page 188
Movie Madness: War of the Worlds......Page 199
6. The Origin and Evolution of Life on Earth......Page 214
6.1. Searching for Life’s Origins......Page 215
6.2. The Origin of Life......Page 221
6.3. The Evolution of Life......Page 229
6.4. Impacts and Extinctions......Page 238
Movie Madness: Armageddon......Page 246
6.6. The Process of Science in Action: Artificial Life......Page 250
Exercises and Problems......Page 257
Cosmic Calculations 6.1. Bacteria in a Bottle I: Lessons for Early Life......Page 228
Cosmic Calculations 6.2. Bacteria in a Bottle II: Lessons for the Human Race......Page 249
7. Searching for Life in Our Solar System......Page 260
7.1. Environmental Requirements for Life......Page 261
7.2. A Biological Tour of the Solar System: The Inner Solar System......Page 266
7.3. A Biological Tour of the Solar System: The Outer Solar System......Page 270
7.4. The Process of Science in Action: Spacecraft Exploration of the Solar System......Page 275
Exercises and Problems......Page 281
Movie Madness: 2001—A Space Odyssey......Page 272
Cosmic Calculations 7.1. Newton’s Version of Kepler’s Third Law......Page 274
8. Mars......Page 284
8.1. Fantasies of Martian Civilization......Page 285
8.2. A Modern Portrait of Mars......Page 287
8.3. The Climate History of Mars......Page 300
8.4. Searching for Life on Mars......Page 304
8.5. The Process of Science in Action: Martian Meteorites......Page 311
Exercises and Problems......Page 316
Cosmic Calculations 8.1. The Surface Area–to–Volume Ratio......Page 305
Movie Madness: Missions to Mars......Page 306
9. Life on Jovian Moons......Page 319
9.1. The Moons of the Outer Solar System......Page 320
9.2. Life on Jupiter’s Galilean Moons......Page 327
9.3. Life Around Saturn, and Beyond......Page 336
9.4. The Process of Science in Action: Chemical Energy for Life......Page 343
Exercises and Problems......Page 349
Cosmic Calculations 9.1. The Strength of the Tidal Force......Page 326
Movie Madness: 2010: The Year We Make Contact......Page 334
10. The Nature and Evolution of Habitability......Page 352
10.1. The Concept of a Habitable Zone......Page 353
10.2. Venus: An Example in Potential Habitability......Page 356
10.3. Surface Habitability Factors and the Habitable Zone......Page 363
10.4. The Future of Life on Earth......Page 368
Movie Madness: Wall-E......Page 373
Exercises and Problems......Page 383
Cosmic Calculations 10.1. Chances of Being in the Zone......Page 367
Special Topic 10.1. Five Billion Years......Page 372
Cosmic Context Figure 10.13. Global Warming......Page 379
11. Extrasolar Planets: Their Nature and Potential Habitability......Page 386
11.1. Distant Suns......Page 387
11.2. Discovering Extrasolar Planets......Page 397
11.3. The Nature of Extrasolar Planets......Page 412
11.4. The Habitability of Extrasolar Planets......Page 418
11.5. The Process of Science in Action: Classifying Stars......Page 426
Exercises and Problems......Page 434
Special Topic 11.1. The Names of Extrasolar Planets......Page 398
Cosmic Context Figure 11.14. Detecting Extrasolar Planets......Page 405
Cosmic Calculations 11.1. Finding Orbital Distances for Extrasolar Planets......Page 407
Cosmic Calculations 11.2. Finding Masses of Extrasolar Planets......Page 408
Cosmic Calculations 11.3. Finding Sizes of Extrasolar Planets......Page 413
Movie Madness: Star Wars......Page 420
Cosmic Context Figure 11.28. Interactive Figure Reading an H–R Diagram......Page 429
12. The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence......Page 438
12.1. The Drake Equation......Page 439
Cosmic Calculations 12.1. The Distance between Signaling Societies......Page 444
12.3. Searching for Intelligence......Page 449
12.4. The Process of Science in Action: UFOs and Aliens on Earth......Page 465
Exercises and Problems......Page 474
Special Topic 12.1. Frank Drake and his Equation......Page 442
Movie Madness: Contact......Page 456
Cosmic Calculations 12.2. Sensitivity of SETI Searches......Page 459
13. Interstellar Travel and the Fermi Paradox......Page 477
13.1. The Challenge of Interstellar Travel......Page 478
13.2. Spacecraft for Interstellar Travel......Page 484
Movie Madness: Star Trek......Page 496
13.4. The Process of Science in Action: Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity......Page 507
Exercises and Problems......Page 514
Cosmic Calculations 13.1. The Rocket Equation......Page 481
Cosmic Calculations 13.2. Time Dilation......Page 491
Epilogue: Contact—Implications for the Search and Discovery......Page 518
Exercises and Problems......Page 527
Movie Madness: E.T......Page 521
Appendix A: Useful Numbers......Page 528
Appendix B: Useful Formulas......Page 529
Appendix C: A Few Mathematical Skills......Page 530
Appendix D: The Periodic Table of Elements......Page 536
Appendix E: Planetary Data......Page 537
Glossary......Page 540
Index......Page 550
Back Cover......Page 562