Planetary systems and the origins of life / [edited by] Ralph Pudritz, Paul Higgs, Jonathon Stone.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Pudritz, Ralph E., editor.

Higgs, Paul G., editor.

Stone, J. R. (Jonathon Richard), 1966- editor.

Series:

Cambridge astrobiology ; 3.

Cambridge astrobiology ; 3

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Exobiology.

Life--Origin.

Life.

Habitable planets.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xviii, 315 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Other Title:

Planetary Systems & the Origins of Life

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2007.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Several major breakthroughs have helped contribute to the emerging field of astrobiology. Focusing on these developments, this fascinating book explores some of the most important problems in this field. It examines how planetary systems formed, and how water and the biomolecules necessary for life were produced. It then focuses on how life may have originated and evolved on Earth. Building on these two themes, the final section takes the reader on a search for life elsewhere in the Solar System. It presents the latest results of missions to Mars and Titan, and explores the possibilities of life in the ice-covered ocean of Europa. This interdisciplinary book is an enjoyable overview of this exciting field for students and researchers in astrophysics, planetary science, geosciences, biochemistry, and evolutionary biology. Colour versions of some of the figures are available at www.cambridge.org/9780521875486.

Contents:

Observations of extrasolar planetary systems / Shay Zucker

The atmospheres of extrasolar planets / L. Jeremy Richardson, Sara Seager

Terrestrial planet formation / Edward W. Thommes

From protoplanetary disks to prebiotic amino acids and the origin of the genetic code / Paul G. Higgs, Ralph E. Pudritz

Emergent phenomena in biology: the origin of cellular life / David Deamer

Extremophiles: defining the envelope for the search for life in the universe / Lynn Rothschild

Hyperthermophilic life on Earth

and on Mars? / Karl O. Stetter

Phylogenomics: how far back in the past can we go? / Henner Brinkmann, Denis Baurain, Hervé Philippe

Horizontal gene transfer, gene histories, and the root of the tree of life / Olga Zhaxybayeva, J. Peter Gogarten

Evolutionary innovation versus ecological incumbency / Adolf Seilacher

Gradual origin for the metazoans / Alexandra Pontefract, Jonathon Stone

The search for life on Mars / Chris P. McKay

Life in the dark dune spots of Mars: a testable hypothesis / Eörs Szathmáry [and others]

Titan: a new astrobiological vision from the Cassini-Huygens data / François Raulin

Europa, the ocean moon: tides, permeable ice, and life / Richard Greenberg.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-107-18217-4

1-281-14628-5

9786611146283

1-139-13291-1

0-511-36729-5

0-511-36667-1

0-511-36604-3

0-511-53612-7

0-511-36788-0

OCLC:

276880297