The Living Galaxy : Winners and Losers in the Milky Way / by Eugenio Mieli, Andrea Maria Francesco Valli, Claudio Maccone.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mieli, Eugenio.

Contributor:

Valli, Andrea Maria Francesco.

Maccone, Claudio.

Series:

Physics and Astronomy Series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Exobiology.

Astronomy.

Astrobiology.

Astronomy, Cosmology and Space Sciences.

Local Subjects:

Astrobiology.

Astronomy, Cosmology and Space Sciences.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (328 pages)

Edition:

1st ed. 2025.

Place of Publication:

Cham : Springer Nature Switzerland : Imprint: Springer, 2025.

Summary:

This book describes the possible distribution of life in the Milky Way. Our description is mathematical in order to be extrapolated from what we know that happened on Earth to what might have happened on the huge number of extrasolar planets existing in the Milky Way Galaxy. We use the statistical Drake equation, which identifies parameters for calculating the total number of life forms at all levels. While the original Drake equation (1961) contained seven factors only, we extend the number of factors to 50, thus incorporating much of the scientific knowledge about the Evolution of Life available in 2024. As such, this book aims at being a narrative of a series of events, starting with pre-life epochs and extending them into the present and into the future. This book, while well rooted in scientific and mathematical models, depicts the drama of life - whether it emerges and thrives or succumbs and vanishes. It's a tale of attempts, defeats, and progress, unfolding not along the scale of Human Lifetimes, but rather along the scale of Galactic Civilizations billion years long.

Contents:

INTRODUCTION

Where are everyone?

The phases and challenges

Part I - The astronomical parameters NS, NP and FS

1st Drake: The star number of the galactic disc for stars of spectral class K, G and F

2nd Drake: number number per star, suitable for life in the habitable area (spectral class F, G and K)

3rd Drake: fraction of stable planets for 7 gy (duration of the stellar population)

Part II - The biological parameters of Drake: fl and fi

4th Drake: the transition from non-living to the living

5th Drake: the probability of intelligent life

Macro-interval A: the crucial passage; The onset of the Eukaryotic Cell

Macro-interval B: the second step; The birth of animals (Metazoi)

Macro-interval B: The "solution" of the intelligence deduced by the definition of Kardašëv, centered on energy by individual, and its birth within the metzoi (the Homo case)

The oxygen curve

Part III- The social parameters of Drake: FC and FL

6th Drake: fraction of planets where life decides to communicate

7th Drake: temporal fraction lasting a civilization

The complete Drake equation Still the paradox of Fermi (but in short, where are everyone?)

Winners and won in the Milky Way

Identikit of two possible intelligent alien species

Epilogue - The mercy of the cheetah

Appendices.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9783031673245

3031673247

OCLC:

1500765561