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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Superb overview of a key scientific discipline, December 7, 2007
When I was growing up, the science of extraterrestrial life was called exobiology. This was a difficult area of research since there was no evidence of any subject matter, and the term fell into disrepute. The modern successor is called astrobiology, which may still not be the best name. Anyhow, the idea is to study the possibility of life out there in all its contexts, to look at both the nature of the universe and how life developed and survives here on Earth to see what might be possible.
This book demonstrates the new approach to a "t." After an introductory chapter that attempts to define life, the second chapter, entitled "Origins of a Habitable Universe," provides the best summary I've ever read of how the universe began and developed in its early stages, leading to how stars form and evolve. The story continues in the third chapter ("Origins of a Habitable Planet"), which covers how the solar system and eventually the Earth formed. The next four chapters start with chemistry and end with biology, going from discussing the basic chemical reactions that might have occurred on the early Earth and trying to work out how this led to life. And, once there was life, how it developed over time into ever more sophisticated and complex creatures, changing its environment along the way, as the invention of photosynthesis led to an atmosphere steeped with caustic oxygen, a nasty substance to early life but essential to the active metabolism of modern animals. The chemistry discussion is the single strongest portion of the book, not too surprising since one of the authors is a chemist.
The final chapters become more topical: extremophiles (life that exists in places you'd think were too nasty to support life), a survey of conceivably habitable areas of our solar system (and beyond), and, finally, the search for extraterrestrial life from the Viking missions (another excellent discussion, this time of the Viking biology experiments and their mixed conclusions) to the Mars meteorite to SETI.
There are maybe half-a-dozen truly great questions in science: How did the universe begin? How did it end? How did life begin? Are we alone? If there's any one science that ties all of these together, it's astrobiology. As our tools grow more sophisticated, and as we grow ever more capable of answering these questions, astrobiology will become ever more significant. Look for headlines worldwide on the day when - as this book predicts - we detect oxygen in the atmosphere of an alien planet, something that (so far as we know) could only be caused by life.
And if you want to be ready for that day, read this book. It covers all the relevant topics in clear and entertaining prose, always remaining comprehensible despite the sometimes arcane issues but never skimping on technical detail. You can read it quickly (as I had to do since it was a library book I'd been slow to get started on) and get the gist of a matter, or take your time to read carefully in order to truly understand what's going on (as I could do only a couple of times).
The copy of this book I have in hand is actually from my local library; however, I want this book by my side for further study and as a reference. I will definitely be buying a copy (if I don't get it for Christmas, that is!). I recommend this book highly to anyone interested in one of the most significant fields of scientific study there is. (Note that I don't give out five stars very often.)
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7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Astrobiology: An Attractive Introduction, August 7, 2006
Biology is not complete without the astro-physical environment that produces the sun, the earth and the building blocks of life.
We can never fully understand life and evolution if we don't include the universe.
At bottom it is ecology extended to the cosmic environment.
A huge eye-opener for me was Barrow & Tippler (1994) The Anthropic Cosmological Principle.
They showed that my biology training was hopelessly incomplete.
A second eye-opener was Tibor Gánti (2003) The Principles of Life.
For the first time in my life I had the feeling that I truly understood what the essence of life is and what the origin of life problem actually is, despite reading many books about the origin of life.
Now we have the science of astrobiology which combines both the universe as a cradle for life and insights into the nature of life.
I have been looking for some time for a suitable introduction into astrobiology until I found
Kevin Plaxco & Michael Gross (2006) Astrobiology: A Brief Introduction.
It is a very attractive book: a pleasure to read, enthusiastically and fluently written, full of relevant information, not loaded with boring details, the right price (indeed there are far more expensive introductions and textbooks).
Despite being an introduction, it is nourishing and thanks to being an introduction it is very digestible.
The book contains many stimulating thoughts and facts. Kevin Plaxco is a professor of chemistry. I think that chemistry
is the right science here: it is in the position to connect biology and astronomy (physics cannot bridge biology and astronomy because it differs too much from biology).
Michael Gross is a science writer. I suspect that a great part of the attractiveness of this book can be ascribed to him.
In the hands of Plaxco and Gross an otherwise boring table of yields of amino acids in the Miller-Urey experiment
becomes fascinating.
The book is richly illustrated with black and white illustrations and photographs (but fortunately no expensive glossy paper is used) and has many interesting sidebars.
[...].
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6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant Book For The Armchair Scientist, September 27, 2006
This review is from: Astrobiology: A Brief Introduction (Hardcover)
Imagine that your best friend were some brilliant world-famous scientist. Now imagine that the two of you were sharing a beer one night, and you carelessly asked the question: "I wonder if there is life elsewhere in the Universe?"
This book would be his answer.
"Astrobiology," by Kevin Plaxco and Michael Gross, is the perfect book for the armchair scientist. It should sit on your bookshelf beside Hawking's "Brief History of Time." It would also be an excellent book for the curious undergraduate.
Plaxco and Gross fill the book with easy, accessible prose, and lots of great science. Best of all, the sidebars, with which the book is liberally sprinkled. They make you feel like you are busy bending an elbow with a scientist that has a wicked sense of humor. After all, how many science books can you think of that use the word `flummoxed'?
If the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" had a chapter on astrobiology, this would be it.
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