Customer Reviews

Extrasolar Planets and Astrobiology

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The textbook is well sourced, well written, and incredibly well organized. As a astronomy and biology student wishing to understand the unification of these two rather different approaches to science, this is invaluable and MUCH appreciated.

Students sometimes don't realize that textbooks are not confusing because of their subject material, but usually very opaque because of their ORGANIZATION.

Scharf's organization of the material and presentation is nonpareil, and what's more, this is the only text currently available (I have read every one), that contains a physical, mathematically based derivation and demonstration of the sciences at work.

This is incredibly important as Astrobiology becomes a denser field with more and more concepts piling atop one another. Presenting the grounding of the subject in the basic sciences, not as abstract musings but as truly observationally based science, is perhaps the author's greatest success.

In the world of science textbooks, which I believe is all too often a graveyard where students' love of science goes to die, this text stands amongst the few which will not only encourage your understanding of its chosen topic, but will cause you to want to expand it.

This is far and away the most comprehensive book on the market covering extra-solar planets. It is both rigorous and easy to follow, no small feat for such a new textbook about a young field. I highly recommend it to higher level undergraduates interested in learning more about everything from T Tauri stars and protoplanetary disks to extremeophiles. Keep in mind, this book is written by an astrophysicist, not a biologist.

I am an Astrophysics major who had the pleasure of taking the author's course on this subject. You will find this to be a detailed, thorough, and quantitative introduction to the field, as well as engaging and accessible. A must have for any student interested in extrasolar planets or astrobiology.

This is a good open-minded, open-ended look at a topic that is now coming of age. Using a sound technical, multi-disiplined approach Scharf has managed to investigate this subject without drawing premature conclusions or venturing groundless hypotheses based on prejudicial thinking. It is a book that will make you think.

This book is quite readable for a college edjucated amature astronomer or other science/astronomy-savvy individual at home or as a college text that would not be out of place at MIT or CALTECH.

A little warning though, Scarf does like his math and physics(which are quite in order in this work) so if you are a little rusty in these subjects it may be good to bone up a little.