Origins and Evolution of Life: An Astrobiological Perspective (Cambridge Astrobiology Book 6) 1st Edition by Gargaud | (PDF) Free Download

Description

Devoted to exploring questions about the origin and evolution of life in our Universe, this highly interdisciplinary book brings together a broad array of scientists. Thirty chapters assembled in eight major sections convey the knowledge accumulated and the richness of the debates generated by this challenging theme. The text explores the latest research on the conditions and processes that led to the emergence of life on Earth and, by extension, perhaps on other planetary bodies. Diverse sources of knowledge are integrated, from astronomical and geophysical data, to the role of water, the origin of minimal life properties and the oldest traces of biological activity on our planet. This text will not only appeal to graduate students but to the large body of scientists interested in the challenges presented by the origin of life, its evolution, and its possible existence beyond Earth.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐This book, part of Cambridge University’s Astrobiology series, is an interdisciplinary collection of essays on life as seen from the perspective of the relatively new science of astrobiology. Most of the essays were written by European scientists, especially French scientists. The three editors are academics from French universities.This is not a book for the layperson. The essays are highly technical and filled with specialized terminology such as one might find in research journals. The dense prose is largely inaccessible to the general reader and not merely because of the subject matter but also because of the, shall I say, mostly graceless prose of the authors. Additionally there is an unmistakable postmodern tone in some of the essays featuring circumlocutions, heavily qualified statements that translated into English tend toward the sort of gobbledygook often found in postmodern articles.Nonetheless for the intrepid reader some of the essays might be valuable; and for the expert, this is possibly a treasure trove of up-to-date information and understanding. I say “possibly” because I personally was not able to penetrate much of the work.The book is in eight parts. Part I “What Is Life?” begins not with a definition of life but rather with a consideration of some problems associated with an attempt at a definition! Part II “Astronomical and geophysical context of the emergence of life” looks into how organic molecules have and might form in interstellar space. Extraterrestrial constraints on life forming, characteristics of the formation of habitable planets, the idea of the “galactic habitable zone,” etc., are also considered in Part II. The role of water in the emergence of life is taken up in Part III. Part IV is about prebiotics and the origin and evolution of metabolisms. Gene transfers and symbiosis are considered in Part V. Part VI is about life in extreme conditions while Part VII looks at the evidence for early life on earth. And finally Part VIII focuses on the Cassini-Huygens mission to the Saturn moon Titan.The book contains many gray scale photos and more than enough tables and figures for anyone’s eyes. All and all I have to confess that an evaluation of this highly technical book is a bit beyond my level of expertise.–Dennis Littrell, author of “Hard Science and the Unknowable”

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