Life beyond Earth: The Search for Habitable Worlds in the Universe 1st Edition by Athena Coustenis (PDF)

Description

What is life and where can it exist? What searches are being made to identify conditions for life on other worlds? If extraterrestrial inhabited worlds are found, how can we explore them? In this book, two leading astrophysicists provide an engaging account of where we stand in our quest for habitable environments, in the Solar System and beyond. Starting from basic concepts, the narrative builds scientifically, including more in-depth material as boxed additions to the main text. The authors recount fascinating recent discoveries from space missions and observations using ground-based telescopes, of possible life-related artefacts in Martian meteorites, extrasolar planets, and subsurface oceans on Europa, Titan and Enceladus. They also provide a forward look to future missions. This is an exciting, informative read for anyone interested in the search for habitable and inhabited planets, and an excellent primer for students in astrobiology, habitability, planetary science and astronomy.

User’s Reviews

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

⭐This is neither an especially technical book nor one written for a popular audience — it’s somewhere in between. To me, that fills a gap. Rather than simple presentations and descriptions of key concepts, Coustenis and Encrenaz go into some depth, explaining some of the more complex aspects that really make these concepts, and their applications, interesting.For example, a star’s habitable zone is usually presented in popular treatments as a matter of a planet’s orbital distance relative to its star’s energy output. But it’s more than that — what makes a planet potentially habitable has more to do with all of the energy sources available to its surface, subsurface, and even atmospheric environments and the chemistry those energy sources can support. This is what makes our own system’s Europa, Titan, and Enceladus candidates for life, while they actually sit well outside a simply calculated habitable zone.Similarly, Coustenis and Encrenaz go into some detail on other topics, such as how exoplanets are detected, the chemistry of life, potentials for alternative life chemistries, planet compositions, and orbital migration. The authors are scientists, not science writers, and it shows, although I think they write clearly and with a fair understanding of what is going to be understandable to a non-specialist audience.The bulk of the book is about our solar system. Four of its six chapters take up the fundamentals of life, planet formation, and the potential for life on solar system planets and moons. Even Mercury, Neptune, and trans-Neptunian objects are included in short discussions, along with more extensive discussions of Mars and the moons of Jupiter and Saturn. The advantage of focusing on solar system objects is that we know so much more about them than we do about exoplanets. We have sent probes to all of them, we know something of their atmospheres, surfaces, and subsurfaces, and, in some cases, we have followed the evidence to some tantalizing possibilities for life. Concentrating on them turns abstract speculation into grounded, concrete investigations.The final two chapters take up exoplanets and more speculative topics on space exploration, potentials for human habitats beyond earth, and contact with alien life. These topics are treated much more briefly than you’ll find in other books dedicated to exoplanets and possible extraterrestrial civilizations.The tone of the book is factual, not argumentative. There’s no real debate here about the likelihood of life beyond earth, although the debate is mentioned. Naturally, I think, the authors are optimistic about life beyond earth. There is after all a selection bias at work in this field– scientists are unlikely to devote their careers to a field they don’t think is promising.All in all, I came away with a much better understanding of the central questions. I’d recommend it to anyone with a depth of interest in the field and a desire to wade out into some of the complexities.

⭐Well written and easy to follow for a novice on this topic. I really enjoyed the chapter what we do once we find life beyond earth.

⭐When I was much younger, I read We Are Not Alone, by Walter Sullivan. In the forty or so years since then, the search for life outside our own planet has become far more sophisticated, and yet we’re still at the point where we haven’t found any. Are we searching correctly? Do we need to expand our ideas of how and what forms of life might develop on other worlds? Where should we look? How should we do it?Dr. Athena Coustenis and Dr. Thérèse Encrenaz, both renowned astrophysicists, answer those questions in Life Beyond Earth: The Search for Habitable Worlds in the Universe.One of the highest compliments I can pay to a science book like this is that I learned new things, and I have read many “is there life out there” tomes where I didn’t. It’s important here to state that, no, the authors are not proposing that there’s intelligent life (such as on Earth) on some of the other planets or moons of our solar system. But, given the right conditions, there might be, albeit very simple, life forms. It is certainly possible that organic or prebiotic molecules are in existence, especially anywhere there might be liquid water — which recent unmanned space missions indicate could exist below the surfaces of several of Jupiter’s and Saturn’s moons.Life Beyond Earth carefully details how life can arise, where it can arise, and speculate on the likelihood of that happening. Dr. Athena Coustenis and Dr. Thérèse Encrenaz explore the possibilities of prebiotic, or life itself, existing under the (to us) unusual conditions on most of the planets and moons as well as outside the solar system.This is a thorough and interesting survey of what we know and how we can learn more. Caution: This is written at, I want to say, a college level. If you are expecting the sort of easy, non-challenging read of a Carl Sagan type book, you’ll be disappointed. A certain amount of chemistry and physics knowledge — not graduate level mind you, just that you remember your senior High School courses well — is recommended to appreciate this fine text.Science fiction authors should make this a “must read!”Lastly, Life Beyond Earth is profusely illustrated, along with containing many color plates; I strongly urge you to purchase the physical hardcover rather than the Kindle edition for full enjoyment of it.

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