Over the last two decades alone, new technology and space missions have profoundly changed our understanding of prospective extraterrestrial life in the universe. The resulting field of astrobiology has become a highly eclectic and interdisciplinary pursuit, encompassing many of the natural sciences and holding ramifications for nearly all other areas of study. Co-written by an astrophysicist and a biologist, this introductory undergraduate textbook presents an overview of astrobiology for students from all backgrounds. Addressed in its chapters are the recent detection of potentially habitable planets and the prospects for detecting biosignatures and life; the celestial and geological factors that enabled the appearance and evolution of life on Earth; and other factors that continue to affect life up to the present, such as climate change. Based on over twenty years of university coursework, and in particular the authors own interdisciplinary astrobiology curriculum, the text is accessible not just for the budding science major, but for any undergraduate student or lay reader excited by the prospect of life in the universe.
1. What is Astrobiology?.- 2. Do we know what we are looking for? Can we
define life? Why water?.- 3. The cosmic zoo: from our Solar System to distant
galaxies.- 4. A short history of Astrobiology: from the Persians and
Epicureans to discovering exoplanets and the Kepler space telescope.- 5. The
tools of science: measurement, questions and hypotheses. Statistics, good and
evil. How science differs from journal reports.-6. A few units necessary for
Astrobiology.- 7. The Habitable Zone of our solar system and of other star
systems.- 8. Our star the Sun.- 9. Is Earth special? 10. The evolution of
life on Earth, from prokaryotes to Homo sapiens, and its effects on
Earth.- 11. The role of an atmosphere: climate and habitability.- 12. The
potential for life on the terrestrial planets: Mercury, Venus and
Mars.- 13. The potential for life on the outer planets: Jupiter, Saturn, and
their moons: Europa, Enceladus and Titan.- 14. The small bodies in the Solar
System: carbonaceous meteorites, asteroids and comets, and their possible
impact on life.- 15. The quest for exoplanets: detecting planetary systems
around other stars.- 16. Biosignatures.- 17. How different could alien life
be?.- 18. Stellar types and their habitable zones.- 19. The structure of our
galaxy, the Milky Way and other galaxies: is there a galactic habitable
zone?.- 20. Cosmology and life: "long long ago, in a galaxy far far away" -
from the Big Bang to the anthropic principle.- 21. The chances of finding
extraterrestrial Complex and Intelligent life: SETI. The Drake equation and
interstellar communication.- 22. Can we reach the stars? Space flight and
advanced propulsion techniques.- 23. The Fermi paradox: where are all the
aliens?.- Glossary.- Index.
Dr. Amri Wandel, Astrophysicist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, has created and taught for 25 years the course "Astrophysics and Life in the Universe", to science and non-science undergraduate programs, each with about a hundred students annually, and a similar course at the astronomy program at UCLA. He frequently gives public talks and media interviews on astrobiology. His main research has been on active galaxies and massive black holes, and in the last years on astrobiology, in particular about the habitability of exoplanets. Wandel has published over 100 scientific papers and the books "The Cosmos and Us" (in Esperanto 2001, 2017, 2022) and Astrophysics and Life in the Universe (in Hebrew, 2022). He is Chairman of the Israel society for Astrobiology and the Origin of Life (ILASOL), and member of the International Astronomical Unions commission of astrobiology.
Dr. Joseph Gale, Biologist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, carried out research and served for some years as consultant to NASA's CELSS project (Controlled Environment Life Support Systems). From there he became interested in the exobiology program, later called astrobiology. Gale has built and taught a program on "The Astrobiology of Planet Earth" an elective for third year science students, which over the last decade attracts some one hundred students each year. He has lectured at numerous national and international conferences. In the last years, he has been invited to participate in astrobiology seminars of the University of Stockholm and the International Space University. Gale has published some 100+ refereed papers and authored and coauthored four books, including "Plants in Saline Environments" (Springer-Verlag 1975) and "Astrobiology of Earth" (OUP 2009).
