Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

Considering the development of life on Earth, the existence of life in extreme environments and the potential for life elsewhere in the Universe, this book gives a fascinating insight into our place in the Universe. Chris Impey leads the reader through the history, from the Copernican revolution to the emergence of the field of astrobiology - the study of life in the cosmos. He examines how life on Earth began, exploring its incredible variety and the extreme environments in which it can survive. Finally, Impey turns his attention to our Solar System and the planets beyond, discussing whether there may be life elsewhere in the Universe. Written in non-technical language, this book is ideal for anyone wanting to know more about astrobiology and how it is changing our views of life and the Universe. An accompanying website available at www.cambridge.org/9780521173841 features podcasts, articles and news stories on astrobiology.

Life --- Exobiology. --- Life on other planets. --- Extraterrestrial life --- Planets --- Fermi's paradox --- Astrobiology --- Biology --- Habitable planets --- Abiogenesis --- Biogenesis --- Germ theory --- Heterogenesis --- Life, Origin of --- Life (Biology) --- Origin of life --- Plasmogeny --- Plasmogony --- Evolution (Biology) --- Exobiology --- Spontaneous generation --- Origin. --- Origin

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

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.

Exobiology. --- Life --- Evolution (Biology) --- Animal evolution --- Animals --- Biological evolution --- Darwinism --- Evolutionary biology --- Evolutionary science --- Origin of species --- Biology --- Evolution --- Biological fitness --- Homoplasy --- Natural selection --- Phylogeny --- Abiogenesis --- Biogenesis --- Germ theory --- Heterogenesis --- Life, Origin of --- Life (Biology) --- Origin of life --- Plasmogeny --- Plasmogony --- Exobiology --- Spontaneous generation --- Astrobiology --- Habitable planets --- Origin. --- Origin

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

If theoretical physicists can seriously entertain canonical “standard models” even for the big-bang generation of the entire universe, why cannot life scientists reach a consensus on how life has emerged and settled on this planet?  Scientists are hindered by conceptual gaps between bottom-up inferences (from early Earth geological conditions) and top-down extrapolations (from modern life forms to common ancestral states). This book challenges several widely held assumptions and argues for alternative approaches instead. Primal syntheses (literally or figuratively speaking) are called for in at least five major areas. (1) The first RNA-like molecules may have been selected by solar light as being exceptionally photostable. (2) Photosynthetically active minerals and reduced phosphorus compounds could have efficiently coupled the persistent natural energy flows to the primordial metabolism. (3) Stochastic, uncoded peptides may have kick-started an ever-tightening co-evolution of proteins and nucleic acids.  (4) The living fossils from the primeval RNA World thrive within modern cells.  (5) From the inherently complex protocellular associations preceding the consolidation of integral genomes, eukaryotic cell organization may have evolved more naturally than simple prokaryote-like life forms. – If this book can motivate dedicated researchers to further explore the alternative mechanisms presented, it will have served its purpose well.

Life --- Molecular evolution --- Biochemical Processes --- Evolution, Planetary --- Nucleic Acids --- Chemical Processes --- Chemical Phenomena --- Astronomical Processes --- Biochemical Phenomena --- Nucleic Acids, Nucleotides, and Nucleosides --- Chemicals and Drugs --- Astronomical Phenomena --- Phenomena and Processes --- Physical Processes --- Physical Phenomena --- Evolution, Chemical --- RNA --- Biology --- Health & Biological Sciences --- Evolution --- Biology - General --- Origin --- Origin. --- Abiogenesis --- Biogenesis --- Germ theory --- Heterogenesis --- Life, Origin of --- Life (Biology) --- Origin of life --- Plasmogeny --- Plasmogony --- Life sciences. --- Paleontology. --- Biochemistry. --- Nucleic acids. --- Proteins. --- Cell biology. --- Evolutionary biology. --- Life Sciences. --- Evolutionary Biology. --- Biochemistry, general. --- Nucleic Acid Chemistry. --- Protein Science. --- Cell Biology. --- Evolution (Biology) --- Exobiology --- Spontaneous generation --- Evolution (Biology). --- Paleontology . --- Cytology. --- Polynucleotides --- Biomolecules --- Fossilogy --- Fossilology --- Palaeontology --- Paleontology, Zoological --- Paleozoology --- Historical geology --- Zoology --- Fossils --- Prehistoric animals in motion pictures --- Biological chemistry --- Chemical composition of organisms --- Organisms --- Physiological chemistry --- Chemistry --- Medical sciences --- Animal evolution --- Animals --- Biological evolution --- Darwinism --- Evolutionary biology --- Evolutionary science --- Origin of species --- Biological fitness --- Homoplasy --- Natural selection --- Phylogeny --- Cell biology --- Cellular biology --- Cells --- Cytologists --- Composition --- Proteins . --- Proteids --- Polypeptides --- Proteomics