The Science of Astrobiology A Personal View on Learning to Read the
Since the publication of The New Science of Astrobiology in the year 2001—the first edition of the present book—two significant events have taken place raising the subject from the beginning of the century to its present maturity. Firstly, in 2001 the Gal
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Cellular Origin, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology ________________________________________________________________ Volume 20 (Second Edition) ________________________________________________________________
Julian Chela-Flores
The Science of Astrobiology A Personal View on Learning to Read the Book of Life
Julian Chela-Flores The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics P.O. Box 586 34014 Trieste Italy [email protected]
ISSN 1566-0400 ISBN 978-94-007-1626-1 e-ISBN 978-94-007-1627-8 DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-1627-8 Springer Dordrecht Heidelberg London New York Library of Congress Control Number: 2011934255 © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011 No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
The cupola in the West Atrium of St. Mark's Basilica in Venice, Italy representing the biblical interpretation of Genesis (Cf., also pp. 215-216 at the beginning of Part 4: The destiny of life in the universe. With kind permission of the Procuratoria of St. Mark's Basilica.)
For Sarah Catherine Mary
Table of contents Table of contents
vii
Preface
xvii
Acknowledgements
xxi
Recommendations to the readers
xxiii
INTRODUCTION The cultural and scientific context of astrobiology I.1 Early attempts to read the Book of Life
3
ARISTARCHUS OF SAMOS AND HIPPARCHUS
4
NICHOLAS OF CUSA (CUSANUS)
4
NICHOLAS COPERNICUS
4
GIORDANO BRUNO
5
CHARLES DARWIN
6
I.2 Some pioneers of the science of astrobiology ALEXANDER OPARIN
8 8
STANLEY MILLER
10
SIDNEY W. FOX
11
CYRIL PONNAMPERUMA
12
JOHN ORO, 1ST MARQUESS OF ORÓ
13
I.3 Three strategies for astrobiological exploration
14
I.4 Inserting philosophy into astrobiology
17
I.5 Emphasizing the role of biology in astrobiology
17
I.6 Inserting physics in biology especially in astrobiology
18
I.7 Inserting the earth sciences in astrobiology
19
vii
THE SCIENCE OF ASTROBIOLOGY
viii
I.8 New fingerprints of early life
23
I.9 Inserting paleontology into astrobiology
24
Supplementary Reading
26
References
27
THE BOOK OF LIFE PART 1: THE ORIGIN OF LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE CHAPTER 1. From cosmic to chemical evolution 1.1 Beginnings of a rational cosmology based on physical constraints
31
1.2 Cosmological models
32
1.3 The cosmic microwave background
34
1.4 The growth of studies on the origin of life
35
1.5 Origin of the elements: from the big bang to the interior of stars
37
1.6 Supernovae: the source of biogenic dust
39
1.7 Molecular clouds and circumstellar disks
42
1.8 Stellar and biological evolution
43
Supplementary Reading
45
References
46
CHAPTER 2.
