宇宙の居住可能性 Habitability of the Universe before Earth : Astrobiology: Exploring Life on Earth and Beyond (series) (Astrobiology Exploring Life on Earth and Beyond)

Gordon, Richard (EDT)/ Sharov, Alexei (EDT)

Academic Press Inc（2017/12発売）

• 製本 Paperback:紙装版/ペーパーバック版／ページ数 576 p.
• 言語 ENG
• 商品コード 9780128119402
• DDC分類 576.839

Full Description

Habitability of the Universe before Earth: Astrobiology: Exploring Life on Earth and Beyond (series) examines the times and places—before life existed on Earth—that might have provided suitable environments for life to occur, addressing the question: Is life on Earth de novo, or derived from previous life? The universe changed considerably during the vast epoch between the Big Bang 13.8 billion years ago and the first evidence of life on Earth 4.3 billion years ago, providing significant time and space to contemplate where, when and under what circumstances life might have arisen. No other book covers this cosmic time period from the point of view of its potential for life.

The series covers a broad range of topics encompassing laboratory and field research into the origins and evolution of life on Earth, life in extreme environments and the search for habitable environments in our solar system and beyond, including exoplanets, exomoons and astronomical biosignatures.

Contents

Preface: Life as a Cosmic Phenomenon

Part I: Physical and Chemical Constraints
1. Gravity and life
2. Radiation as a constraint for life in the universe
3. The when and where of water in the history of the universe
4. The cosmic evolution of biochemistry
5. Astrophysical and cosmological constraints on life
6. Primitive carbon: Before Earth and much before any life on it

Part II: Predicting Habitability
7. The habitability of our evolving galaxy
8. N-body simulations and galactic habitability
9. Occupied and empty regions of the space of extremophile parameters
10. The emergence of structured, living and conscious matter in the evolution of the universe: A theory of structural evolution and interaction of matter

Part III: Life in the Cosmic Scale
11. Life before Earth
12. Earth before life
13. The time-dependent Drake equation
14. Are we the first? 10 billion years of evolution before Earth
15. Life before its origin on Earth: Implications of a late emergence of terrestrial life

Part IV: System Properties of Life
16. Symbiosis: Why was the transition from microbial prokaryotes to eukaryotic organisms a cosmic gigayear event?
17. Coenzyme world model of the origin of life
18. Emergence of polygonal shapes in oil droplets and living cells: The potential role of tensegrity in the origin of life
19. Why on theoretical grounds it may be likely that 'life' exists throughout the universe