Life in the Solar System and Beyond

by Barrie W. Jones

Book Overview

The 'Life in the Solar System and Beyond', Professor Jones has written a broad introduction to the subject, addressing important topics such as, what is life?, the origins of life and where to look for extraterrestrial life. The chapters are arranged as follows. Chapter 1 is a broad introduction to the cosmos, with an emphasis on where we might find life. In Chapters 2 and 3 Professor Jones discusses life on Earth, the one place we know to be inhabited...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1852331011
• ISBN13: 9781852331016
• Release Date: February 2004
• Publisher: Springer
• Length: 317 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.1" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

A great background for the origins of earth and life

This book gives the technically literate but non-specialist reader an excellent background for the origin of the earth and life on it, along with the same for other planets. It has what I feel is a perfect mix of qualitative and quantitative material. The author is not afraid to use equations and graphs to complete an idea, but the essentials are clear without them. My cosmology book club consisting of an MD, a PhD, engineers, and non-techncal folks is enjoying discussing it. The various measurements that can search for life on other planets are well described.

Astrobiology, with an emphasis on extrasolar planets

This is a well written book. But there is a question: if you see this book in the store, you may think you are seeing double. You see, there are two books which are almost the same. This one. And "An Introduction to Astrobiology" edited by Iain Gilmour and Mark Sephton. Which one should you buy? This one. This book is a little more up-to-date. It has more about what you ought to want the book for anyway, the extrasolar planets. Still, the books are nearly identical, the more so given that the author of this book wrote two of the extrasolar planet chapters in the other book. If you get the other book, you'll get a chapter on Titan that this book doesn't have. And prettier pictures, and pages with a nicer and glossier feel. Still, if you want a book on astrobiology in general, well, both books skimp a little on the biology part. My choice for an overall astrobiology book would be Lunine's book, rather than either this one or the Gilmour book.