Planetary Systems and the Origins of Life

Several major breakthroughs in the last decade have helped contribute to the emerging field of astrobiology. Focusing on these developments, this fascinating book explores some of the most important problems in this field. It examines how planetary systems formed, and how water and the biomolecules necessary for life were produced. It then focuses on how life may have originated and evolved on Earth. Building on these two themes, the final section takes the reader on a search for life elsewhere in the Solar System. It presents the latest results of missions to Mars and Titan, and explores the possibilities of life in the ice-covered ocean of Europa. This interdisciplinary book is an enjoyable overview of this exciting field for students and researchers in astrophysics, planetary science, geosciences, biochemistry, and evolutionary biology. Colour versions of some of the figures are available at www.cambridge.org/9780521875486.

ISBN 052187548X   Volumes 1 ISBN13 9780521875486 (What's this?)   Weight (grammes) 181 Publisher Cambridge University Press   Published in Cambridge Imprint Cambridge University Press   Series ISSN 3 Format Hardback   Series title Cambridge Astrobiology Publication date 06 Dec 2007   Height (mm) 247 Library of Congress 2008271016   Width (mm) 174 DEWEY 576.839   Spine width (mm) 20 DEWEY edition DC22   Academic level Professional / Scholarly Pages 334

Pt. I		Planetary systems and the origins of life		1
1		Observations of extrasolar planetary systems by Shay Zucker		3
2		The atmospheres of extrasolar planets by L. Jeremy Richardson and Sara Seager		21
3		Terrestrial planet formation by Edward W. Thommes		41
4		From protoplanetary disks to prebiotic amino acids and the origin of the genetic code by Paul G. Higgs and Ralph E. Pudritz		62
5		Emergent phenomena in biology: the origin of cellular life by David Deamer		89
Pt. II		Life on Earth		111
6		Extremophiles: defining the envelope for the search for life in the universe by Lynn Rothschild		113
7		Hyperthermophilic life on Earth -and on Mars? by Karl O. Stetter		135
8		Phylogenomics: how far back in the past can we go? by Henner Brinkmann and Denis Baurain and Herve Philippe		149
9		Horizontal gene transfer, gene histories, and the root of the tree of life by Olga Zhaxybayeva and J. Peter Gogarten		178
10		Evolutionary innovation versus ecological incumbency by Adolf Seilacher		193
11		Gradual origin for the metazoans by Alexandra Pontefract and Jonathon Stone		210
Pt. III		Life in the Solar System?		223
12		The search for life on Mars by Chris P. McKay		225
13		Life in the dark dune spots of Mars: a testable hypothesis by Eors Szathmary and Tibor Ganti and Tamas Pocs and Andras Horvath and Akos Kereszturi and Szaniszlo Berczi and Andras Sik		241
14		Titan: a new astrobiological vision from the Cassini-Huygens data by Francois Raulin		263
15		Europa, the ocean moon: tides, permeable ice, and life by Richard Greenberg		285

'... a volume that is uniform in style, accessible, and useful for students and workers with an astrobiological leaning, whatever subject specialism they work in. Recommended to readers throughout the Solar System.' The Observatory

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