The Search for Life in the Universe (Third Edition) - Hardcover

Donald Goldsmith; Tobias Owen

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1891389165 ISBN 13: 9781891389160

Publisher: University Science Books, 2001

Synopsis

Long recognized as the Gold Standard text for astrobiology courses, The Search for Life in the Universe now appears in a completely revised and updated Third Edition. This book engages students in astronomy by presenting a great, unsolved mystery: How likely is life beyond earth, and how can we find it if it exists? The text covers the fundamentals of astronomy and astrophysics, including the discovery of more than 55 planets around other stars, and also provides an overview of biology, geology, evolution, and the possibilities of interstellar travel and communication. Written for readers with no background in mathematics, the book includes 24 color insert pages and brilliantly rendered illustrations by Jon Lomberg.

About this title

About the Author

Donald Goldsmith was the science editor and co-writer of the PBS television series The Astronomers and the co-writer of NOVA's Is Anybody Out There? with Lily Tomlin. He has written and edited 15 books on astronomy, including The Runaway Universe, Worlds Unnumbered, Supernova!, and The Hunt for Life on Mars. Donald Goldsmith received his Ph.D. in astronomy from the University of California, Berkeley, and has taught astronomy courses there and at other institutions, including Stanford University, Cornell University, and the University of California at Santa Cruz. He has received the lifetime achievement award in popularizing astronomy from the American Astronomical Society, the science writing award from the American Institute of Physics, and the Dorothea Klumpke-Roberts award for increasing public awareness of astronomy from the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. Tobias Owen ranks among the world's leading experts on the solar system. He was awarded the NASA Medal for Exceptional Scientific Achievement for his work on the Martian atmosphere with the Viking Landers in 1976 and led the group of Voyager scientists who discovered the rings of Jupiter in 1979. He is currently a member of scientific teams on the Galileo, Nozomi, CONTOUR, DS-1 and Cassini-Huygens missions. With David Morrison, he co-authored a college text, The Planetary System, and has written over 250 scientific and popular articles. He is professor of astronomy at the University of Hawaii where he studies planets, satellites, and comets with the giant telescopes on Mauna Kea.

Review

A welcome and timely update of what has become a classic text. --Karen B. Kwitter, Williams College

Quite possibly the best astrobiology text available. --International Journal of Astrobiology

Teachers and students everywhere of wildly popular courses on life in the universe should rejoice to see this. --Frank Shu, University of California at Berkeley

About this edition

• Publisher: University Science Books
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 1891389165
• ISBN 13: 9781891389160
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 3
• Number of pages: 573