Astrobiology: A Multi-Disciplinary Approach

Astrobiology: A Multi-Disciplinary Approach is the most comprehensive textbook designed for emerging upper level courses in astrobiology. Internationally renowned authority Jonathan Lunine provides a solid foundation in the essential concepts of physics, chemistry, biology, and other relevant sciences to help readers achieve a more well-rounded understanding of the fascinating study of the origin of life, planetary evolution, and life in the cosmos. The basics of astrobiology focusing on essential concepts in physics, chemistry, biology, and other sciences. For college instructors, students, or anyone interested in astrobiology.

Jonathan I. Lunine is Professor of Planetary Sciences and Physics, a Galileo Circle Faculty Fellow, and chair of the Theoretical Astrophysics Program at the University of Arizona, Tucson. He is a Distinguished Visiting Scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. His research interests center broadly on the formation and evolution of planets and planetary systems, the nature of organics in the outer solar system, and the processes that lead to the formation of habitable worlds. He is an interdisciplinary scientist on the Cassini mission to Saturn, and on the James Webb Space Telescope, as well as co-investigator on a number of other existing or planned NASA missions. Dr. Lunine is the author of over 160 scientific papers and of the books Earth: Evolution of a Habitable World (Cambridge University Press, 1999), and Astrobiology: A Multidisciplinary Approach (Pearson Addison-Wesley, 2005). He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and of the American Geophysical Union, which awarded him the James B. Macelwane medal. Other awards include the Harold C. Urey Prize (American Astronomical Society) and Ya. B. Zeldovich Award of COSPAR's Commission B. Dr. Lunine serves on the Space Science Advisory Committee and chairs the Solar System Exploration Subcommittee for NASA. He earned a B.S. in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Rochester in 1980, followed by M.S. (1983) and Ph.D. (1985) degrees in Planetary Science from the California Institute of Technology.