Astrobiology: Difference between revisions
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''edited by'' [http://www.livingbooksaboutlife.org/books/Astrobiology/bio Sarah Kember] | ''edited by'' [http://www.livingbooksaboutlife.org/books/Astrobiology/bio Sarah Kember] | ||
__TOC__ | __TOC__ | ||
==[http://www.livingbooksaboutlife.org/books/Astrobiology/Introduction '''Introduction: What is Life?''']== | ==[http://www.livingbooksaboutlife.org/books/Astrobiology/Introduction '''Introduction: What is Life?''']== | ||
J. B. S. Haldane (1949) and Erwin Schrödinger (1944), two of the twentieth century’s most influential scientists, posed the direct question, ‘what is life?’ and declared that it was a question unlikely to find an answer. Life, they suggested, might exceed the ability of science to represent it and even though the sciences of biology, physics and chemistry might usefully describe life’s structures, systems and processes, those sciences should not seek to reduce it to the sum of its parts. While Schrödinger drew attention to the physical structure of living matter, including especially the cell, Haldane asserted that ‘what is common to life is the chemical events’ (1949: 59) and so therefore life might be defined, though not reduced, to ‘a pattern of chemical processes’ (62) involving the use of oxygen, enzymes and so on. ([http://www.livingbooksaboutlife.org/books/Astrobiology/Introduction more]) | J. B. S. Haldane (1949) and Erwin Schrödinger (1944), two of the twentieth century’s most influential scientists, posed the direct question, ‘what is life?’ and declared that it was a question unlikely to find an answer. Life, they suggested, might exceed the ability of science to represent it and even though the sciences of biology, physics and chemistry might usefully describe life’s structures, systems and processes, those sciences should not seek to reduce it to the sum of its parts. While Schrödinger drew attention to the physical structure of living matter, including especially the cell, Haldane asserted that ‘what is common to life is the chemical events’ (1949: 59) and so therefore life might be defined, though not reduced, to ‘a pattern of chemical processes’ (62) involving the use of oxygen, enzymes and so on. ([http://www.livingbooksaboutlife.org/books/Astrobiology/Introduction more]) | ||
[[Image:C sarah1.jpg]] | [[Image:C sarah1.jpg]] | ||
== 'Here are phenomena that are passing strange' | == 'Here are phenomena that are passing strange' == | ||
Percival Lowell | |||
[http://ia600208.us.archive.org/2/items/mars00lowe/mars00lowe.pdf ''Mars''] | |||
H. G. Wells | |||
[http://ia700304.us.archive.org/26/items/warofworlds00welluoft/warofworlds00welluoft.pdf ''The War of the Worlds''] | |||
== 'An aroma of actuality' - Lowell vs. Wallace on the nature of knowledge and life == | |||
Percival Lowell | Percival Lowell | ||
[http://ia600304.us.archive.org/23/items/marsanditscanals00loweiala/marsanditscanals00loweiala.pdf ''Mars and Its Canals''] | [http://ia600304.us.archive.org/23/items/marsanditscanals00loweiala/marsanditscanals00loweiala.pdf ''Mars and Its Canals''] | ||
Alfred Russell Wallace | |||
[http://ia600409.us.archive.org/20/items/ismarshabitablec00wallrich/ismarshabitablec00wallrich.pdf ''Is Mars Habitable?''] | |||
== From Martians with- to Martians as- microbes == | |||
Percival Lowell | |||
[http://ia600504.us.archive.org/22/items/marsabodeoflife00loweiala/marsabodeoflife00loweiala.pdf ''Mars as the Abode of Life''] | |||
Gilbert V. Levin | |||
[http://livingbooksaboutlife.org/pdfs/Labeled%20_Release_Gil_Levin.pdf The Labeled Release Experiment – Past and Future] | |||
[[Image:C sarah2.jpg]] | [[Image:C sarah2.jpg]] | ||
== Alien communication | == Alien communication == | ||
NASA | |||
NASA | |||
[http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/spacecraft/sounds.html Voyager: Sounds of Earth]<br> | [http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/spacecraft/sounds.html Voyager: Sounds of Earth]<br> | ||
SETI-X | SETI-X | ||
[http://earthscramble.com/ Scrambles of Earth]<br> | [http://earthscramble.com/ Scrambles of Earth]<br> | ||
== What is life? == | |||
== What is life? | |||
Chris P. McKay | Chris P. McKay | ||
[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC516796/pdf/pbio.0020302.pdf What Is Life -- and How Do We Search for It in Other Worlds?] | [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC516796/pdf/pbio.0020302.pdf What Is Life -- and How Do We Search for It in Other Worlds?] | ||
Y. N. Zhuravlev, V. A. Avetisov | |||
[http://www.biogeosciences.net/3/281/2006/bg-3-281-2006.pdf The Definition of Life in the Context of Its Origin] | [http://www.biogeosciences.net/3/281/2006/bg-3-281-2006.pdf The Definition of Life in the Context of Its Origin] | ||
== Astrobiology from the perspective of sustainability == | |||
== Astrobiology from the perspective of sustainability | |||
Pabulo Henrique Rampelotto | Pabulo Henrique Rampelotto | ||
| Line 86: | Line 67: | ||
[http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/2/2/591/pdf Is Humanity Doomed? Insights from Astrobiology] <br> | [http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/2/2/591/pdf Is Humanity Doomed? Insights from Astrobiology] <br> | ||
[[Image:C sarah3.jpg]] | [[Image:C sarah3.jpg]] | ||
== Afterword | == Afterword == | ||
Sarah Kember | |||
Sarah Kember | |||
[http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/view/235/216 Creative Evolution?: The Quest for Life (On Mars)] | [http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/view/235/216 Creative Evolution?: The Quest for Life (On Mars)] | ||
== [http://www.livingbooksaboutlife.org/books/Astrobiology/Attributions Attributions] == | == [http://www.livingbooksaboutlife.org/books/Astrobiology/Attributions Attributions] == | ||
Revision as of 09:34, 29 September 2011
and The Search for Life on Mars
edited by Sarah Kember
Introduction: What is Life?
J. B. S. Haldane (1949) and Erwin Schrödinger (1944), two of the twentieth century’s most influential scientists, posed the direct question, ‘what is life?’ and declared that it was a question unlikely to find an answer. Life, they suggested, might exceed the ability of science to represent it and even though the sciences of biology, physics and chemistry might usefully describe life’s structures, systems and processes, those sciences should not seek to reduce it to the sum of its parts. While Schrödinger drew attention to the physical structure of living matter, including especially the cell, Haldane asserted that ‘what is common to life is the chemical events’ (1949: 59) and so therefore life might be defined, though not reduced, to ‘a pattern of chemical processes’ (62) involving the use of oxygen, enzymes and so on. (more)
'Here are phenomena that are passing strange'
Percival Lowell
H. G. Wells
'An aroma of actuality' - Lowell vs. Wallace on the nature of knowledge and life
Percival Lowell
Alfred Russell Wallace
From Martians with- to Martians as- microbes
Percival Lowell
Gilbert V. Levin
The Labeled Release Experiment – Past and Future
Alien communication
NASA
SETI-X
What is life?
Chris P. McKay
What Is Life -- and How Do We Search for It in Other Worlds?
Y. N. Zhuravlev, V. A. Avetisov
The Definition of Life in the Context of Its Origin
Astrobiology from the perspective of sustainability
Pabulo Henrique Rampelotto
Seth D. Baum
Is Humanity Doomed? Insights from Astrobiology
Afterword
Sarah Kember
Creative Evolution?: The Quest for Life (On Mars)