Intelligent life in the universe : principles and requirements behind its emergence

Title:

Personal Author:

Ulmschneider, P. (Peter), 1938-

Series:

Advances in astrobiology and biogeophysics

Edition:

2nd rev ed.

Publication Information:

Berlin Springer-Verlag, 2006

ISBN:

9783540328360

Subject Term:

Life -- Origin

Life on other planets

Available:*

Library	Item Barcode	Call Number	Material Type	Item Category 1	Status
Searching... PSZ JB	30000010149907	QH325 U55 2006	Open Access Book	Book	Searching... Unknown

This book addresses all scientists and others interested in the origins, development and fate of intelligent species in the observable part of our universe. In particular, the author scrutinizes what kind of information about extraterrestrial intelligent life can be inferred from our own biological, cultural and scientific evolution and the likely future of mankind. The first part of the book provides the necessary background information from space and life sciences, thus making the book also accessible to students and the scientifically educated public.

In this second edition of Peter Ulmschneider's successful and highly interesting book the author is putting even stronger emphasis on the geological conditions and consequences of life's conquest of land as the pre-condition for the emergence of life with our type of technical intelligence.

Reviews 1

Choice Review

Could there be intelligent life forms beyond our present comprehension? Ulmschneider (Universitat Heidelberg) does not consider this question, and some may consider his writing limited by emphasis on carbon-based life (cf. Jack Cohen and Ian Stewart, What Does a Martian Look Like?: The Science of Extraterrestrial Life, CH, May'03. Readers should read that review first). However, in any study of life, extraterrestrial or earthbound, it is necessary to begin with what is known; that means studying life as it is on Earth first, and Ulmschneider covers this very well. Yet, he does seem to limit his interpretation of what constitutes life when, in chapter 4, he claims that there exists "little or no life" in the very cold Arctic and Antarctic regions or the extremely hot desert regions. He might have said more about the recent work in the field of extremophiles, but for such a short treatise he treats in great detail such subjects as astronomical, geological, and biological development; biochemistry and genetics; the search for extraterrestrial life; human exploration of space; and the possible existence of life-supporting extraterrestrial environments. A well-documented book for anyone interested in evolution of life on Earth, Earth-like environments elsewhere in the universe, and the future of humans. ^BSumming Up: Highly recommended. All levels. P. R. Douville emeritus, Central Connecticut State University

Part I Planets
1 Stars, Galaxies, and the Origin of Chemical Elements	p. 3
1.1 The History of the Universe	p. 3
1.2 Molecular Clouds	p. 6
1.3 The Pre-Main Sequence Evolution of Stars	p. 8
1.4 The Post-Main Sequence Evolution of Stars	p. 11
1.5 Element Composition and Dating	p. 13
1.5.1 Population I and Population II Stars	p. 13
1.5.2 Datingwith Radiometric Clocks	p. 15
2 Planet Formation	p. 19
2.1 Accretion Disks and Planetesimal Formation	p. 19
2.2 Terrestrial Planets	p. 21
2.3 Jovian Planets and Kuiper Belt Objects	p. 24
2.4 The Migration of Jovian Planets	p. 25
2.5 The T-Tauri Stage	p. 26
2.6 Asteroids	p. 28
2.7 Comets	p. 31
2.8 Meteorites	p. 33
2.9 Early Historyof the Solar System	p. 34
3 The Earth	p. 39
3.1 Planetological Historyofthe Early Earth	p. 39
3.2 Formation of the Moon	p. 40
3.3 Ocean-Vaporizing Impacts	p. 42
3.4 The Endofthe Heavy Bombardment	p. 44
3.5 The Environmentonthe Early Earth	p. 45
3.6 Seismology and the Earth's Interior Structure	p. 49
3.7 Volcanism and the Composition of Rocks	p. 52
3.8 The Earth's Coreand Mantle	p. 56
3.9 The Earth's Magnetic Fieldand Sea-Floor Spreading	p. 58
3.10 Convection, Hot Spots and Plate Tectonics	p. 60
3.11 Mountain Building and the Evolution of Continents	p. 66
3.12 Plate Tectonics on Mars and Venus?	p. 71
4 The Search for Extrasolar Planets	p. 73
4.1 The Recently Discovered Planets	p. 73
4.2 Direct Search Methods for Planets	p. 76
4.3 Indirect Search Methods	p. 76
4.4 Circumstellar Disks	p. 79
4.5 New Search Strategies	p. 80
5 Planets Suitable for Life	p. 87
5.1 Habitable Zones	p. 87
5.1.1 The Solar Habitable Zone	p. 88
5.1.2 Habitable Zones Around Other Stars	p. 90
5.2 Planetary Massandthe Evaporationofthe Atmosphere	p. 91
5.3 The Lifetimes of the Stars	p. 94
5.4 Tidal Effects on Planets	p. 95
5.5 The Increase in Solar Luminosity and the Continuously Habitable Zone	p. 97
5.6 Instabilities of the Planetary Atmosphere	p. 98
5.6.1 The Greenhouse Effect	p. 99
5.6.2 The Carbonate Silicate Cycle	p. 99
5.6.3 The Runaway Greenhouse Effect	p. 100
5.6.4 Irreversible Glaciation	p. 101
5.7 Axis Variations of the Planets	p. 103
5.8 Biogenic Effects on Planetary Atmospheres	p. 105
5.9 Proterozoic Glaciations and Snowball Earth	p. 107
5.10 The Requirements for Continuous Habitability	p. 109
5.11 The Drake Formula	p. 109
5.12 The Numberof Habitable Planets	p. 111
Part II Life
6 Life and its Origin on Earth	p. 117
6.1 What is Life?	p. 117
6.2 The Special Roleof Organic Chemistry	p. 118
6.3 The Elementsof Biochemistry	p. 118
6.3.1 Proteins, Carbohydrates, Lipids, and Nucleic Acids	p. 119
6.3.2 The Genetic Code	p. 124
6.3.3 ATP, the Energy Currency of the Biochemical World	p. 124
6.3.4 Synthesizing RNA, DNA, and Proteins	p. 125
6.4 Cellsand Organelles	p. 127
6.5 Sequencing and the Classification of Organisms	p. 129
6.5.1 Classification by Sequencing	p. 129
6.5.2 The Molecular Clock	p. 129
6.5.3 The Evolutionary Treeof Bacteria	p. 130
6.5.4 The Timetable of the Evolution of Life	p. 131
6.5.5 Sequencing and the Complete Genome	p. 133
6.6 Geological Tracesof Life	p. 135
6.7 The Stageforthe Appearanceof Life	p. 136
6.7.1 The Originofthe Genetic Code	p. 137
6.7.2 The Urey-Miller Experiments	p. 138
6.7.3 The Search for the Last Universal Common Ancestor	p. 139
6.7.4 Summary: The Boundary Conditions	p. 142
6.8 Abiotic Chemical Evolution andthe Theoriesof How Life Formed	p. 143
7 Evolution	p. 149
7.1 Darwin's Theory	p. 149
7.2 The Development of Eukaryotes and Endosymbiosis	p. 151
7.3 Oxygenasan Environmental Catastrophe	p. 153
7.4 The Cell Nucleusand Mitosis	p. 154
7.5 Sexualityand Meiosis	p. 155
7.6 Genetic Evolution	p. 157
7.7 Multicellularity, the Formation of Organs, and Programmed Cell Death	p. 159
7.8 Problemsof Lifeon Land	p. 162
7.8.1 Conquestofthe Landby Plants	p. 163
7.8.2 New Organsof Land Plants	p. 166
7.8.3 Conquestofthe Landby Animals	p. 171
7.9 The Great K/T Boundary Event	p. 173
7.10 The Tertiaryandthe Evolutionof Mammals	p. 177
7.11 Primate Evolution	p. 178
7.12 DNA Hybridization	p. 187
7.13 Brain Evolutionand Tool Use	p. 188
7.14 Stone Tool Culture	p. 190
7.15 Dietand Social Life	p. 192
7.16 The Logicofthe Human Body Plan	p. 193
7.17 Evolution, Chance, and Information	p. 196
7.18 Cultural Evolution	p. 199
8 The Search for Extraterrestrial Life	p. 201
8.1 Lifeinthe Solar System	p. 201
8.2 Europa's Ocean	p. 202
8.3 Lifeon Mars	p. 204
8.3.1 Early Searches	p. 204
8.3.2 The Viking Experiments	p. 206
8.3.3 Mars Meteorites	p. 208
8.4 The Early Atmosphere of Mars	p. 210
8.5 Future Mars Missions	p. 212
8.6 Life Outside the Solar System	p. 214
8.7 UFOs	p. 216
9 The Future of Mankind	p. 221
9.1 Predicting Mankind's Future	p. 221
9.2 Settlementofthe Solar System	p. 222
9.2.1 The Space Station	p. 223
9.2.2 Moon and Mars Projects	p. 225
9.2.3 Space Travel	p. 228
9.2.4 Near-Earth Asteroids and the Miningof the Solar System	p. 230
9.2.5 Space Habitats	p. 231
9.2.6 Cultural Impactof Space Colonization	p. 234
9.3 Interstellar Travel	p. 236
9.4 Mastering the Biological World	p. 237
9.4.1 Creating Life in the Laboratory	p. 238
9.4.2 The Decodingofthe Human Genome	p. 239
9.4.3 Understanding Intelligence	p. 239
9.5 Androidsand Miniaturization	p. 240
9.6 Connected Societies	p. 241
9.7 Fear of the Future	p. 242
9.8 The Dangers for Mankind	p. 242
9.8.1 Bacterialor Viral Infection	p. 243
9.8.2 Episodesof Extreme Volcanism	p. 244
9.8.3 Irreversible Glaciation and the Runaway Greenhouse Effect	p. 245
9.8.4 Comet or Asteroid Impact	p. 246
9.8.5 Supernova Explosionsand Gamma Ray Bursts	p. 248
9.8.6 Irreversible Environmental Damage	p. 250
9.8.7 Uncontrollable Inventions	p. 250
9.8.8 War, Terrorism, and Irrationality	p. 251
9.9 Survival Strategies	p. 252
10 Extraterrestrial Intelligent Life	p. 255
10.1 Does Extraterrestrial Intelligent Life Exist?	p. 255
10.2 What is the Hypothetical Nature of the Extraterrestrials?	p. 257
10.3 The Drake Formula, the Number ofExtraterrestrial Societies	p. 260
10.4 The Lifetime of an Extraterrestrial Civilization	p. 262
10.5 Distances tothe Extraterrestrial Societies	p. 263
10.6 SETI, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligent Life	p. 265
10.6.1 Radio and Optical Searches for Extraterrestrial Civilizations	p. 266
10.6.2 Possible Contact in the not too Distant Future	p. 270
10.7 The Fermi Paradox: Where are the Extraterrestrials?	p. 272
10.7.1 They do not Exist	p. 273
10.7.2 Technically, a Visit is not Possible	p. 274
10.7.3 Theyare Nearby, but havenot been Detected	p. 275
10.7.4 Theyarenot Interestedin Us	p. 275
10.8 The Zoo Hypothesis	p. 276
References	p. 279
Author Index	p. 297
Subject Index	p. 303

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Table of Contents