The Search for Life in the Universe

by Donald Goldsmith, Tobias Owen, Tobias C. Owen

Book Overview

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,...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1891389165
• ISBN13: 9781891389160
• Release Date: August 2001
• Publisher: University Science Books
• Length: 580 Pages
• Weight: 3.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 7.7" x 10.2"

Customer Reviews

Doesn't get any better than this!

If you're a fan of Astronomy as a discipline, aren't a scientist and are curious as to whether or not and how there might be other life in the universe, this book is as good as it gets! It starts with many of the basics, but is not so "dumbed down" that you feel like you're reading a newspaper article, but a substantive paper. It isn't filled with too much "technobabble" so that someone who doesn't have a background in the sciences of more than a class or two will get lost. The book leaves virtually no stone unturned. By that I mean that when I read the book, I thought something like, "well, I get THAT, but what about ______?" In almost every instance it was as if they were reading my mind because in very short order they addressed my question. It is clear that they have taken feedback from students and colleagues seriously in writing this edition (3rd). The only problem that I had with the book was that some of the information was a bit dated. For example, Cassini has already arrived at Saturn and dropped its probe into Titan's atmosphere. I would estimate that the 3rd edition is about 4 years behind the latest discoveries. However, can they really be blamed for that? I would expect that they would update their textbook in a few years so that all of the latest discoveries are present. If you love astronomy and want to learn more about the scientific reasoning about the likelihood of life elsewhere in the universe BUY THIS BOOK!

Jack Kennedy

This book is used as a text by the University of North Dakota Space Studies program where I was exposed to its content. It is an excellent book filled with the recent nuggets of information about the search for life in the universe. It is an excellent guide to understanding the cosmos in galatic and down-to-Earth terms. This book can be read for pure pleasure as well as for general knowledge of astrobilogy and astronomy.

Excellent Overview

The new edition of this book still is by far the most comprehensive introduction to Bioastronomy, touching almost every branch of science along the exciting path it follows. Remaining firmly grounded in science it shows that reality is so fantastic that it is in no way necessary to fantasize up facts and fictions. Science still is one of the greatest adventures of mankind, and the search for life in space is one of its most stimulating branches. It also is a good motivation for young college students from other subjects to further their knowledge in science - which is necessary because we live in a science dominated world.Stefan Thiesen www.bioastronomie.de

Great for people interested in SETI ...

The book deals with everything from the formation of stars and planets, to how life formed, to even the best ways to search for life and the odds of life being on other planets. It goes step by step, is easy to understand and even has review questions at the end of each chapter (along with a summary). Lots of photos, some in color, along with figures and tables to help explain and give more details. Great for people who want to understand the reasons people are searching for life on other planets, but also great for just understand the science of life on our planet too. All that and humor too.

The search for life in the spotlight.

This book really explaines in simple language how scientists work on this search. It is written in a way that keeps your interest on top all the way.