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Now in its third edition the Encyclopedia of Astrobiology serves as the key to a common understanding in the extremely interdisciplinary community of astrobiologists. Each new or experienced researcher and graduate student in adjacent fields of astrobiology will appreciate this reference work in the quest to understand the big picture. The carefully selected group of active researchers contributing to this work are aiming to give a comprehensive international perspective on and to accelerate the interdisciplinary advance of astrobiology.
The interdisciplinary field of astrobiology constitutes a joint arena where provocative discoveries are coalescing concerning, e.g. the prevalence of exoplanets, the diversity and hardiness of life, and its chances for emergence. Biologists, astrophysicists, (bio)-chemists, geoscientists and space scientists share this exciting mission of revealing the origin and commonality of life in the Universe. With its overview articles and its definitions the Encyclopedia of Astrobiology not only provides a common language and understanding for the members of the different disciplines but also serves for educating a new generation of young astrobiologists who are no longer separated by the jargon of individual scientific disciplines.
This new edition offers ~170 new entries. More than half of the existing entries were updated, expanded or supplemented with figures supporting the understanding of the text. Especially in the fields of astrochemistry and terrestrial extremophiles but also in exoplanets and space sciences in general there is a huge body of new results that have been taken into account in this new edition.Because the entries in the Encyclopedia are in alphabetical order without regard for scientific field, this edition includes a section ¿Astrobiology by Discipline¿ which lists the entries by scientific field and subfield. This should be particularly helpful to those enquiring about astrobiology, as it illustrates the broad and detailed nature of the field.
List of contents
Introduction.- Editors and affiliations.- Astrobiology by Discipline.- Entries A-Z.- Astrobiological Data and Chronological History of Life on Earth.
About the author
Editors-in-Chief:Muriel Gargaud, is the Vice-President of the European Astrobiology Institute and Chair of the International Astronomical Union Working Group on 'Education and Training in Astrobiology'. And she was the chair of the COST action "Origins of Life on Earth and in the Universe". She is an enthusiastic and experienced editor who has proven in various projects that she can manage a large number of editors and authors and deliver an excellent publication.
William Irvine was President of the Commission on Bioastronomy of the International Astronomical Union and Chair of the American Astronomical Society's Division of Planetary Sciences. His research activity is concentrated in two areas: the chemistry of dense interstellar clouds; and the physics and chemistry of comets. He collaborated with various NASA astrobiology working groups and is author of more than 200 scientific articles.
Editors:Ricardo Amils
Philippe Claeys
Henderson James (Jim) Cleaves II
Maryvonne Gerin
Daniel Rouan
Tilman Spohn
Stephane Tirard
Michel Viso
