This book offers an advanced introduction to the increasingly robust fields of extrasolar planets and astrobiology. No other text currently available applies this level of mathematics and physics, while also providing an extensive grounding in key issues of chemistry, biology, and geophysics.

Autorentext

Caleb Scharf was born and educated in England. He received his B.Sc. in Physics from Durham University, and his PhD in Astronomy from the University of Cambridge. Following postdoctoral work in X-ray astronomy and observational cosmology at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and the Space Telescope Science Institute in Maryland, he has been a research scientist at Columbia University, New York. He is currently Director of the multidisciplinary Columbia Astrobiology Center. His research interests include the study of exoplanets, exomoons, and the nature of environments suitable for life.

Inhalt

Introduction, Background, and Preview.- Star Formation and Proto-Stellar Collapse.- Planet Formation.- Exoplanets.- Life: A Brief History and its Boundaries.- Planetary Radiation, Comparative Planetology, Biosignatures and Daisyworld.- Cosmochemistry, Dust and Prebiotic Molecules.- Comets, Meteorites and Proto-Planetary Disk Structure.- Habitable Zones.