The evolution of life on Earth during the last four billion
years has not been uniform. Several distinct periods of mass
extinction are known, the last led to the extinction of the
dinosaurs some 60 million years ago. The causes for these mass
extinctions are, at least in some cases, cosmic catastrophes, such
as impacts of asteroid sized bodies, nearby supernova explosions
etc. It is also well known that the last ice ages are triggered by
variations of different parameters of the Earth'r orbit about the
Sun. Cosmic catastrophes therefore have to be considered when
evolution of life on planets are discussed, especially the question
of habitability on them.
In this book we first discuss habitability not only on planets (in
the solar system as well in extrasolar planetary systems) but also
on satellites of giant planets. Life needs some energy source which
is provided either by the central star of a planetary system or by
tidal forces exerted by a giant planet on a large satellite of it.
On Earth it took about four billion years for intelligent life to
evolve. Such a long time span (which is about 1/3 of the total age
of the universe) requires rather stable conditions. We therefore
investigate in detail how cosmic catastrophes may destroy life, and
at the same time lead to the evolution of new species. Catastrophes
therefore seem to be essential for evolution to higher
lifeforms.
With the recent advances of biology, the detection of extrasolar
planetary systems, the great advancement of our knowledge about the
chemical and physical processes that enable life, these questions
can be answered in much more detail than several years ago. The
reader is provided with an introduction into the various topics and
for further details recent literature is cited. It will be also
stressed that the evolution of life on Earth is not only connected
with the existence of a stable long-lived star, the Sun, but also
depends on conditions and distribution of mass in the planetary
system (the existence of giant planets at a certain distance from
the Sun), the existence of the Moon (which stabilizes the Earth's
rotational axis), the location of the solar system in the galaxy
and other factors. Primitive forms of life, however, may require
less stringent environmental conditions as the detection of
extremophiles has proven.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!