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Alone in the Universe: Why Our Planet Is Unique |
 | Titolo | Alone in the Universe: Why Our Planet Is Unique |
| Autore | Gribbin, John |
Prezzo
Sconto 20% |
€ 17,14
(Prezzo € 21,42 Risparmio € 4,28)
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| Categoria | Science: Astronomy | | Rilegatura | Hardcover | | Dati | 219 p. | | Anno | 2011 |
| Editore | Wiley (TP) |
| | Normalmente disponibile per la spedizione entro 5 giorni lavorativi
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The acclaimed author of "In Search of Schrodinger's Cat" searches for life on other planets.
Are we alone in the universe? Surely amidst the immensity of the cosmos there must be other intelligent life out there. Don't be so sure, says John Gribbin, one of today's best popular science writers. In this fascinating and intriguing new book, Gribbin argues that the very existence of intelligent life anywhere in the cosmos is, from an astrophysicist's point of view, a miracle. So why is there life on Earth and (seemingly) nowhere else? What happened to make this planet special? Taking us back some 600 million years, Gribbin lets you experience the series of unique cosmic events that were responsible for our unique form of life within the Milky Way Galaxy.Written by one of our foremost popular science writers, author of the bestselling "In Search of Schrodinger's Cat" Offers a bold answer to the eternal question, "Are we alone in the universe?"Explores how the impact of a "supercomet" with Venus 600 million years ago created our moon, and along with it, the perfect conditions for life on Earth.
From one of our most talented science writers, this book is a daring, fascinating exploration into the dawning of the universe, cosmic collisions and their consequences, and the uniqueness of life on Earth.
| Indice e argomenti trattati |
| Acknowledgements | | xi | | | Preface: The Only Intelligent Planet | | xiii | | | Introduction: One in a Trillion | | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Searching for other Gaias |
| | | 1 Two Paradoxes and an Equation |
| | 26 | | | The cosmic lottery and the Drake equation |
| | | The inspection paradox and the Copernican principle |
| | | Panspermia and the Fermi paradox |
| | | | | 2 What's So Special about Our Place in the Milky Way? |
| | 55 | | | | | | | Mixing metals in the Milky Way |
| | | Our place in the Milky Way |
| | | The Galactic Habitable Zone |
| | | | | 3 What's So Special about the Sun? |
| | 80 | | | | | The Sun is not an average star |
| | | | | | | The mystery of solar metallicity |
| | | | | | | 4 What's So Special about the Solar System? |
| | 100 | | | | | The geography of the Solar System |
| | | | | | | | | | | 5 What's So Special about the Earth? |
| | 126 | | | Like a diamond in the sky |
| | | A planetary jigsaw puzzle |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | 6 What's So Special about the Cambrian Explosion? |
| | 151 | | | I Contingency and Convergence |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | 7 What's So Special about the Cambrian Explosion? |
| | 167 | | | II Hothouse Venus/Snowball Earth |
| | | | | | | | | | | Cosmic clouds and comet dust |
| | | Diamond dust and a facelift for a goddess |
| | | 8 What's So Special about Us? |
| | 184 | | | Chance, necessity and the decimal system |
| | | | | | | The pacemaker of human evolution |
| | | The fate of technological civilization |
| | | | | | | Further Reading | | 206 | | | Index | | 211 | |
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| I più venduti di John Gribbin |
| I più venduti: Science - Astronomy |
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