Lectures in Astrobiology Volume II

Based on material delivered at several summer schools, this book is the first comprehensive textbook at the graduate level encompassing all aspects associated with the emerging field of astrobiology.

Volume II gathers another set of extensive lectures covering topics so diverse as the formation and the distribution of elements in the universe, the concept of habitability from both the planetologists' and the biologists' point of view and artificial life. The contributions are held together by the common goal to understand better the origin of life, its evolution and possible existence outside the Earth's realm.
The volume ends with 120 pages of a very useful appendix comprising "Some Astrophysical Reminders", "Useful Astrobiological Data" and "An Astrobiological Glossary".

Stellar Nucleosynthesis.- Formation of the Solar System: a Chronology Based on Meteorites.- The Formation of Crust and Mantle of the Rocky Planets and the Mineral Environment of the Origin of Life.- Water and Climates on Mars.- Planetary Atmospheres: From Solar System Planets to Exoplanets.- What About Exoplanets?.- Habitability: the Point of View of an Astronomer.- Habitability: the Point of View of a Biologist.- Impact Events and the Evolution of the Earth.- Towards a Global Earth Regulation.- The Last Common Ancestor of Modern Cells.- An Extreme Environment on Earth: Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vents. Lessons for Exploration of Mars and Europa.- Comets, Titan and Mars: Astrobiology and Space Projects.- Quantum Astrochemistry: Numerical Simulation as an Alternative to Experiments.- Artificial Life or Digital Dissection.