Second Edition
CHARLES S. COCKELL
School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, UK
This edition first published 2020
© 2020 John Wiley and Sons Ltd
Edition History
John Wiley & Sons Ltd (1e, 2015)
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by law. Advice on how to obtain permission to reuse material from this title is available at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.
The right of Charles S. Cockell to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with law.
Registered Offices
John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, USA
John Wiley & Sons Ltd, The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, UK
Editorial Office
9600 Garsington Road, Oxford, OX4 2DQ, UK
For details of our global editorial offices, customer services, and more information about Wiley products visit us at www.wiley.com.
Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats and by print-on-demand. Some content that appears in standard print versions of this book may not be available in other formats.
Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty
While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this work, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives, written sales materials or promotional statements for this work. The fact that an organization, website, or product is referred to in this work as a citation and/or potential source of further information does not mean that the publisher and authors endorse the information or services the organization, website, or product may provide or recommendations it may make. This work is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering professional services. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a specialist where appropriate. Further, readers should be aware that websites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read. Neither the publisher nor authors shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Cockell, Charles, author.
Title: Astrobiology : understanding life in the universe / Charles S. Cockell, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, UK.
Description: 2nd edition. | Hoboken : Wiley-Blackwell, 2020. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019051498 (print) | LCCN 2019051499 (ebook) | ISBN 9781119550358 (paperback) | ISBN 9781119550303 (adobe pdf) | ISBN 9781119550396 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Exobiology–Textbooks. | LCGFT: Textbooks.
Classification: LCC QH326 .C63 2020 (print) | LCC QH326 (ebook) | DDC 576.8/39–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019051498
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019051499
Cover Design: Wiley
Cover Image: © JPL/Space Science Institute/NASA
Acknowledgments
This textbook has been enormous fun to write and a pleasure to update. It could not have been done without help from many people. I am grateful to colleagues for reading chapters and providing general and specific feedback on their content, readability, and style. I am particularly grateful to those whom I acknowledged in the first edition of the textbook, the edition from which this version has been built. I would also like to acknowledge the thoughtful and very helpful review comments of Ania Losiak, Rosa Santomartino, Annemiek Waajen, Stewart Gault, Rosie Cane, Peter Higgins, and Kate Haigh.
I would like to give special thanks to all the undergraduate students of the Astrobiology course at the University of Edinburgh (PHYS08051) that I have taught since 2013. It is their views, perspectives, and insights that led to the structure of this textbook when it was first written, and that have improved the content and structure in this second edition. Some subjects seem important, but turn out to be less useful as a way to teach concepts when exposed to the enquiring eyes of undergraduates. Other information seems tangential, but something about it makes it useful to get across certain ideas and knowledge. So I am immensely grateful to all the undergraduates who have patiently sat in lectures year after year and have honed my knowledge of what works and what doesn't. I would like to thank the University of Edinburgh and the School of Physics and Astronomy for the opportunity to teach astrobiology.
Further refinements in the content and level of the book have been made based on the feedback and opinions of over 150 000 students who have taken part in our “Astrobiology and the Search for Extraterrestrial Life” Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) since it was offered online in 2012. I have not had direct face-to-face teaching contact with them, but in the online forums, their views on the teaching material have been valuable.
I hope that other students interested in astrobiology, and indeed anyone else interested in the subject, can gain the vicarious benefit of the collected experience of these students through this textbook.
Some of the images in the book were kindly provided by friends and colleagues, including Steve Benner, Hailiang Dong, Ralf Kaiser, Jonathan Clarke, and Victor Tejfel. I would like to thank the journal Astrobiology for permission to reproduce images.
Any errors in the textbook are entirely my responsibility. If you see any, or disagree with any statements, please do get in contact.
I would very much like to thank the team at Wiley-Blackwell, particularly Sonali Melwani, for seeing this book through into the second edition. It has been a pleasure to work with Wiley-Blackwell.
Charles S. Cockell
About the Companion Website
This book is accompanied by a companion website:
www.wiley.com/go/cockell/astrobiology
