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Alone in the Universe Why Our Planet Is Unique

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ISBN-10: 1118147979

ISBN-13: 9781118147979

Edition: 2011

Authors: John Gribbin

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Description:

The acclaimed author of In Search of Schrödinger′s Cat searches for life on other planetsAre 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…    
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Book details

Copyright year: 2011
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated
Publication date: 12/21/2011
Binding: Hardcover
Pages: 240
Size: 6.68" wide x 9.36" long x 0.98" tall
Weight: 0.946
Language: English

John R. Gribbin (born 19 March 1946) is a British science writer, an astrophysicist, and a visiting fellow in astronomy at the University of Sussex. The topical range of his prolific writings include quantum physics, human evolution, climate change, global warming, the origins of the universe, and biographies of famous scientists. He also writes science fiction. In 1984, Gribbin published In Search of Schr�dinger's Cat: Quantum Physics and Reality, the book that he is best known for, which continues to sell well even after years of publication. At the 2009 World Conference of Science Journalists, the Association of British Science Writers presented Gribbin with their Lifetime Achievement…    

Acknowledgements
Preface: The Only Intelligent Planet
Introduction: One in a Trillion
Across the Milky Way; Hot jupiters; Planets in profusion; Dusty beginnings; Cosmic chemistry; The life of Gaia; Searching for other Gaias
Two Paradoxes and an Equation
The cosmic lottery and the Drake equation; The inspection paradox and the Copernican principle; Panspermia and the Fermi paradox; Probing for an answer
What's So Special about Our Place in the Milky Way?
Making galaxies; Making metals; Mixing metals in the Milky Way; Our place in the Milky Way; The Galactic Habitable Zone; Catastrophic comets
What's So Special about the Sun?
The narrow zone of life; The Sun is not an average star; Perturbing partners; Blasts from the past; The mystery of solar metallicity; Until the Sun dies; Postponing Doomsday
What's So Special about the Solar System?
Too hot to handle; The geography of the Solar System; Making planets; Making the Solar System; Making the Earth; The special one
What's So Special about the Earth?
Like a diamond in the sky; A planetary jigsaw puzzle; Creating continents; A field of force; Venus and Mars; A planetary stabilizer; Plate tectonics and life
What's So Special about the Cambrian Explosion?
Contingency and Convergence
The Cambrian explosion; The Burgess Shale; Contingency; Convergence; The third way
What's So Special about the Cambrian Explosion?
Hothouse Venus/Snowball Earth
After the deep freeze; Tipping the balance; From without or within?; The archetypal impact; Cosmic clouds and comet dust; Diamond dust and a facelift for a goddess
What's So Special about Us?
Chance, necessity and the decimal system; The molecular clock; The trigger for change; The pacemaker of human evolution; The fate of technological civilization; The fate of the Earth; No second chance
Further Reading
Index