Comets and the Origin and Evolution of Life (Advances in Astrobiology and Biogeophysics)

Nine years after the publication of Comets and the Origin and Evolution of Life, one of the pioneering books in Astrobiology, this second edition revisits the role comets may have played in the origins and evolution of life. Recent analyses of Antarctic micrometeorites and ancient rocks in Australia and South Africa, the continuing progress in discovering complex organic macromolecules in comets, protostars and interstellar clouds, new insights into organic synthesis in comets, and numerical simulations of comet impacts on the Earth and other members of the solar system yield a spectacular wealth of new results. This second edition is thus actually a new book. As the first edition it is intended as a comprehensive review of current research, accessible to graduate students and others new to the field. Each chapter was prepared by experts to give an overview of an aspect of the field, and carefully revised by the editors for uniformity in style and presentation.

Nine years after the publication of Comets and the Origin and Evolution of Life, one of the pioneering books in Astrobiology, this second edition revisits the role comets may have played in the origins and evolution of life. Recent analyses of Antarctic micrometeorites and ancient rocks in Australia and South Africa, the continuing progress in discovering complex organic macromolecules in comets, protostars and interstellar clouds, new insights into organic synthesis in comets, and numerical simulations of comet impacts on the Earth and other members of the solar system yield a spectacular wealth of new results.

This second edition is thus actually a new book. As the first edition it is intended as a comprehensive review of current research, accessible to graduate students and others new to the field. Each chapter was prepared by experts to give an overview of an aspect of the field, and carefully revised by the editors for uniformity in style and presentation.

front-matter......Page 1 1Comets and the Origin and Evolution of Life......Page 17 2The Origin of the Atmosphere and of the Oceans......Page 45 3Cometary Micrometeorites in Planetology, Exobiology, and Early Climatology......Page 85 4Macromolecules From Star-Forming Regions to Comets to the Origins of Life......Page 128 5Impact Delivery of Prebiotic Organic Matter to Planetary Surfaces......Page 152 6Comets and Prebiotic Organic Molecules on Early Earth......Page 184 7Impacts and the Early Evolution of Life......Page 222 8Extraterrestrial Impact Episodes and Archaean to Early Proterozoic (3.8–2.4 Ga) Habitats of Life......Page 267 9The Contemporary Hazard of Comet Impacts......Page 298 10The Conditions for Liquid Water in Cometary Nuclei......Page 316 11Spacecraft Missions to Comets......Page 328 12Interstellar and Cometary Dust in Relation to the Origin of Life......Page 337 back-matter......Page 352 This volume considers the role comets may have played in the origins and evolution of life, particularly in light of recent investigations of Halley's comet, of new insights into organic synthesis in meteorites and comets, and of new results of numerical simulations of cometary orbits and impacts on Earth. The book is intended as a comprehensive review of current research, accessible to graduate students and others new to the field. Each chapter was prepared by an expert to give an overview of an aspect of the field, and carefully revised by the editors for uniformity in style and presentation. This volume considers the role comets may have played in the origins and evolution of life. This is the only book dealing in depth with this subject. It is particularly relevant in light of recent investigations of Halley's comet, of new insights into organic synthesis in meteorites and comets, and of new results of numerical simulations of cometary orbits and impacts on Earth. The book is intended as a comprehensive review of current research. Revisits the role comets may have played in the origins and evolution of life. This work is intended as a comprehensive review of research. Each chapter gives an overview of an aspect of the field