Rare earth
why complex life is uncommon in the universe
by Peter Douglas Ward
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"With a new preface and updated throughout, this first paperback edition of Ward and Brownlee's ground-breaking and controversial Rare Earth marshals data from geology, astronomy, and biology to put forth a radical hypothesis: While primitive organisms such as microbes are very likely abundant across the galaxies, advanced life, depending as it does on a myriad of special circumstances, is altogether another story. In a thought-provoking departure from the widely held view that there must be countless civilizations of intelligent beings out there, Ward and Brownlee suggest that multicellular life-forms, let alone life-forms with whom we'd be able to communicate, must be exceedingly rare."--BOOK JACKET.
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Previews available in: English
| Edition | Availability |
|---|---|
1
Rare earth: why complex life is uncommon in the universe
2003, Copernicus
in English
0387952896 9780387952895
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2
Rare earth: why complex life is uncommon in the universe
2000, Copernicus
in English
0387987010 9780387987019
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Book Details
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Includes bibliographical references and index.
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"While it is widely believed that complex life is common, even widespread, throughout the billions of stars and galaxies of our Universe, astrobiologists Peter D. Ward and Donald Brownlee argue that advanced life may, in fact, be very rare, perhaps even unique.".
"Ward and Brownlee question underlying assumptions and take us on a search for life that reaches from the volcanic hot springs deep on our ocean floors to the frosty face of Europa, Jupiter's icy moon.
In the process, we learn that, while microbial life may well be more prevalent throughout the Universe than previously believed, the conditions necessary for the evolution and survival of higher life - and here the authors consider everything from DNA to plate tectonics to the role of our Moon - are so complex and precarious that they are unlikely to arise in many other places, if at all."--BOOK JACKET.
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| July 20, 2024 | Edited by MARC Bot | import existing book |
| December 19, 2023 | Edited by ImportBot | import existing book |
| December 8, 2022 | Edited by MARC Bot | import existing book |
| October 4, 2017 | Edited by MARC Bot | adding to Long Now Manual for Civilization |
| December 9, 2009 | Created by WorkBot | add works page |