Lucky planet
Subtitle: why Earth is exceptional - and what that means for life in the universe
By: David Waltham
Publisher: Icon Books
Published: 2014
Place of publication: London
Language: eng
Number of pages: 225
ISBN-13: 9781848316560; 9781848316881
Subjects: Bioclimatology; Origin; Life; Popular science; Life on other planets
Description: Science tells us that life elsewhere in the Universe is increasingly likely to be discovered. But in fact the Earth may be a very unusual planet - perhaps the only one like it in the entire visible Universe. In Lucky Planet David Waltham asks why, and comes up with some surprising and unconventional answers. Recent geological, biological, and astronomical discoveries are bringing us closer to understanding whether we might be alone in the Universe, and this book uses these to question the conventional wisdom and suggest, instead, that the Earth may have had 'four billion years of good weather' purely by chance.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Ch. 1. Almost Too Good to Be True; title: ch. 2. Mediocrity; title: ch. 3. Rarely Earth; title: ch. 4. Constant Change; title: ch. 5. Air Conditioning; title: ch. 6. Snowballs and Greenhouses; title: ch. 7. Staggering Through Time; title: ch. 8. Music of the Spheres; title: ch. 9. Force of Nature; title: ch. 10. Pond Weeds and Daisies; title: ch. 11. Life's Big Bang; title: ch. 12. Eclipse; title: ch. 13. The Dark Side of the Moon; title: ch. 14. Gaia or Goldilocks?