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Preface
Introduction
How to Use This Textbook
1. Sizing Up the Cosmos
2. Energy and Light
3. Spectroscopy and Stars
4. Laws of Motion and Gravity
5. Introduction to Atoms and Elements
6. Basic Chemistry of Life
7. Key Biochemicals: Amino Acids, Nucleic Acids, and the Genetic Code
8. Alternative Biochemistries: Speculations about Strange Possibilities
9. Definition of Life
10. From Biochemistry to Biology
11. Emergence of Life on Earth
12. Development of Life on Earth
13. Extremophiles
14. Solar System Formation
15. Earth Characteristics
16. Searching for Life In Our Solar System
17. The Search for Life on Mars
18. The Jovian Moons
19. The Habitable Zone
20. Exoplanets: Early History & Direct Imaging and Doppler Detection Methods
21. Transit, Astrometry and Gravitational Microlensing Techniques
22. Exoplanets: Statistics and Modern Discoveries
23. The Challenges of Space Flight
24. The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI)
25. Biosignatures and Technosignatures
26. The Drake Equation and the Fermi Paradox
27. Speculations and Skepticism
Appendix A: Orders of Magnitude and a New Way to Count
Appendix B: Scientific Notation
Appendix C: Units of Measurement
Appendix D: Cosmic Distance Scales
Appendix E: Radiometric Dating
Optional Supplementary Chapter: History of Astrobiology
Optional Supplementary Chapter: Galaxies
Optional Supplementary Chapter: An Expanding Universe
Optional Supplementary Chapter: Mass extinctions and the Anthropocene
Optional Supplementary Chapter: Organic Chemistry
Index
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Astrobiology Copyright © by Debra Fischer; Allyson Sheffield; Joshua Tan; and Lily Ling Zhao is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.