The Stardust Revolution

The Stardust Revolution PDF Author: Jacob Berkowitz
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1633888622
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 385

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Book Description
In 1957, as Americans obsessed over the launch of the Soviet Sputnik satellite, another less noticed space-based scientific revolution was taking off. That year, astrophysicists solved a centuries-old quest for the origins of the elements, from carbon to uranium. The answer they found wasn’t on Earth, but in the stars. Their research showed that we are literally stardust. The year also marked the first conference that considered the origin of life on Earth in an astrophysical context. It was the marriage of two of the seemingly strangest bedfellows—astronomy and biology—and a turning point that award-winning science author Jacob Berkowitz calls the Stardust Revolution. In this captivating story of an exciting, deeply personal, new scientific revolution, Berkowitz weaves together the latest research results to reveal a dramatically different view of the twinkling night sky—not as an alien frontier, but as our cosmic birthplace. Reporting from the frontlines of discovery, Berkowitz uniquely captures how stardust scientists are probing the universe’s physical structure, but rather its biological nature. Evolutionary theory is entering the space age. From the amazing discovery of cosmic clouds of life’s chemical building blocks to the dramatic quest for an alien Earth, Berkowitz expertly chronicles the most profound scientific search of our era: to know not just if we are alone, but how we are connected. Like opening a long-hidden box of old family letters and diaries, The Stardust Revolution offers us a new view of where we’ve come from and brings to light our journey from stardust to thinking beings.

The Stardust Revolution

The Stardust Revolution PDF Author: Jacob Berkowitz
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1633888622
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 385

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Book Description
In 1957, as Americans obsessed over the launch of the Soviet Sputnik satellite, another less noticed space-based scientific revolution was taking off. That year, astrophysicists solved a centuries-old quest for the origins of the elements, from carbon to uranium. The answer they found wasn’t on Earth, but in the stars. Their research showed that we are literally stardust. The year also marked the first conference that considered the origin of life on Earth in an astrophysical context. It was the marriage of two of the seemingly strangest bedfellows—astronomy and biology—and a turning point that award-winning science author Jacob Berkowitz calls the Stardust Revolution. In this captivating story of an exciting, deeply personal, new scientific revolution, Berkowitz weaves together the latest research results to reveal a dramatically different view of the twinkling night sky—not as an alien frontier, but as our cosmic birthplace. Reporting from the frontlines of discovery, Berkowitz uniquely captures how stardust scientists are probing the universe’s physical structure, but rather its biological nature. Evolutionary theory is entering the space age. From the amazing discovery of cosmic clouds of life’s chemical building blocks to the dramatic quest for an alien Earth, Berkowitz expertly chronicles the most profound scientific search of our era: to know not just if we are alone, but how we are connected. Like opening a long-hidden box of old family letters and diaries, The Stardust Revolution offers us a new view of where we’ve come from and brings to light our journey from stardust to thinking beings.

Apocalyptic Good News

Apocalyptic Good News PDF Author: R. Dean Drayton
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1532690266
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 306

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Book Description
Remarkable studies in the New Testament have recovered the fact that the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, was apocalyptic good news—God’s redemptive action within history. Today, for more and more people, the sheer scope of an evolutionary universe renders life on Earth as utterly insignificant, religion as nothing more than superstition. And now, in the Anthropocene, we on the pale blue dot live in an apocalyptic age in which cataclysmic issue after cataclysmic issue threaten the future of the planet. The faith of the early church was in an apocalyptic cosmic Christ unleashing within history God’s good news of a new creation. Set within the world as we now know it, this gives meaning to the cosmos and life wherever it is found around any star. Screened from view for over a millennium during mission to non-apocalyptic cultures, now is the time for a new paradigm for church, the “apocalyptic church” for an apocalyptic age to replace the denominational church. What a difference this makes to faith, worship, and the role of the church in an apocalyptic future.

Terrestrial and Extraterrestrial Space Dangers: Outer Space Perils, Rocket Risks and the Health Consequences of the Space Environment

Terrestrial and Extraterrestrial Space Dangers: Outer Space Perils, Rocket Risks and the Health Consequences of the Space Environment PDF Author: Dirk C. Gibson
Publisher: Bentham Science Publishers
ISBN: 160805991X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 354

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Book Description
Natural elements and cosmic phenomena in space, such as asteroids, comets, meteors, black holes and super bubbles pose a threat to the planet Earth and spacefarers in the near-Earth environment. Terrestrial and Extraterrestrial Space Dangers describes these dangers in the near-Earth outer space environment. The uniquely risky nature of rocket transportation is documented and quantified. The human health consequences for vision, muscles, and the neurovestibular system, for instance, on exposure to an outer space environment, are also explained in this book. Readers will benefit from the extensive information offered within this text which is also accompanied with a bibliography of references. This book offers a comprehensive primer for anyone interested in space travel and associated risk assessment.

The Formation of Our Universe

The Formation of Our Universe PDF Author: James L. Shannon PhD
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
ISBN: 1664191445
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 135

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Book Description
Was matter necessary for a “Big Bang” to occur? What scientific evidence is there that our universe was really formed by a “Big Bang”? Are “The Laws of Physcs” responsible for the formation of our Universe? Can Mathematics verify the formation of our universe” What is the scientific method? Why is it important? Why must it be used? What is a scientific theory? How must a scientific theory be obtained? Is life on EArth here because of “Panspermia”? Was our universe created by God? Are science and religion compatible? Is life on Earth made up of “Stardust”?

Encyclopedia of Astrobiology

Encyclopedia of Astrobiology PDF Author: Muriel Gargaud
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3662650932
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 3376

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Book Description
Now in its third edition the Encyclopedia of Astrobiology serves as the key to a common understanding in the extremely interdisciplinary community of astrobiologists. Each new or experienced researcher and graduate student in adjacent fields of astrobiology will appreciate this reference work in the quest to understand the big picture. The carefully selected group of active researchers contributing to this work are aiming to give a comprehensive international perspective on and to accelerate the interdisciplinary advance of astrobiology. The interdisciplinary field of astrobiology constitutes a joint arena where provocative discoveries are coalescing concerning, e.g. the prevalence of exoplanets, the diversity and hardiness of life, and its chances for emergence. Biologists, astrophysicists, (bio)-chemists, geoscientists and space scientists share this exciting mission of revealing the origin and commonality of life in the Universe. With its overview articles and its definitions the Encyclopedia of Astrobiology not only provides a common language and understanding for the members of the different disciplines but also serves for educating a new generation of young astrobiologists who are no longer separated by the jargon of individual scientific disciplines. This new edition offers ~170 new entries. More than half of the existing entries were updated, expanded or supplemented with figures supporting the understanding of the text. Especially in the fields of astrochemistry and terrestrial extremophiles but also in exoplanets and space sciences in general there is a huge body of new results that have been taken into account in this new edition. Because the entries in the Encyclopedia are in alphabetical order without regard for scientific field, this edition includes a section “Astrobiology by Discipline” which lists the entries by scientific field and subfield. This should be particularly helpful to those enquiring about astrobiology, as it illustrates the broad and detailed nature of the field.

Prebiotic Photochemistry

Prebiotic Photochemistry PDF Author: Franz Saija
Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry
ISBN: 1839164360
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 260

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Book Description
Photochemistry is an important facet in the study of the origin of life and prebiotic chemistry. Solar photons are the unique source of the large amounts of energy likely required to initiate the organisation of matter to produce biological life. The Miller–Urey experiment simulated the conditions thought to be present on the early earth and supported the hypothesis that under such conditions complex organic compounds could be synthesised from simpler inorganic precursors. The experiment inspired many others, including the production of various alcohols, aldehydes and organic acids through UV-photolysis of water vapour with carbon monoxide. This book covers the photochemical aspects of the study of prebiotic and origin of life chemistry an ideal companion for postgraduates and researchers in prebiotic chemistry, photochemistry, photobiology, chemical biology and astrochemistry.

The Restless Clock

The Restless Clock PDF Author: Jessica Riskin
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022630308X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 571

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Book Description
A “wide-ranging, witty, and astonishingly learned” scientific and cultural history of the concept of the capacity to act in nature (London Review of Books). Today, a scientific explanation is not meant to ascribe agency to natural phenomena: we would not say a rock falls because it seeks the center of the earth. Even for living things, in the natural sciences and often in the social sciences, the same is true. A modern botanist would not say that plants pursue sunlight. This has not always been the case, nor, perhaps, was it inevitable. Since the seventeenth century, many thinkers have made agency, in various forms, central to science. The Restless Clock examines the history of this principle, banning agency, in the life sciences. It also tells the story of dissenters embracing the opposite idea: that agency is essential to nature. The story begins with the automata of early modern Europe, as models for the new science of living things, and traces questions of science and agency through Descartes, Leibniz, Lamarck, and Darwin, among many others. Mechanist science, Jessica Riskin shows, had an associated theology: the argument from design, which found evidence for a designer in the mechanisms of nature. Rejecting such appeals to a supernatural God, the dissenters sought to naturalize agency rather than outsourcing it to a “divine engineer.” Their model cast living things not as passive but as active, self-making machines. The conflict between passive- and active-mechanist approaches maintains a subterranean life in current science, shaping debates in fields such as evolutionary biology, cognitive science, and artificial intelligence. This history promises not only to inform such debates, but also our sense of the possibilities for what it means to engage in science—and even what it means to be alive. Praise for The Restless Clock “A wonderful contribution—and much needed corrective—to the history of European ideas about life and matter.” —Evelyn Fox Keller, author of The Mirage of a Space between Nature and Nurture “Engrossing and illuminating.” —Nature “A sweeping survey of the search for answers to the mystery of life. Riskin writes with clarity and wit, and the breadth of her scholarship is breathtaking.” —Times Higher Education (UK)

Astrobiology, Discovery, and Societal Impact

Astrobiology, Discovery, and Societal Impact PDF Author: Steven J. Dick
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 110842676X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 395

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Book Description
Examines humanistic aspects of astrobiology, exploring approaches, critical issues, and implications of the discovery of extraterrestrial life.

Why Does Government Need to be Funded?

Why Does Government Need to be Funded? PDF Author: Amphidromus
Publisher: Outskirts Press
ISBN: 1478770384
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 158

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Book Description
What we presently imagine is not all that can be imagined. This little book provides deep-search introspection of our most basic organizing principles. Its avant-garde, staggeringly powerful, yet simple core idea, based around properly understanding the concept of money—what it is ontologically, not merely what it does—will provide what was heretofore unimaginable: a solution to what divides us so. Individual liberty and social justice will be unfettered, free at last to simultaneously flourish. Its hope is to be the new American shot heard ‘round the world.

Philosophical Perspectives on the Engineering Approach in Biology

Philosophical Perspectives on the Engineering Approach in Biology PDF Author: Sune Holm
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351212222
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 313

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Book Description
Philosophical Perspectives on the Engineering Approach in Biology provides a philosophical examination of what has been called the most powerful metaphor in biology: The machine metaphor. The chapters collected in this volume discuss the idea that living systems can be understood through the lens of engineering methods and machine metaphors from both historical, theoretical, and practical perspectives. In their contributions the authors examine questions about scientific explanation and methodology, the interrelationship between science and engineering, and the impact that the use of engineering metaphors in science may have for bioethics and science communication, such as the worry that its wide application reinforces public misconceptions of the nature of new biotechnology and biological life. The book also contains an introduction that describes the rise of the machine analogy and the many ways in which it plays a central role in fundamental debates about e.g. design, adaptation, and reductionism in the philosophy of biology. The book will be useful as a core reading for professionals as well as graduate and undergraduate students in courses of philosophy of science and for life scientists taking courses in philosophy of science and bioethics.