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Book Reviews


Here are a selection of books members of the Astrobiology Society of Britain have reviewed. They can all be found though the major online retailers or your favourite bookshops. But should you need additional details, do not hesitate to contact the reviews editor, Lewis Dartnell ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ).

Please also contact the reviews editor if you are a publisher wishing to seek a review on the ASB website, or if you would like to write a review of a book for us.

Please note that these reviews do not consist an endorsement from the Society of any of these books and solely represent the expression of the opinion of the reviewer.

Quick list of all books reviewed:

  1. Astrobiology - A Brief Introduction
  2. Astrobiology of the Earth: The emergence, evolution and future of life on a planet
  3. Astrochemistry: from Astronomy to Astrobiology
  4. Atom
  5. Comets and the Origin of Life
  6. Complete Course in Astrobiology
  7. The Crowded Universe: The Search for Living Planets
  8. Death by Black Hole
  9. Different Engines: How Science Drives Fiction and Fiction Drives Science
  10. Early Life on Earth (A Practical Guide)
  11. The Earth After Us: What legacy will humans leave in the rocks?
  12. The Earth - A Very Short Introduction
  13. Echoes of Life: What Fossil Molecules Reveal about Earth History
  14. The Eerie Silence: Are We Alone in the Universe?
  15. The Emerald Planet
  16. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology
  17. Exploring the Origin, Extent, and Future of Life
  18. Extrasolar Planets and Astrobiology
  19. Fitness of the Cosmos for Life
  20. Formation and Evolution of Exoplanets
  21. From Dying Stars to the Birth of Life
  22. FutureWorld: Where Science Fiction Becomes Science
  23. Geobiology: Microbial Mats in Sandy Deposits from the Archean Era to Today
  24. Global Catastrophes: A Very Short Introduction
  25. The Goldilocks Enigma
  26. Habitability and Cosmic Catastrophes
  27. Heaven's Touch
  28. The History of Life - A Very Short Introduction
  29. The Human Experiment
  30. Humans in Space – Interdisciplinary Odysseys
  31. Life Ascending: The Ten Great Inventions of Evolution
  32. Life in Ancient Ice
  33. Life in Space: Astrobiology for Everyone
  34. Life in the Universe: A Beginner's Guide
  35. Life in the Universe: Expectations and Constraints
  36. Life on a Young Planet: The First Three Billion Years of Evolution on Earth
  37. The Living Cosmos
  38. The Martian Surface: Composition, Mineralogy, and Physical Properties
  39. The Medea Hypothesis
  40. My Life on Mars
  41. Oxford Dictionary of Earth Sciences
  42. Oxford Handbook of Interdisciplinarity
  43. Planets and Life: The Emerging Science of Astrobiology
  44. Planets in Binary Star Systems
  45. The Role of Radiation in the Origin and Evolution of Life
  46. Roving Mars - Spirit, Opportunity and the Exploration of the Red Planet
  47. The Science of Doctor Who
  48. Science, Society, and the Search for Life in the Universe
  49. The Scientific Exploration of Mars
  50. The Search for Life Continued: Planets around other Stars
  51. Talking about Life: Conversations on Astrobiology
  52. Titan from Cassini-Huygens
  53. Unmasking Europa: The Search for Life on Jupiter's Ocean Moon
  54. We are not Alone: Why We Have Already Found Extraterrestrial Life
  55. Why Aren't They Here?

 

The following book series produced by academic publishers will also be of interest to astrobiologists:

  1. Advances in Astrobiology and Biogeophysics (Springer)
  2. Astrobiology (Cambridge University Press)

 

 

Science, Society, and the Search for Life in the Universe

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Title Science, Society, and the Search for Life in the Universe
Author: B. Jakosky
Reviewed by: Claire Cousins

 

 

 

 

 

This book explores the relationship between science and society, using the field of Astrobiology as an example. Jakosky’s goal, as he states in his preface, is to investigate the philosophical and societal issues in astrobiology. This focuses in particular on encouraging the specialists in science and the humanities to communicate more effectively with each other, with the idea that both sides will benefit greatly from doing so.

Last Updated (Sunday, 18 October 2009 20:34)

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Why Aren't They Here?

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 Title:Why Aren't They Here?
 Author: Surendra Verma
 Reviewed by:Euan Monaghan
  
  

Are we alone in the universe? What would happen after we discover microbial life on another planet? What if extra-terrestrials are already here? Questions don’t get much bigger than the ones that are discussed in this new book by journalist and science writer Surendra Verma.

Last Updated (Saturday, 01 December 2007 00:09)

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The Human Experiment

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 Title:The Human Experiment: Two Years and Twenty Minutes Inside Biosphere 2
 Author: Jane Poynter
 Reviewed by:Lewis Dartnell
  
  
On September 26th 1991 six explorers stepped through an airlock and begun an adventure that would last over two years, and along the way subject them to severe psychological torment and starvation of both food and oxygen. The project was the operation of the first man-made biosphere, Biosphere 2, and involved an entire ecosystem being designed, constructed and hermetically sealed-off from the rest of the world; an experiment into the feasibility of using life itself as the life-support system to keep humans alive in space. The Human Experiment tells the incredible tale of what came to be known as 'Spaceship Earth' or 'Garden of Eden', written by Jane Poynter who saw it all from the inside.

Last Updated (Monday, 03 September 2007 13:32)

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The Science of Doctor Who

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 Title:The Science of Doctor Who
 Author: Paul Parsons
 Reviewed by:Michael McCabe
  
  

One of the fascinations of Dr Who is that it is not entirely science fiction. Another Doctor, Paul Parsons, has written this wonderfully entertaining book, “The Science of Doctor Who”, in an attempt to bridge the gap between the science and the fiction. He wrote the book “to entertain, to boost enjoyment of the show and to answer the questions … of intelligent fans”. He adds: “If I did manage to educate anyone along the way, then I sincerely apologise". He might well need to do some apologising!

Last Updated (Tuesday, 08 January 2008 13:06)

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Life in the Universe: A Beginner's Guide

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 Title:Life in the Universe: A Beginner's Guide
 Author: Lewis Dartnell
 Reviewed by:Mark Burchell
  
  

Astrobiology, the study of life and its existence in the universe, is now one of the hottest areas of scientific research, fusing together biology, chemistry, astrophysics, and geology. In this masterful introduction, Lewis Dartnell tours its latest findings, and explores some of the most fascinating questions in science.

Last Updated (Monday, 03 September 2007 13:31)

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