Life As We Know It

by Seckbach, J.

• ISBN13: 9781402043949
• ISBN10: 1402043945
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-10-04
• Publisher: Springer Nature

Summary

Life As we Know It ["LAKI"] covers several aspects of Life, ranging from the prebiotic level, origin of life, evolution of prokaryotes to eukaryotes and finally to various affairs of human beings. Although it is hard to define Life, one can, however, characterize it and describe its features. Topics treated are categories of bacteria, algae and fungi, conscience, philosophy, theology, aesthetics, appearance of sport and life destiny, life after clinical death, and thoughts of the world to come ("Olam Haba"). The various chapters have been written so that they are accessible to all - from the avid lay reader to the specialist ' and make available multidisciplinary sources of information about Life. This volume will interest open minded scholars, students at all levels of general sciences, natural and Life science, researchers of philosophy, theology, history of Life, astrobiology, and those who wish to widen their knowledge about "who are we in the universe". The information presented here on the various phenomena of Life were all written by highly qualified authors including scientists, public leaders, a professional athelete and three Nobel Laureates.

Table of Contents

Preface	xiii
Christian de Duve
Foreword	xv
David J. Chapman
Brief Introduction	xvii
Joseph Seckbach
Acknowledgements	xix
Joseph Seckbach
List of Authors and their Addresses	xxi
PART 1: LIFE AS WE KNOW IT
Biodiversity and Extremophiles
The Extremophiles: Diversity of Life Environments	3	(18)
Seckbach, J.
Prokaryotic Life	21	(16)
Oren A.
The Algae--Diverse Life Forms and Global Importance	37	(16)
Chapman R.L.
Waters, D.A
Fungal Lives	53	(22)
Ross, I. K.
Life in Saline and Hypersaline Environments	75	(14)
Oren, A.
Thermophilic Communities as Autonomous Ecosystems	89	(18)
Bonch-Osmolovskaya, E.
Life in Ice	107	(18)
Gunde-Cimerman, N.
Life under Pressure: Deep-Sea Microbial Ecology	125	(22)
Tamburini, Ch.
PART 2: LIFE IN THE CONTEXT OF THE NEW SCIENCE OF ASTROBIOLOGY
The Origin of Life on Earth and in the Universe
Early Precursors of Life in the Solar Nebula	147	(16)
Llorca, J.
Is Life on Earth Accidental? Natural Selection and the Second Law of Thermodynamics	163	(16)
Schrader, M. E.
From the Minimal Genome to the Minimal Cell: Theoretical and Experimental Investigations	179	(20)
Stano, P.
The Evolution of Life on Earth and in the Universe
Numerical Analysis of Biocomplexity	199	(14)
Deamer, D.
Evans, J.
Hepatitis B Virus Conjectures on Human Interactions and Origin of Life	213	(24)
Blumberg, B.S.
The Record of Early Life: In Search of Biosignatures	237	(22)
Carnerup, A.M.
Ground Truth: The Epistemology of Searching for the Earliest Life on Earth	259	(28)
Rose, E.C.
Eukaryogenesis: The Origin of the Eukaryotes	287	(20)
Bell, P. J. L.
Symbiotic: Forms of Life	307	(18)
Lee, J. J.
Symbiosis: The Way of All Life	325	(16)
Saffo, M. B.
Can There be a Limit on the Complexity of Life?	341	(18)
Shah, K.T.
Evolution of Intelligence	359	(14)
Maccone, C.
The Distribution of Life in the Universe
Searching Other Worlds for Life as We Know It	373	(10)
McKay, Ch. P.
The Role of Comets and Meteorites in the Origin of Life	383	(16)
Trigo-Rodriguez, J. M.
Astronomical Constraints for Life on Terrestrial Planets	399	(14)
Ehrenfreund P.
Martin E. L.
Prerequisites for the Evolution of Life on Exoplanets	413	(18)
Lammer, H.
Life as an Unfolding Biocosmos	431	(14)
Svoboda, J.
We Have Not Detected Extraterrestrial Life, Or Have We?	445	(14)
Lineweaver, C. H.
The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence	459	(14)
Shostak, S.
Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence	473	(14)
Krupicka, J.
An Alternative Method for the Scientific Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligent Life: The ``Local SETI''	487	(18)
Teodorani, M.
The Destiny of Life in the Universe
Destinies of the Universe and Life: The Final Frontiers of Cosmology and Astrobiology	505	(14)
Chela-Flores, J.
Destiny of Life and Religious Attitudes	519	(20)
Coyne, G.V.
PART 3: DEEPER ISSUES OF THE PHENOMENON OF LIFE
Philosophical and Theological Aspects of Life
Life in the Universe: Philosophical and Theological Issues	539	(14)
Russell, R. J.
Consciousness	553	(12)
Aumann, R. J.
Afterlife in Moshe Maimondes's thought	565	(12)
Laras, R. G.
Science and Religion: Some Suggestions for Conceptual Harmonizing Constraints	577	(12)
Ne'eman, Y.
Understanding the Nature of Life: A Matter of Definition or Theory?	589	(12)
Cleland, C. E.
``And You Shall Choose Life''	601	(6)
Riskin, S.
When Form Outlasts Its Medium: A Definition of Life Integrating Platonism and Thermodynamics	607	(14)
Elitzur, A.C.
Epistemological Pluralism: Realities as Species-Specific Interpretations of the Material World	621	(20)
Shah, K.T.
Temperature Gradients as a Major Impetus: Driving Prebiotic Evolution	641	(14)
Matsuno, K.
Human Life as a Social Phenomenon
Life during Clinical Death: The ``Near Death Experience'' Phenomenon	655	(8)
Gadoth, N.
Beauty in Nature	663	(22)
Gunde-Cimerman, N.
Zalar, P.
All Things Bright and Beautiful: The Hidden Cosmos of Microscopic Planktonic Algae	685	(16)
Beakes, G. W.
Life and Sports: Musings of a Pro Athlete	701	(6)
Funderburke, L.
Artificial Life
Artificial Life: From Life-As-We-Know-It to Life-As It-Could Be	707	(12)
Sipper, M.
Life-Cycles of Life	719	(18)
Umiel, N.
PART 4: SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
What Do We Call Life? A Brief Outlook on Life	737	(8)
Seckbach, J.
Raulin, F.
Oren, A.
Kolb, V.
Chela-Flores, J.
Organism Index	745	(4)
Subject Index	749	(14)
Author Index	763