Abstract
This concluding chapter is divided into two main parts. The first part is a summary of the main facts and events which constitute the present body of knowledge of the chronology of life in the solar system, in the form of “highlights” in astronomy, geology, chemistry and biology. The second part raises the interrogation “Is life universal?”, and tries to provide answers based on these facts and events. These answers turn out to differ widely among the various disciplines, depending on how far they feel able to extrapolate their current knowledge.
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Gargaud, M., Barbier, B., Martin, H. and Reisse, J. (eds.): 2005, Lectures in Astrobiology, Vol. 1, Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York
Gargaud, M., Claeys, Ph. and Martin, H. (eds.): 2006, Lectures in Astrobiology, Vol. 2, Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York (in press)
Lunine J. (1999) Earth, Evolution of a Habitable World. University Press, Cambridge
Norris, S. C.: 2004, Life’s Solution: Inevitable Humans in a Lonely Universe, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Mayor, M. and Frei, P. -Y.: 2001, Les nouveaux mondes du Cosmos: à la découverte des exoplanètes, Editions du Seuil, Paris
Mayr E. (2004) What Makes Biology Unique: Consideration on the Autonomy of a Scientific Discipline. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
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Bada J.L., Lazcano A., (2002) Science 296:1982–1983
Chyba C. E., Hand K. P. (2005) Ann. Rev. Astr. Ap. 43:31–74
Ehrenfreund P., Charnley S. B. (2000) Ann. Rev. Astr. Ap., 38:427–483
Greenberg, J. M.: 1996, in D. B. Cline (ed.), Physical Origin of Homochirality on Earth, American Institute of Physics, Proc. 379, Woodbury New York, pp. 185–186
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Montmerle, T., Claeys, P., Gargaud, M. et al. 9. Life On Earth... And Elsewhere?. Earth Moon Planet 98, 299–312 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11038-006-9093-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11038-006-9093-7