Includes bibliographical references and index.

Some intrinsic properties of life -- Part 1. The origin and evolution of life on Earth: The pathways to the origin of life on Earth -- The evolutionary history of life on Earth -- Part 2. Aspects of extraterrestrial biospheres: Habitability: stellar factors -- Habitability: planetary factors -- The quest for biosignatures -- Life in subsurface oceans -- Part 3. Aspects of extraterrestrial technospheres: The Drake equation and Fermi's Paradox -- The quest for technosignatures -- The propagation of life in the universe -- Epilogue: Sic itur ad astra.

"Are we alone in the universe? It is a captivating question, but one that historically eluded proper scientific investigation. The new discipline of astrobiology changes the game, introducing rigor to the quest for extraterrestrial life. Life in the Cosmos surveys the field, showing how cutting-edge research is closing in on the answers "out there.""-- Provided by publisher.

Manasvi Lingam is Assistant Professor of Astrobiology at the Florida Institute of Technology, an affiliate of the Institute for Theory and Computation at Harvard University, and a member of the American Physical Society. Avi Loeb is Frank B. Baird, Jr., Professor of Science at Harvard University. He is Founding Director of Harvard's Black Hole Initiative, chair of the Board on Physics and Astronomy of the National Academies, and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Print version record.

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