Skip to main content
  • Book
  • © 2008

Strategies of Life Detection

  • Biochemists, geochemists, organic chemists, astronomers and instrument developers have combined their efforts to create an integrated account of state-of-the-art life detection methods
  • Combines biosignatures relevant for in-situ investigations with those relevant for remote sensing on exoplanets

Part of the book series: Space Sciences Series of ISSI (SSSI, volume 25)

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 139.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 179.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 179.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check for access.

Table of contents (27 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages I-IV
  2. Foreword

    • J. L. Bada, J. Gomez-Elvira, E. Javaux, M. Rosing, F. Selsis, R. Summons et al.
    Pages 1-3
  3. Infrared Spectroscopy of Solar-System Planets

    • Thérèse Encrenaz
    Pages 11-23
  4. Extraterrestrial Organic Matter and the Detection of Life

    • Mark A. Sephton, Oliver Botta
    Pages 25-35
  5. Astrobiology and Habitability of Titan

    • Francois Raulin
    Pages 37-48
  6. Biogenerated Rock Structures

    • W. E. Krumbein
    Pages 81-94
  7. Gene Transfer and the Reconstruction of Life’s Early History from Genomic Data

    • J. Peter Gogarten, Gregory Fournier, Olga Zhaxybayeva
    Pages 115-131
  8. Molecular Biosignatures

    • Roger E. Summons, Pierre Albrecht, Gene McDonald, J.  Michael Moldowan
    Pages 133-159
  9. Chirality and Life

    • Laurence D. Barron
    Pages 187-201
  10. Multiple-Sulphur Isotope Biosignatures

    • Shuhei Ono
    Pages 203-220
  11. Stable Isotope Ratios as a Biomarker on Mars

    • Mark van Zuilen
    Pages 221-232
  12. Urey: Mars Organic and Oxidant Detector

    • J. L. Bada, P. Ehrenfreund, F. Grunthaner, D. Blaney, M. Coleman, A. Farrington et al.
    Pages 269-279

About this book

The search for life outside the Earth has been one of mankind's most challenging quests. We have reached a level of technology that allows for initial steps toward thorough scientific investigation. The aim of this workshop was to take an interdisciplinary look at the signatures that would be indicative of past or present life on another planet and compare them to biosignatures on Earth.

The purpose of the workshop was also to discuss state-of-the-art in-situ instruments that are envisioned to search for these signatures in the exploration of the solar system, as well as the discussion of concepts descriptive of the search for habitable planets around other stars.

This book is intended to provide a reference to scientists and instrument developers working in the field of in-situ and remote life detection. It can also be used as an interdisciplinary introduction for students and post-doctoral researchers entering this new and exciting field.

Reviews

From the reviews:

“This is a collection of papers from the International Space Science Institute workshop … . The book is well laid out, with uniformity in style, clear tables and illustrations, several of which are in colour. … Each paper has an abstract and a full set of references. … this book is likely to grace the shelves of university libraries and specialists in astrobiology, but it is of interest to anyone with a strong fascination … . I certainly recommend it.” (Barrie W. Jones, Contemporary Physics, Vol. 51 (4), 2010)

Editors and Affiliations

  • International Space Science Institute (ISSI), Bern, Switzerland

    Oliver Botta

  • Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, USA

    Jeffrey L. Bada

  • Robotics & Planetary Exploration Laboratory, Centro de Astrobiología (INTA/CSIC), Insituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial, Madrid, Spain

    Javier Gomez-Elvira

  • Department of Geology, University of Liege, Liege, Belgium

    Emmanuelle Javaux

  • Observatoire de Bordeaux, Floriac, France

    Franck Selsis

  • Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA

    Roger Summons

Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 139.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 179.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 179.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access