Astrobiology has been reviewed in the January issue of Chemistry World

Is there any life out there?

Astrobiology. A brief introduction

Kevin Plaxco and Michael Gross

Baltimore, US: Johns Hopkins University Press | 2006 | 272pp | £16.50 (SB) | ISBN 0801883679

Reviewed by Anthony Campbell

Where did life begin? Is there life out there? These questions have intrigued scientist and non-scientist alike for centuries. In this timely book, Kevin Plaxco and Michael Gross analyse the key issues that must be addressed if we are to answer these questions. The science of astrobiology is new, but many universities are now developing research and teaching programmes on the origins of life, and how we might prove that life exists elsewhere in the universe.

This book is comprehensive and readable, involving physics, chemistry and biology, including key biochemical processes in life. It was pleasing to find discussions on the main puzzles about the origin of live, including what I regard as the three greatest mysteries of all – how life crossed the Rubicon to choose left handed amino acids in proteins, right handed sugars in DNA, and ATP as its energy currency. These show what analyses are needed if we are to search for life out there.

Full text here:

http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/restricted/2007/January/Reviews/IsThereAnyL...