Astrobiology as a Cultural Phenomenon:The Science of Astrobiology: A Personal View on Learning to Read the Book of Life by Julian Chela-Flores

摘要

Doctor Chela-Flores's new book The Science of Astrobiology: A Personal View on Learning to Read the Book of Life is part of the series Cellular Origin, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology, published by Springer. Dr. Chela-Flores follows in the steps of seminal predecessors in the field of the origin of life. He aims at merging scientific approach with philosophy and encyclopedic comprehensiveness of the subject.While reading this book, the origin-of-life professional will recognize its useful organization and summary of various components of astrobiology. To the uninitiated, this volume is an excellent review of the fundamental questions and achievements from the past and present of astrobiology. The main message (which pervades the text), is that human society sees astrobiology as being a branch of science but also a social phenomenon. Dr. Chela-Flores is restless in emphasizing how astrobiology-related thinking is embedded in the interests of modern humankind.