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The Search for Our Cosmic Ancestry

by Wickramasinghe Chandra

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A case for life beyond Earth

$44.73 USD
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Paperback New English

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AlbakiReads Editorial

A case for life beyond Earth

Chandra Wickramasinghe presents the Hoyle–Wickramasinghe theory of cometary panspermia: the proposition that life may travel through space and reach planets beyond Earth. The book connects this theory with discoveries in astronomy and biology, including evidence the author describes as microbial fossils in meteorites and micrometeorites, and findings from Kepler’s searches for exoplanets. Its subject is the possibility of a cosmic origin and distribution of life, set out as an accessible account of a specific scientific theory rather than a general survey of astronomy.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Readers interested in panspermia and theories about life beyond Earth.
  • General readers seeking an accessible account of a specific astronomy-related hypothesis.
  • Those curious about how astronomy and biology are brought together in arguments about life’s origins.

Themes

Cometary panspermiaLife beyond EarthAstronomy and biologyMeteorites and microbial evidence

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Book overview

 

The idea that life is a cosmic, rather than a purely terrestrial phenomenon, has progressed from scientific heresy to mainstream science within the short timespan of a few decades. The theory of cometary panspermia developed by Fred Hoyle and the present author in the 1970's has been vindicated by a spate of new discoveries in astronomy and biology, and also with startling new evidence of microbial fossils in meteorites and micrometeorites. The recent Kepler Telescope searches for exoplanets have indicated the presence of over 100 billion habitable planets separated by only a few light years, thus making panspermia and the transfer of microbial life between such planets an inevitable fact. The book presents a comprehensive and up-to-date account of the Hoyle-Wickramasinghe theory of cometary panspermia in a manner accessible to a wide general readership.

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