history of astrobiology

7/29/2019 History of Astrobiology

1/20

History of

Astrobiology

THE HISTORY OF

ASTROBIOLOGY


2/20

Metrodorus of Chios

It would be strange if a single ear of corn grew in a large plain, or

there were only one world in the infinite 4th Century BC

Astrobiology is an ancient science


3/20

Early remarkable speculations

In space there are countless

constellations, suns and planets;

we see only the suns because they

give light; the planets remaininvisible, for they are small and

dark. There are also numberless

earths circling around their sunsG. Bruno, 1584On the Infinite Universe and Worlds.


4/20

The telescope - seeing planetary bodies


5/20

William Herschel (1738-1822)By reflecting a little on this subject I

am almost convinced that thosenumberless small Circuses we see on

the moon are the works of the

Lunarians and may be called their

Towns.

Optimism went wild in the Enlightenment


6/20

Christian Huygens (1629-1695), after observing spots

on Venus, Mars and Jupiter,

concluded that there are

clouds and water.

The taste of music with the

inhabitants of Venus and

Jupiter is at a high level,

similar to that of Frenchmen

or Italians

Optimism went wild in the Enlightenment


7/20

Every opposition has added to the assurance that the

canals are artificial; both by disclosing their peculiarities

better and better and by removing generic doubts as to

the planet's habitability.

Percival Lowell, 1909, Mars as the Abode of Life.

Even in the 20 th Century


8/20

Aliens still grip the human imagination


9/20

Mariner 4, Mars, 1965 Venera 13, Venus, 1982

The Space Age and new views


10/20

The Space Age and new views


11/20

The experiment,

conducted in 1952,

showed that molecules,from which life is made,

could be created from

basic constituents of an

atmosphere.

Experiments on the Origin of Life


12/20

Experimental insights on early life


13/20

Experiments on Other Worlds


14/20

Experiments in Communication with ET


15/20

More experiments on Mars


16/20

Liquid water on other worlds


17/20

Moons covered in interesting chemistry


18/20

Experimental search for other Earths


19/20

What have we learned?

Astrobiology is an ancient science

Only recently has it become more scientifically constrained

Several planetary bodies in our Solar System have become of interest in the

search for life

We can now hunt for Earth-like planets around other stars

The future will hold many remarkable discoveries and surprises


20/20

history of astrobiology

Documents