Cosmobiology: Our Place in the Universe

• Main Author: Charles H. Lineweaver
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Sperm whale
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.544.4931; http://www.scienceschool.usyd.edu.au/history/2009/media/lectures/16-lineweaver-chapter.pdf

Here we sit on a ball of silicate with beating hearts, opposable thumbs and curious minds. How did we get here? How did the evolution of non-living things, such as galaxies, stars and planets, create the ingredi-ents and the conditions for the emergence of life? Which aspects of this evolution are unique to the Earth and which are common in the universe? Are we alone? These cosmobiological questions are sharpened and partially answered by the overview presented here. How in the universe did we get here? In the fictional story “Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy”, the Improbability Drive called into existence a sperm whale several miles above the surface of an alien planet (Adams, 1999). As it