Alone in the Universe · Why Our Planet Is Unique by Gribbin, John -- Read -- Imperial Library of Trantor

Index

Acknowledgements Preface: The Only Intelligent Planet Introduction: One in a Trillion

Across the Milky Way Hot jupiters Planets in profusion Dusty beginnings Cosmic chemistry The life of Gaia Searching for other Gaias

Chapter 1: Two Paradoxes and an Equation

The Cosmic Lottery and the Drake Equation The Inspection Paradox and the Copernican Principle Panspermia and the Fermi Paradox Probing for an Answer

Chapter 2: What’s So Special about Our Place in the Milky Way?

Making Galaxies Making Metals Mixing Metals in the Milky Way Our Place in the Milky Way The Galactic Habitable Zone Catastrophic Comets

Chapter 3: What’s So Special about the Sun?

The Narrow Zone of Life The Sun is not an Average Star Perturbing Partners Blasts from the Past The Mystery of Solar Metallicity Until the Sun Dies Postponing Doomsday

Chapter 4: What’s So Special about the Solar System?

Too Hot to Handle The Geography of the Solar System Making Planets Making the Solar System Making the Earth The Special One

Chapter 5: What’s So Special about the Earth?

Like a Diamond in the Sky A Planetary Jigsaw Puzzle Creating Continents A Field of Force Venus and Mars A Planetary Stabilizer Plate Tectonics and Life

The Cambrian Explosion The Burgess Shale Contingency Convergence The Third Way

After the Deep Freeze Tipping the Balance From without or within? The Archetypal Impact Cosmic Clouds and Comet Dust Diamond Dust and a Facelift for a Goddess

Chapter 8: What’s So Special about Us?

Chance, Necessity and the Decimal System The Molecular Clock The Trigger for Change The Pacemaker of Human Evolution The Fate of Technological Civilization The Fate of the Earth No Second Chance