Astrobiology, History, and Society

Selected by Choice magazine as an "Outstanding Academic Title" for 2014 "This book is a very well-balanced, detailed analysis of the subject. ... This is one of the best books on the subject; it belongs in all college libraries. Summing Up: Essential. All levels/libraries." (K. L. Schick, Choice, Vol. 51 (7), March, 2014) "Are we alone in the universe? If not, then what might that mean? This fascinating volume offers a history of what Western cultures have thought about these questions ... . a useful source for scientists, historians, anthropologists, and many other disciplines that concern themselves with these two large questions. ... This volume nicely reveals the numerous ways in which anthropological knowledge and methods can help us think about and plan for managing the cultural impact of an eventual first contact." (James Strick, Journal for the History of Astronomy, Vol. 47 (1), 2016) "In this book you can find out about the first philosophers, writers and scientists who were interested in the possibility of life on other planets and get to know the reasons why it was considered possible by them and what actually led to their depictions of life elsewhere in literature. ... Overall this book makes for really interesting reading if you're interested in extraterrestrial life and astrobiology." (Kadri Tinn, AstroMadness.com, December, 2013)

• Part I. The Early Extraterrestrial Life Debate.- Chapter 1. The Extraterrestrial Life Debate from Antiquity to 1900.- Chapter 2. Early Modern ET, Reflexive Telescopics, and Their Relevance Today.- Chapter 3. Extraterrestrial Life as the Great Analogy, Two Centuries Ago and in Modern Astrobiology.- Chapter 4. Hegel, Analogy, and Extraterrestrial Life.- Chapter 5. The Relationship Between the Origins of Life on Earth and the Possibility of Life on Other Planets: A Nineteenth-century Perspective.- Chapter 6. Pioneering Concepts of Planetary Habitability.- Part II. The Modern Extraterrestrial Life Debate.- Chapter 7. The Twentieth Century History of the Extraterrestrial Life Debate: Major Themes and Lessons Learned.- Chapter 8. The Creator of Astrobotany, Gavriil Adrianovich Tikhov.- Chapter 9. Life Beyond Earth and the Evolutionary Synthesis.- Chapter 10. The First Thousand Exoplanets: Two Decades of Excitement and Discovery.- Chapter 11. Extraterrestrial Life in the Microbial Age.- Part III. Societal Impact of Discovering Extraterrestrial Life.- Chapter 12. The Societal Impact of Extraterrestrial Life: The Relevance of History and the Social Sciences.- Chapter 13. Cultural Resources and Cognitive Frames: Keys to an Anthropological Approach to Prediction.- Chapter 14. The Detection of Extraterrestrial Life: Are We Ready?.- Chapter 15. Impact of Extraterrestrial Life Discovery for Third World Societies: Anthropological and Public Health Considerations.- Chapter 16. Impossible Predictions of the Unprecedented: Analogy, History, and the Work of Prognostication.- Chapter 17. Mainstream Media and Social Media Reactions to the Discovery of Extraterrestrial Life.- Chapter 18. Christianity’s Response to the Discovery of Extraterrestrial Intelligent Life: Insights from Science and Religion and the Sociology of Religion.- Chapter 19. Would the Discovery of ETI Provoke a Religious Crisis?.- Index.