Books by Jonathan Lunine

 

Earth : Evolution of a Habitable World
by Jonathan Lunine, 1998, Cambridge Univ Press.

". . . excellent, abundantly illustrated . . . Elements of cosmology, astronomy, physics, chemistry, biology, and philosophy are presented in a coherent, connected fashion that is easily readable and understandable by college students, advanced high school students, and laypersons who have a science background. The volume is an excellent textbook and resource for science teachers . . ."
- Science Books & Films

Astrobiology : A Multi-Disciplinary Approach
by Jonathan Lunine, 2004, Addison Wesley.

"This astrobiology textbook is brilliant but demanding -- not everyone, even science fans, wants to know this much about life in the universe! Lunine describes his book as "a comprehensive treatment of astrobiology for upper level undergraduate students and beginning graduate students". The book is also targeted at senior scientists who want an introduction to this new discipline. The resulting volume of 586 densely packed pages is a tour de force of basic physics and chemistry as well as biology and planetary science. The first half the book leads the reader through the fundamentals of physics, biochemistry, and microbiology essential to understanding the origin of life. The second half covers life on Earth, the habitability of Mars, Europa and Titan, other planetary systems, the co-evolution of life and its host planet, and the evolution of intelligence. The mostly monochrome illustrations are well selected, but printing quality occasionally lapses -- the only reason I rate this book four stars and not five."
Dave Morrison