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Earth: Evolution of a Habitable World, 2nd edn., by J.I. Lunine

Article  in  Contemporary Physics · November 2013

DOI: 10.1080/00107514.2013.841770

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 Earth - Evolution of a Habitable World, 2nd edition
J.I. Lunine
Cambridge University Press (2013)
318 pages
price 40 GBP
softcover
ISBN 9780521615198
monograph
interested readers
Dr. Manuel Vogel, TU Darmstadt and GSI Darmstadt, m.vogel@gsi.de

Jonathan Lunine's 'Earth - Evolution of a Habitable World' has first been published in 1999 and was
reprinted already in 2000. At the time it was published, astrobiology was just about to become an
independent science and the general question what defines a habitable world and how one evolves
was comparably new. The now available second edition has long been awaited, partly as it has been
fully revised and updated. It takes a look at the history of the Earth from the planetary sciences' point
of view. Beginning with the evolution of the cosmos, it tracks the formation of our solar system, of
Earth in particular, and presents all stages of its history, including the formation of life on our planet.
The method is vastly interdisciplinary as it interlinks astronomy with planetary science, with
astrobiology and all facets of Earth sciences such as geology, meteorology and evolution of the
biological world inhabiting Earth. The presented material is divided into three parts, the first being
'The Astronomical Planet', in which the cosmic background is set. The second is 'The Measurable
Planet: Tools to Discern the History of Earth and the Planets', which is concerned with the
determination of cosmic and terrestrial ages, isotope dating, plate tectonics and geologic measuring
processes. The third part 'The Historical Planet: Earth and Solar System through Time' is the largest. It
describes the formation of the solar system, the properties and possible origins of life, climate
histories of Mars and Venus as compared to Earth, the habitability of planets in general, Earth ages
and the transitions between them, in particular the Archean to the Proterozoic and further to the
Phanerozoic. The fourth part 'The Once and Future Planet' deals with the climate change over the
past 100,000 years, human-induced global warming, limited resources and 'the once and future
Earth' which gives some projections into the near future.
The author, Jonathan I. Lunine is professor at Cornell University and has previously authored
'Astrobiology: A Multidisciplinary Approach' (Pearson Addison-Wesley, 2005). He is presently
involved as an interdisciplinary scientist in a number of projects such as the Cassini mission to Saturn,
the Juno mission to Jupiter, and the James Webb space telescope.
He has succeeded in writing the whole text in a mostly non-technical but clear style which should be
accessible to any interested reader. The use of mathematics has been widely avoided. The text is
aided by numerous excellent graphs, figures and pictures, partly in colour. Every chapter has a short
summary of the most important results, problems which help the reader check his understanding of
the presented material, some references to scientific publications and suggestions for further
reading. The index is very comprehensive and helpful. The quality of the paper and the print is
excellent. As this is an interdisciplinary text with low-level access, it is interesting for a wide
readership from interested beginners to advanced readers, in particular as a companion for a course
in astrobiology or an introduction to astronomy.

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