Life As we Know It [‘LAKI’] covers several aspects of Life, ranging from the prebiotic level, origin of life, evolution of prokaryotes to eukaryotes and finally to various affairs of human beings. Although it is hard to define Life, one can, however, characterize it and describe its features. Topics treated are categories of bacteria, algae and fungi, conscience, philosophy, theology, aesthetics, appearance of sport and life destiny, life after clinical death, and thoughts of the world to come (‘Olam Haba’).
The various chapters have been written so that they are accessible to all – from the avid lay reader to the specialist – and make available multidisciplinary sources of information about Life.
The information presented here on the various phenomena of Life were all written by highly qualified authors including scientists, public leaders, a professional athelete and three Nobel Laureates.
Table of Content
Preface. Foreword . Brief Introduction. Acknowledgements. List of authors and their addresses.
PART 1: BIODIVERSITY AND EXTREMOPHILES. The Extremophiles: Diversity of Microbial Environments. Prokaryotic Life. The Algae–Diverse Life Forms and Global Importance. Fungal Lives. Life in Saline and Hypersaline Environments. Thermophilic Communities as Autonomous Ecosystems. Life in Ice. Life under Pressure: Deep-Sea Microbial Ecology.
PART 2: LIFE IN THE CONTEXT OF THE NEW SCIENCE OF ASTROBIOLOGY. The Origin of Life on Earth and in the Universe. Early Precursors of Life in the Solar Nebula. Is Life on Earth Accidental? Natural Selection and the Second Law of Thermodynamics. From the Minimal Genome to the Minimal Cell: Theoretical and Experimental Investigations. The Evolution of Life on Earth and in the Universe. Numerical Analysis of Biocomplexity. Hepatitis B Virus: Conjectures on Human Interactions and Origin of Life. The Record of Early Life: In Search of Biosignatures. Ground Truth: The Epistemology of Searching for the Earliest Life on Earth. Eukaryogenesis: The Origin of the Eukaryotes. Symbiotic Forms of Life. Symbiosis: The Way of Life. Can There be a Limit on the Complexity of Life?Evolution of Intelligence. The Distribution of Life in the Universe. Searching other Worlds for Life as We Know It. The Role of Comets and meteorites in the Origin of Life. Astronomical Constraints for Life on Terrestrial Planets. Prerequisites for the Evolution of Life on Exoplanets. Life as an Unfolding Biocosmos. We Have Not Detected Extraterrestrial Life, Or Have We? The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. An Alternative Method for the Scientific Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligent Life: The ‘Local SETI’. The Destiny of Life in the Universe. Destinies of the Universe and Life: The Final frontiers of Cosmology and Astrobiology. Destiny of Life and Religious attitudes.
PART 3: DEEPER ISSUES OF THE PHENOMENON OF LIFE.Philosophical and Theological Aspects of Life. Life in the Universe: Philosophical and Theological issues. Consciousness. The Soul and the World-to Come According to Maimonides. Science and Religion: Some Suggestions for Conceptual Harmonizing Constraints. Understanding the Nature of Life: A Matter of Definition or Theory? ‘And You Shall Choose Life’. When Form Outlasts Its Medium. Epistemological Pluralism: Realities as Species-specific Interpretations of the Material World. Temperature Gradients as a Major Impetus Driving Prebiotic Evolution. Human Life as a Social Phenomenon. Life during Clinical Death: The ‘Near Death Experience’ Phenomenon. Beauty in Nature. All Things Bright and Beautiful: The Hidden Cosmos of Microscopic Planktonic Algae. Life and Pro Sports. Artificial Life. Artificial Life: From Life-As-We-Know-It to Life-As It-Could Be. Life-Cycles of Life.
PART 4: Summary and Conclusions. What do We Call Life? A Brief Outlook on Life. Organism Index. Subject Index. Alphabetical List of authors/pages.
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