Format:
XI, 291 S.
,
Ill., graph. Darst., Kt.
ISBN:
9780387097954
Series Statement:
Astronomers' Universe
Content:
From the Publisher: This book proposes a sound and realistic exploration on the topic of terraforming. Often used as the narrative premise in science fiction novels, terraforming is the process by which an uninhabitable planet might be converted into one capable of supporting life. This book presents what is physically possible today and hints what might conceivably be put into practice in the next several hundred years. The author works within the realms of current technology and known physics, although speculation on future advancements inevitably enters the discussion. Introductory chapters establish why terraforming will be of great benefit to human kind, and also put in place the basic physical arguments necessary to the terraforming process. The following parts look at various proposals that have been made for terraforming the planets Mars and Venus. The book concludes with a glimpse to the much deeper future when humankind will explore and colonize the outer solar system and possibly the newly discovered exoplanets
Content:
From the Publisher: This book proposes a sound and realistic exploration on the topic of terraforming. Often used as the narrative premise in science fiction novels, terraforming is the process by which an uninhabitable planet might be converted into one capable of supporting life. This book presents what is physically possible today and hints what might conceivably be put into practice in the next several hundred years. The author works within the realms of current technology and known physics, although speculation on future advancements inevitably enters the discussion. Introductory chapters establish why terraforming will be of great benefit to human kind, and also put in place the basic physical arguments necessary to the terraforming process. The following parts look at various proposals that have been made for terraforming the planets Mars and Venus. The book concludes with a glimpse to the much deeper future when humankind will explore and colonize the outer solar system and possibly the newly discovered exoplanets
Note:
1: Prolog: The Big Guns Of KugluktukSummer, the year 2010 -- Notes and references -- 2: Introduction -- What's in a word? -- Moving foreword -- Anthropocene -- Future worlds, future homes -- Economics -- Notes and references -- 3: Life In The Solar System, And Beyond -- Mars: the once and future abode of life? -- Life express -- Miller-Urey experiment -- Panspermia: the bigger picture -- Life and death clouds -- Vignette A: What is life? -- Rights of microbes -- Notes and references -- 4: Limits Of The World -- Home on the range: a brief history of the Solar System -- Blue marble -- Breathing room -- Magnetic shield -- Humanity's footprint -- We, the Tikopia -- Aging sun -- Back to the present -- Vignette B: Viking landers -- Notes and references -- 5: In The Right Place At The Right Time -- Planetary temperature -- Planetary temperature and pressure -- Phase diagram of water -- Habitable zone -- Atmosphere retention -- Greenhouse effect -- Tail wagging the dog -- Feedback cycles and stability -- End of the biosphere -- Formation of terrestrial planets -- Super-Earths -- Vignette C: Kepler's Somnium -- Notes and references -- 6: Terraforming Of Mars -- Measure of Mars -- Whither the water? -- Opening Salvo -- Alteried states: the means of terraforming Mars -- Increased CO2 abundance -- CO2 runaway -- Super-greenhouse gases -- Albedo change and increased insulation -- Phases of new Mars -- Times of their lives -- Worldhouse -- Near-term developments -- Vignette D: Daisy world -- Notes and references -- 7: Terraforming Of Venus -- Moist greenhouse effect -- Cloud life -- Perelandra remade -- Atmosphere blow-off, cooling, and mining -- Roman blinds, spin-up, and spin apart -- Back to basics -- Getting CO2 stoned -- Cold new dawn -- Surface tower -- Flying high -- Distant dawn -- Vignette E: Back to the moon -- Notes and references -- 8: Abundance Of Habitats -- Moon's a balloon -- Hot-footed Hermes -- Fragmented neighborhood -- Life on dwarf planet: Ceres world -- Living in the clouds -- Supramundance planets and shell worlds -- O'Neill colonies and orbiting cities -- Coming of a second Sun -- Earth shift and a synthetic Sun -- Dyson spheres and Jupiter -- Galilean moons: food for thought -- Deeper, darker, colder solar system -- Pull of more distant horizons -- Other worlds abound -- Future prospects -- Habitable exoplanets and biomarkers -- Vignette F: Mysterious Titus-Bode law -- Notes and references -- Epilogue -- Internet resources -- Glossary of technical terms -- Appendices -- A: Blackbody radiators -- B: Accounting for greenhouse gases -- C: Terraforming simulator model for Mars -- D: Population growth and Lily world -- Index.
Additional Edition:
ISBN 9780387097961
Additional Edition:
Online-Ausg. Beech, Martin, 1959 - Terraforming New York, NY : Springer, 2009 ISBN 9780387097961
Language:
English
Subjects:
Physics
,
Biology
Keywords:
Siedlung
;
Planet
;
Planet
;
Lebensraum
;
Künstliches Ökosystem
;
Astrobiologie
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