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Credit: Springer
While many books focus on a narrow window of evolution science, Cosmic Heritage - Evolution from the Big Bang to Conscious Life, a new popular science book by Peter Shaver, follows the evolutionary trail all the way from the Big Bang 13.7 billion years ago to conscious life today.
Written in an accessible style and tone, Cosmic Heritage offers a 'big picture' of how life evolved. It covers a wide range of topics including the origin and evolution of our universe, the nature and origin of life, the evolution of life including questions of birth and death, the evolution of cognition, the nature of consciousness, the possibility of extraterrestrial life and the future of the universe. The book concludes with a discussion on the nature and future of science.
Shaver's Cosmic Heritage:
- Offers a popular account of the big questions of life and modern science
- Explains in a narrative style our understanding of the origin and evolution of the universe, the formation and evolution of life, why we die and what we know about consciousness
- Begins with the Early Universe, zooms in on life, evolution and consciousness on Earth, and finally zooms out into the distant future
- Discusses the possibility of life elsewhere in the Universe
Advance Praise for Cosmic Heritage:
"Peter Shaver has written engagingly for anyone curious about the world we inhabit. If you'd like to know how the Universe began, where the chemical elements originated, how life may have started on Earth, how man, ants and bacteria are related to each other, or why we humans think, you will enjoy this panoramic book and its clear presentation." – Martin Harwit, Professor Emeritus of Astronomy, Cornell University, NY, and former Director of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Washington
"Who is not interested in the big questions 'How did it all start? Where do we come from? Where do we go? Are we alone?' This book addresses these questions in an entertaining way based on our knowledge of modern science. It opens our horizons towards understanding the history of the universe and the origin and evolution of life in the context of cosmic evolution." – Dr. Gerda Horneck, DLR German Aerospace Center, Institute of Aerospace Medicine, Cologne, Germany
"A very elegant, open-minded book that opens the door for informed discussion of the continuity of evolutionary processes from the Big Bang to the emergence of the mind... stimulating and highly engaging reading." – Ryszard Maleszka, Professor of Molecular Genetics, Australian National University, Canberra
About the Author:
Peter Shaver obtained a PhD in astrophysics at the University of Sydney in Australia and worked as a senior scientist at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in Munich for most of his career. He has authored or co-authored more than 250 scientific papers and edited six books on astronomy and astrophysics. Now retired, Shaver and his wife split their time between Sydney, Toronto, and Europe.
P. Shaver
Cosmic Heritage
Evolution from the Big Bang to Conscious Life
2011. 240 p. 7 illus. in color.
Softcover €34,95; $34.95; £31.99
ISBN 978-3-642-20260-5