Overview
- Gives a detailed description of handedness of the amino acids, a critical element in understanding their origin, as well as a plausible model by which their handedness could have been produced
- Relates everything to basic physical properties and forces of nature, written in lay person language, which no other book on the molecules of life does
- Offers discussions of some fascinating aspects of modern physics that impinge on the question of amino acid origin, e.g., the big bang, neutrino physics, and supernovae
- Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras
Part of the book series: Astronomers' Universe (ASTRONOM)
Access this book
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Other ways to access
Table of contents (9 chapters)
Keywords
About this book
Reviews
From the reviews:
“Book shows the reader first the beginning of atoms and molecules, and how they formed, and then continues with the intriguing question of chirality in molecules, and in amino acids in particular. … presented in an easily understandable way with several schematics and images to explain some of the concepts. … presents an interesting topic, that is certainly exciting and informative for the general reader, showing connections between various fields of research, and different astronomical objects and life on Earth.” (Kadri Tinn, AstroMadness.com, April, 2014)
“Boyd … presents a summary of his work and that of his colleagues in which the left-handed symmetry is postulated to result from exposure of the amino acids to circularly polarized starlight during their formation in space. … the book serves as an in-depth introduction to the topic of the extraterrestrial origin of amino acids. … The text is very lucid and accessible to general readers … . Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through graduate students; informed general readers.” (A. Spero, Choice, Vol. 49 (11), August, 2012)Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Stardust, Supernovae and the Molecules of Life
Book Subtitle: Might We All Be Aliens?
Authors: Richard N. Boyd
Series Title: Astronomers' Universe
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-1332-5
Publisher: Springer New York, NY
eBook Packages: Physics and Astronomy, Physics and Astronomy (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012
Softcover ISBN: 978-1-4614-1331-8Published: 14 December 2011
eBook ISBN: 978-1-4614-1332-5Published: 15 December 2011
Series ISSN: 1614-659X
Series E-ISSN: 2197-6651
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XI, 215
Number of Illustrations: 13 b/w illustrations, 26 illustrations in colour
Topics: Astrobiology, Popular Science in Astronomy, Evolutionary Biology