Lecture 1 Reading Guide

Unfortunately, the material in the first couple of lectures is not succintly written in one place; the information about life on Mars is too new to be included in texts this year.

The main things you want to know about Mars are:

  • What are the observations that were interpreted as evidence for life on Mars?
  • What is the scientific method and how does it work?
  • How does the life-on-Mars idea fit into the scientific method scheme?

    For information on life on Mars, check NASA's web site, where you can obtain the original paper, which was published in a journal called "Science".

    Other questions include:

  • How is the Earth's atmosphere different from that of Venus and Mars?
  • How did this difference originate and what does it have to do with the biosphere?
  • What is the role of CO2?
  • What is the Gaia Hypothesis?
  • How might one tell if there is "life-as-we-know-it" on another planet without visiting the planet or obtaining a sample from it?

    Although this information is not neatly compiled in one place, the following sources will help. Read them with these questions in mind.

    The Gaia Hypothesis is not included in the text. However, I found a good web site that explains Gaia issues.

    For information on meteorite impacts see fig I.9
    For an introduction to Earth, see pp. 17-19.
    Read about Mars and Venus in chapter 18 (pp. 529-537).

    A short section of extre-terrestrial life is given on page 540.
    The carbon cycle and the greenhouse effect is explained on pages 546-551.