A Second Genesis enquires why nature is intelligible. The fast growth of technology and deeper understanding of the humanities have provided significant clues. Answering the question why nature can be understood requires an introduction to the new science of astrobiology and the exploration of the Solar System. A careful discussion of a ?second Genesis? is presented, namely our present awareness that life may have emerged on other worlds. Writing this volume has been motivated by the need to encourage a constructive dialogue between science and faith. Such an objective for a new book is timely, since science is inserted with well-defined frontiers in the context of human culture. Similarly, the frontiers of faith do not require religion to justify itself in scientific terms, avoiding current unnecessary controversies. This book intends to engage readers interested in the position of humans in nature. It makes a serious effort to avoid demanding detailed knowledge of science, philosophy, or theology, but will require some careful reading and meditation.

Since the publication of The New Science of Astrobiology in the year 2001—the first edition of the present book—two significant events have taken place raising the subject from the beginning of the present century to its present maturity. Firstly, in 2001 the Galileo Mission still had two years to complete its task, which turned out to be an outstanding survey of the Jovian system, especially of its intriguing satellite Europa. Secondly, the Cassini Huygens Mission was still on its way to Saturn. Its present success has surpassed all expectations of ESA and NASA. Astrobiologists still did not know that Titan was the fifth body in the Solar System that possibly contained a water ocean (including the Earth and the three Galilean satellites other than Io). For these reasons the book includes overviews of the evolutionary and molecular biology that are necessary. There is a discussion of other sectors of culture that are the natural frontiers of astrobiology, especially the humanities.

This book reviews the horizons and frontiers of humanism as they interact with the science of life in the universe, now generally known as “astrobiology”. As one of the most important conversations of our time, the existence of life itself raises deep questions that are meaningful to both astrobiology and humanism. The text discusses current disagreements in this intercultural dialogue, which are shown to be solely due to the widespread delusion that the horizons and frontiers of science can be ignored.

Genesis – In The Beginning deals with the origin and diversity of Life and early biological evolution and discusses the question of where (hot or cold sources) and when the beginning of Life took place. Among the sections are chapters dealing with prebiotic chemical processes and considering self-replication of polymers in mineral habitats. One chapter is dedicated to the photobiological regime on early Earth and the emergence of Life. This volume covers the role of symmetry, information and order (homochrial biomolecules) in the beginning of Life. The models of protocells and the genetic code with gene transfer are important topics in this volume. Three chapters discuss the Panspermia hypothesis (to answer “Are we from outer Space?”). Other chapters cover the Astrobiological aspects of Life in the Universe in extraterrestrial Planets of the Solar System and deal with cometary hydrosphere (and its connection to Earth). We conclude with the history and frontiers of Astrobiogy.

The book presents a collection of selected papers from the I Workshop of the Venezuelan Society of Fluid Mechanics held on Margarita Island, Venezuela from November 4 to 9, 2012. Written by experts in their respective fields, the contributions are organized into five parts: - Part I Invited Lectures, consisting of full-length technical papers on both computational and experimental fluid mechanics covering a wide range of topics from drops to multiphase and granular flows to astrophysical flows, - Part II Drops, Particles and Waves - Part III Multiphase and Multicomponent Flows - Part IV Atmospheric and Granular Flows - and Part V Turbulent and Astrophysical Flows. The book is intended for upper-level undergraduate and graduate students as well as for physicists, chemists and engineers teaching and working in the field of fluid mechanics and its applications. The contributions are the result of recent advances in theoretical and experimental research in fluid mechanics, encompassing both fundamentals as well as applications to fluid engineering design, including pipelines, turbines, flow separators, hydraulic systems and biological fluid elements, and to granular, environmental and astrophysical flows.

The debate between divine action, or faith, and natural selection, or science, is garnering tremendous interest. This book ventures well beyond the usual, contrasting American Protestant and atheistic points of view, and also includes the perspectives of Jews, Muslims, and Roman Catholics. It contains arguments from the various proponents of intelligent design, creationism, and Darwinism, and also covers the sensitive issue of how to incorporate evolution into the secondary school biology curriculum. Comprising contributions from prominent, award-winning authors, the book also contains dialogs following each chapter to provide extra stimulus to the readers and a full picture of this ?hot? topic, which delves into the fundamentals of science and religion.

ASTROBIOLOGY This unique book advances the frontier discussion of a wide spectrum of astrobiological issues on scientific advances, space ethics, social impact, religious meaning, and public policy formulation. Astrobiology is an exploding discipline in which not only the natural sciences, but also the social sciences and humanities converge. Astrobiology: Science, Ethics, and Public Policy is a multidisciplinary book that presents different perspectives and points of view by its contributing specialists. Epistemological, moral and political issues arising from astrobiology, convey the complexity of challenges posed by the search for life elsewhere in the universe. We ask: if a convoy of colonists from Earth make the trip to Mars, should their genomes be edited to adapt to the Red Planet’s environment? If scientists discover a biosphere with microbial life within our solar system, will it possess intrinsic value or merely utilitarian value? If astronomers discover an intelligent civilization on an exoplanet elsewhere in the Milky Way, what would be humanity’s moral responsibility: to protect Earth from an existential threat? To treat other intelligences with dignity? To exploit through interstellar commerce? To conquer? Audience The book will attract readers from a wide range of interests including astronomers, astrobiologists, chemists, biologists, space engineers, ethicists, theologians and philosophers.