3 credits
Spring 2026 Lecture Upper Division
Course explores current ideas on how life originated on Earth and may have originated elsewhere in the universe. Lectures will cover zones of habitability in stellar systems, planetary surface and atmosphere evolution and the environment of the early Earth. Topics include how life on Earth functions and its earliest evolution, SETI, planetary quarantine, panspermia, mass extinctions and the potential for life elsewhere in our own solar system.
Learning Outcomes1Know the outlines of how life developed on the Earth, the principal requirements for life to originate and persist, what features makes a planet (in our system or around other stars) habitable for life.
2Understand how extrasolar planets are found and what limitations exist in our knowledge of those planets.
3Understand how NASA is seeking for life on Mars and elsewhere in the solar system, why we are concerned about quarantining spacecraft and returned samples.
4Acquainted with the rationale and methods of the SETI search for intelligent life in the universe.
Restrictions
made by Purdue students.