Affiliation: | (1) Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Grenoble, Université Joseph Fourier, Grenoble, France;(2) DGLG-WE, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium;(3) Observatoire Aquitain des Sciences de l’Univers, Université Bordeaux 1, Bordeaux, France;(4) Unité d’Ecologie, Systématique et Evolution, Université Paris-Sud, Orsay, France;(5) Laboratoire Magmas et Volcans, Université Blaise Pascal, Clermont-Ferrand, France;(6) Départment de Chimie, Université Montpellier 2, Montpellier, France;(7) Faculté des Sciences Appliquées (CP 165/64), Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium;(8) Centre de Recherche Astronomique de Lyon and Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, Lyon, France |
Abstract: | This concluding chapter is divided into two main parts. The first part is a summary of the main facts and events which constitute the present body of knowledge of the chronology of life in the solar system, in the form of “highlights” in astronomy, geology, chemistry and biology. The second part raises the interrogation “Is life universal?”, and tries to provide answers based on these facts and events. These answers turn out to differ widely among the various disciplines, depending on how far they feel able to extrapolate their current knowledge. |