, Guidebook for
Systems Applications
in Astrobiology
This book addresses the timely subject of systems applications in astrobiology.
It demonstrates how astrobiology – a multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and
transdisciplinary field of science – can benefit from adopting the systems approach.
Astrobiology draws upon its founding sciences, such as astronomy, physics, chemistry,
biochemistry, geology, and planetary sciences. However, astrobiologists can encounter
difficulties working across these fields. The systems approach, we believe, is the best
contemporary approach to consider astrobiology holistically. The approach is currently
used in other fields, such as engineering, which uses systems analysis routinely.
Such an approach needs to be learned, both in principle and through examples,
from the field. This book features chapters from experts across the field of astrobiology
who have applied the systems approach. It will be a valuable guide for astrobiology
students at the advanced undergraduate and graduate levels, in addition to researchers
in the field, both in academia and the space industry.
Key Features:
• Offers a unique and novel approach to studying and understanding astrobiology
• Encourages astrobiologists to apply a holistic systems approach to their
work, rather than being bogged down in details
• Imparts practical knowledge to readers which can be adopted in different
research and job opportunities in the field of astrobiology
Vera M. Kolb obtained degrees in chemical engineering and organic chemistry from
Belgrade University, Serbia, and earned her PhD in organic chemistry from Southern Illinois
University, Carbondale, Illinois, United States. Following a 30-year career, she is Professor
Emerita of Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, Kenosha, Wisconsin. During
her first sabbatical leave with the NASA Specialized Center of Research and Training
(NSCORT) in Astrobiology, she conducted research with Dr. Leslie Orgel at the Salk
Institute and Prof. Stanley Miller at UC San Diego. Her second sabbatical was with Prof.
Joseph Lambert at Northwestern University, where she studied sugar silicates and their
potential astrobiological relevance. She is credited for authoring over 160 publications, in
the fields of organic and medicinal chemistry, green chemistry, and astrobiology, including
several books. Recently, she authored Green Organic Chemistry and Its Interdisciplinary
Applications (CRC 2016). In the astrobiology field, she edited Astrobiology: An Evolutionary
Approach (CRC 2015) and Handbook of Astrobiology (CRC 2019). She co-authored (with
Benton C. Clark) Astrobiology for a General Reader: A Questions and Answers Approach
(CSP 2020) and Systems Approach to Astrobiology (CRC 2023).
,Series in Astrobiology
Series Editors: Vera M. Kolb, University of Wisconsin-Parkside
This exciting new book series will systematically cover the latest topics in the
rapidly developing feld of astrobiology. Astrobiology is concerned primarily with
the origin and evolution of life on Earth, and search for extra-terrestrial life, at the
microbial level in our Solar System, and intelligent life elsewhere. This new feld is
interdisciplinary, since it draws upon other disciplines, such as chemistry, biology,
physics, astronomy, geology, planetary geology, modern science, and the engineering
involved in the exploration of our Solar System and beyond.
Recent books in the series:
Astrobiology: An Evolutionary Approach
Edited By Vera M. Kolb
Handbook of Astrobiology
Edited By Vera M. Kolb
Systems Approach to Astrobiology
Vera M. Kolb and Benton C. Clark
Guidebook for Systems Applications in Astrobiology
Edited By Vera M. Kolb
, Guidebook for
Systems Applications
in Astrobiology
Edited by Vera M. Kolb
Boca Raton London New York
CRC Press is an imprint of the
Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
Systems Applications
in Astrobiology
This book addresses the timely subject of systems applications in astrobiology.
It demonstrates how astrobiology – a multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and
transdisciplinary field of science – can benefit from adopting the systems approach.
Astrobiology draws upon its founding sciences, such as astronomy, physics, chemistry,
biochemistry, geology, and planetary sciences. However, astrobiologists can encounter
difficulties working across these fields. The systems approach, we believe, is the best
contemporary approach to consider astrobiology holistically. The approach is currently
used in other fields, such as engineering, which uses systems analysis routinely.
Such an approach needs to be learned, both in principle and through examples,
from the field. This book features chapters from experts across the field of astrobiology
who have applied the systems approach. It will be a valuable guide for astrobiology
students at the advanced undergraduate and graduate levels, in addition to researchers
in the field, both in academia and the space industry.
Key Features:
• Offers a unique and novel approach to studying and understanding astrobiology
• Encourages astrobiologists to apply a holistic systems approach to their
work, rather than being bogged down in details
• Imparts practical knowledge to readers which can be adopted in different
research and job opportunities in the field of astrobiology
Vera M. Kolb obtained degrees in chemical engineering and organic chemistry from
Belgrade University, Serbia, and earned her PhD in organic chemistry from Southern Illinois
University, Carbondale, Illinois, United States. Following a 30-year career, she is Professor
Emerita of Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, Kenosha, Wisconsin. During
her first sabbatical leave with the NASA Specialized Center of Research and Training
(NSCORT) in Astrobiology, she conducted research with Dr. Leslie Orgel at the Salk
Institute and Prof. Stanley Miller at UC San Diego. Her second sabbatical was with Prof.
Joseph Lambert at Northwestern University, where she studied sugar silicates and their
potential astrobiological relevance. She is credited for authoring over 160 publications, in
the fields of organic and medicinal chemistry, green chemistry, and astrobiology, including
several books. Recently, she authored Green Organic Chemistry and Its Interdisciplinary
Applications (CRC 2016). In the astrobiology field, she edited Astrobiology: An Evolutionary
Approach (CRC 2015) and Handbook of Astrobiology (CRC 2019). She co-authored (with
Benton C. Clark) Astrobiology for a General Reader: A Questions and Answers Approach
(CSP 2020) and Systems Approach to Astrobiology (CRC 2023).
,Series in Astrobiology
Series Editors: Vera M. Kolb, University of Wisconsin-Parkside
This exciting new book series will systematically cover the latest topics in the
rapidly developing feld of astrobiology. Astrobiology is concerned primarily with
the origin and evolution of life on Earth, and search for extra-terrestrial life, at the
microbial level in our Solar System, and intelligent life elsewhere. This new feld is
interdisciplinary, since it draws upon other disciplines, such as chemistry, biology,
physics, astronomy, geology, planetary geology, modern science, and the engineering
involved in the exploration of our Solar System and beyond.
Recent books in the series:
Astrobiology: An Evolutionary Approach
Edited By Vera M. Kolb
Handbook of Astrobiology
Edited By Vera M. Kolb
Systems Approach to Astrobiology
Vera M. Kolb and Benton C. Clark
Guidebook for Systems Applications in Astrobiology
Edited By Vera M. Kolb
, Guidebook for
Systems Applications
in Astrobiology
Edited by Vera M. Kolb
Boca Raton London New York
CRC Press is an imprint of the
Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
