Here is a list of useful books for the Freshman Seminar,
Search for Life in the Universe.  I will no doubt be supplementing
this list throughout the semester, as I stumble across new books.
Many of these are available on reserve at Firestone, or at the
Astrophysics Library in Peyton Hall.  The latter includes, in
addition, a number of more technical books on the subject, which we
may find useful. 

  "The Search for Life in the Universe", D. Goldsmith, and T. Owen
	(1993, Addison-Wesley) A text on exactly the subject of this
	course. Required text. 

  "Pale Blue Dot", C. Sagan (1995, Random House) The history of
	mankind's exploration of the solar system. Recommended text.  

  "We are not alone", W. Sullivan (1994, Plume) The history of searches
	for extraterrestrial intelligence

  "Universe", by J. Kauffmann (1994) A good non-technical introductory
	general astronomy textbook (often used as the textbook for AST
	203, the introductory astronomy course for non-scientists). 

   "The Physical Universe, An Introduction to Astronomy", F. Shu,
	(1980, University Science Books):  A more advanced introductory
	astronomy textbook than Kauffman's book; requires a stronger
	mathematical background.  It ends with a superb discussion of
	the origin and evolution of life on Earth.  Tis is often used
	as the texbook for AST204, the introductory astronomy course
	for astronomy and physics majors. 

   "Extraterrestrial Intelligence", Heidemann (1995, translated from
the French).  A textbook that covers similar material to Goldsmith and
Owen, with more emphasis on SETI. 

  "The Origin and Evolution of the Universe", edited by Ben Zuckerman
and Matthew Malkan (1996; Jones and Bartlett).  Chapter 6, "The Origin
and Evolution of Life in the Universe", is very relevant. 

  "Intelligent Life in the Universe", by C. Sagan and I.S. Shklovskii
	(1966; Holden-Day)  A classic textbook, now largely
			out of date 
    
  "The Biological Universe", by S. Dick (1996, Cambridge U. Press)
	The history of ideas about extraterrestrial life 

  "Is Anyone Out There?", by F. Drake and D. Sobel (1992, Delacourt
	Press)  An informal autobiography/history of SETI.

  "Cosmos", C. Sagan (1980, Random House) A popular-level
	account of modern astronomy and astrophysics, starting to show
	its age.  

  "The Mind's Sky", T. Ferris (1992, Bantam books)

  "The Cosmic Water Hole", E. Davoust, (1991, MIT Press).

  "Extraterrestrial Life", N. Evans (1996, Burgess) Course notes from
	a similar course taught at U. Texas.  A more thorough
	discussion of the origin of life than we will cover in our
	course. The appendix to this book lists a number of further
	references, including many about the origin of life. 
	I don't think the libraries have this text, but I do. 

  "The Quest for Extraterrestrial Life", ed. D. Goldsmith (1980)
	Excellent set of reprints of classic articles. 

  "To Utopia and Back: The Search for Life in the Solar System",
        Norman Horowitz (1986; Freeman).  Used as a textbook for the 
        "Origins" course.  Introductory chapter is superb. 

   "Are we Alone?", Paul Davies (1995): Philosophical questions
	related to the search for life. 

   "Cosmic Catastrophes" One of many recent books on various
	calamities which have befallen the Earth, or that may do so in
	the future. 

   "After Contact: The Human Response to Extraterrestrial Life"
A. Harrison (1997).  A history of SETI and related ideas. 

   "Quest for Alien Planets: Exploring Worlds Outside the Solar
System", P. Halpern (1997).  Solar System astronomy, search for
distant planets, SETI. 

   "Life in the Universe" Scientific American Special Issue (October
	1994), discussing everything from the origin of the universe
	to the future of intelligence on Earth. 

   Donald Goldsmith has written two further books in the last year on
	topics we will discuss in this course: 

  "Worlds Unnumbered: The Search for Extrasolar Planets" (University
	Science Books)
  "The Hunt for Life on Mars" (Dutton)

   Related to the last of these are three books on Mars:

  "Water on Mars"  Michael Carr.
  "The Case for Mars" Zubrin.  Why we should travel to Mars. 
  "The Planet Mars" A compilation of recent research articles on all
	aspects of the planet; written for professional astronomers

  Finally: 
  "Contact", Carl Sagan.  An excellent novel (which gets most of the
	astronomy right!) emphasizing mankind's reponse to a signal
	from an extraterrestrial civilization. 

A bibliography put together by the SETI Institute.

  Many useful articles on the subject of this course can be found in
the pages of various popular science magazines, including: 

   Scientific American
   Sky and Telescope 
   Science News 
   Mercury
   Discovery