To the Humanities and Beyond

This introductory chapter provides an overview of the exploration of astrobiology. While new, astrobiology's recent success has been nothing short of amazing. In just the past 25 years, scientists have learned that the building blocks of life are found basically everywhere in the universe; that getting these building blocks to engage in the kinds of complex chemistry people associate with life is far easier than people used to think; and that planets where life could potentially evolve are extremely common. Nevertheless, scientists from a variety of fields are just beginning to address the many questions raised by the real possibility of life on other planets. Relatively little research on the broader social and conceptual aspects of astrobiology has been undertaken by scholars outside the small community of space scientists. However, a fertile field awaits early adopters from other disciplines, with many profound and largely unexplored questions waiting to be addressed by relevant experts. Some of these research questions fall squarely within traditional humanities, while others span the boundary between empirical science and other fields.