Offering an engaging and complete story of the hunt for new worlds, this
volume fully details the detection and exploration of extrasolar
planets. Coverage begins by first looking at early searches for
extrasolar planets, the very first discoveries, and the observational
techniques involved. The book examines the very wide range of extrasolar
planets that have been discovered during the past ten years and looks at
what can be learned about such planets by studying the bodies in our own
solar system. It also discusses the formation of planetary systems, the
way in which such systems may evolve and the final systems of planets
that result. In addition, the authors demonstrate how life might evolve
on an extrasolar planet and how such life might be detected.