Welcome
This guide provides a set of resources for advanced undergraduate research in Astrobiology at the Cabot Science Library. This list is not intended to be exhaustive or comprehensive. Cabot Library holds the general science collections for the university; additional resources are available at the John G. Wolbach Library (Astronomy & Astrophysics). Please consult the HOLLIS catalogand the E-Research @ Harvard site for all of Harvard’s holdings.
Encyclopedias
These books are a good place to start if you need to find a topic or need background information.
Encyclopedia of Astronomy and Astrophysics
available online
Extraterrestrial Encyclopedia: An Alphabetical Reference to All Life in the Universe / Darling, D.
Cabot REF QB54 .D365 2000
Google Scholar
See the Indexes to Journal Articles box on the right of this page for more places to find articles.
Journals
For access to electronic copies of journals, look up the journal’s title in HOLLIS+, where an internet link will be available if Harvard owns a subscription. Or use the Journals page to find journals or articles where you have a citation. To locate articles on a given subject, try one of the databases listed in this guide.
Do Other Universes Exist?
Selected Books List
Click on the cover or the title to be taken to the HOLLIS record for these recent books on Astrobiology. Click here if you have a purchase suggestion.
Civilized Life in the Universe : Scientists on Intelligent Extraterrestrials by Electronic copy available
Subject Guide
Indexes to Journal Articles
These databases will help you find articles on the search for extraterrestrial life. Try using the keywords or subject terms astrobiology or exobiology or extraterrestrial life.
Citation Indexes / Web of Science Science Citation Index is a multidisciplinary database, with searchable author abstracts, covering the journal literature of the sciences. Because the information stored about each article includes the article's cited reference list (bibliography), you can search for articles that cite a known author or work.
PubMed (MEDLINE) is the National Library of Medicine’s free access to MEDLINE and PreMEDLINE (preliminary citations and abstracts before they appear in MEDLINE). MEDLINE covers the international literature on beiomedicine, including the allied health fields and the biological and physical sciences, huamnities, and information science as they relate to medicine and health care.
Aerospace + High Technology covers research in aeronautics, astronautics, and space sciences. It also covers technology development and applications in complementary fields of chemistry, geosciences, physics, communications, and electronics. It provides coverage reports issued by NASA, other U.S. government agencies, international institutions, universities, and private firms.
BIOSIS Previews (Biological Abstracts) is a database for life science research covering traditional areas of biology and zoology as well as biomedical fields, agriculture, pharmacology and ecology.
SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System A search interface into the scientific and technical literature covering astronomy, planetary science, and physics. Difficult to search but containing a wealth of material.
Google Scholar Use the Advanced Search for the ability to shape your search to get the best results.