Several major breakthroughs have helped contribute to the emerging field of astrobiology. Focusing on these developments, this fascinating book explores some of the most important problems in this field. It examines how planetary systems formed, and how water and the biomolecules necessary for life were produced. It then focuses on how life may have originated and evolved on Earth. Building on these two themes, the final section takes the reader on a search for life elsewhere in the Solar System. It presents the latest results of missions to Mars and Titan, and explores the possibilities of...

We live in ageing societies. Age preoccupies governments as much as individuals. A new affluence has spread across society and across the lifecourse. For many people looking forward to retirement, later life has changed for the better. But with this positive outcome for older people have come policy and social dilemmas for governments and individuals alike.

Drawing on a wide range of sources, this book analyses the social nature of later life in the context of the history of welfare states, the emergence of consumer society and the growth of individualism. The book argues that...

We live in ageing societies. Age preoccupies governments as much as individuals. A new affluence has spread across society and across the lifecourse. For many people looking forward to retirement, later life has changed for the better. But with this positive outcome for older people have come policy and social dilemmas for governments and individuals alike.

Drawing on a wide range of sources, this book analyses the social nature of later life in the context of the history of welfare states, the emergence of consumer society and the growth of individualism. The book argues that...

Two of the most unprecedented transformations in the history of human social and economic life are currently underway. One, globalization, is the subject of extensive media coverage and scholarly analysis. Relatively ignored, however, is the other one: the overall aging of the world's population. This book offers the first in-depth look at the two forces in tandem, showing the many ways in which they interact and affect each other--and helping us for the first time to grasp the implications of both. This comprehensive introduction to globalization for gerontologists is part of the Ageing in a...

'Ageing, Corporeality and Embodiment' argues that both ageing as a unitary social process and agedness as a distinct social location have become fragmented. The book concentrates on the emergence of a 'new ageing' mediated in part through the processes of 'embodiment'.

The first section provides the main theoretical context for the book, with the first chapter outlining the new 'sociology of the body' and the second outlining the emergence of new ageing and its 're-orientation' toward the body. The second section explores the relationship between new ageing and key aspects of...

'Ageing, Corporeality and Embodiment' argues that both ageing as a unitary social process and agedness as a distinct social location have become fragmented. The book concentrates on the emergence of a 'new ageing' mediated in part through the processes of 'embodiment'.

The first section provides the main theoretical context for the book, with the first chapter outlining the new 'sociology of the body' and the second outlining the emergence of new ageing and its 're-orientation' toward the body. The second section explores the relationship between new ageing and key aspects of...

With the aspiration for a long life now achievable for many individuals, the status of old age as a distinct social position has become problematic. In this radical re-examination of the nature of old age, Paul Higgs and Chris Gilleard reveal the emergence of a 'fourth age' that embodies the most feared and marginalised aspects of old age, conceptually linked to and yet distinct from traditional models of old age.

With the aspiration for a long life now achievable for many individuals, the status of old age as a distinct social position has become problematic. In this radical re-examination of the nature of old age, Paul Higgs and Chris Gilleard reveal the emergence of a 'fourth age' that embodies the most feared and marginalised aspects of old age, conceptually linked to and yet distinct from traditional models of old age.

For undergraduate courses in sociology and psychology which examine ageing adulthood. This book focuses on the dramatic changes to the nature of post-retirement life experienced by people at the end of the twentieth century. It examines age and ageing in terms of the key preoccupations of contemporary sociology - citizenship, the body and the self. The book provides a platform for a new social gerontology that sees ageing as central to our understanding of social change. It examines social, cultural and political changes in Europe and North America to address the need for a text that moves...

Two of the most unprecedented transformations in the history of human social and economic life are currently underway. One, globalization, is the subject of extensive media coverage and scholarly analysis. Relatively ignored, however, is the other one: the overall aging of the world's population. This book offers the first in-depth look at the two forces in tandem, showing the many ways in which they interact and affect each other--and helping us for the first time to grasp the implications of both. This comprehensive introduction to globalization for gerontologists is part of the Ageing in a...