Imagination Is More Important Than Knowledge Philosophy Essay

Imagination is the ability to form a mental image of something that is not perceived through the senses. It's the ability of the mind to build mental scenes, things or events that do not exist, are not there or have ever happened in the past. Knowledge on the other hand is familiarity, awareness, or understanding gained through experience or study. From the definition itself I noticed that to have knowledge you have to study or experience something in order to gain it but for imagination it is limitless, and also a gift from God to mankind and in fact has inspired us to gain more knowledge. I personally choose this topic because I found it interesting to research and come up with an answer and solid reason to support it. It was also confirmed to me that imagination is more important than knowledge as Albert Einstein said, "Imagination is everything.

Imagination is within us, and on the other hand knowledge is learnt through schooling and experience. Imagination motivates or rather leads us to acquire much more knowledge and to use it in creative ways and it's because of this that we turned a rock into a spear, a spear into a bow and a bow into a gun, the square wheel into a circle, in other words we wouldn't have evolved into the race we are today. Robert Adler wished not having to get up from his seat to change the television channel and invented the television remote control.

Imagination is also what infuses faith. Faith would be impossible without God's gift to humans of good imagination. That's only the beginning. Seeing something real that is not there in reality or is not there on the surface of all things I mean. God Himself used imagination in the creation of everything even the humans. This as a matter of fact was the beginning of imagination before knowledge was embraced by man. Henry Miller 1891-1980 alleged that imagination was a critical characteristic of God, for he wrote, "Imagination is the voice of daring. If there is anything holy about God, it is that, He ventured to visualize everything." The man who hovered like a butterfly and tingled like a bee, Muhammad Ali, commended the value of imagination when he said, "The man who has no imagination has no wings." After all, how can we rise to lofty heights, other than by the power of our imagination? Our imagination allows us to escalade above all limits. Numerous things all come up due to imagination. Perfect examples of such things is art, music etc neither art music nor requires any knowledge. What you have to do is involve your mind in deep imagination and you will come up with something brilliant. Was it not for imagination then we would not gain knowledge because we would not be able to think. In the Bible imagination is displayed in various occasions for example, in the first book, Genesis God uses imagination in the making of everything, Adam and Eve inclusive, the galaxy, the water bodies and even the mountains and valleys. Imagination is also seen in science for example: The Wright Brothers who built the first aircraft imagined voyage before they knew it was achievable. When device after device failed to see them travelling through the clouds, the two brothers predicted how they could better their airplane until one day they established the world's first continued voyage. Imagination helps each one to plan for some activities when we have no work. It helps us whenever we plan for a vacation, a trip or even our work the next day. Imagination is also used in describing something, in my seventh birthday I remember my dad asking me what I wanted for my birthday present. I engaged my mind in serious imagination and came up with a brilliant description of how I wanted my new bike to be like since my old one had already bored me.

On the July 20th 1969 the world watched a hypothetical fact become the best part in space flight and aeronautics. It was on this day that Neil Armstrong became the first human to walk on the moon and the imagined visualization of lunar walking became a part of human knowledge. In history we get to see the Trojan War which was between the Greek and the Trojan around the twelfth century BC. Although the Greek had the knowledge on how to fight, the Trojans for 9 years their cordon could not go through the city itself until, they anticipated a trap with a wooden stallion containing soldiers that they placed outside the gates of Troy as a reward. This gift allegedly heralded their give up. In fact, this inventive deception ensured their triumph. In the field of invention imagination is often a condition of knowledge. Imagination stirs the wish to spawn new knowledge to make an idea a certainty. For example, the microwave was invented after investigator Percy Spencer passed a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket. It was Spencer's formulation of new thoughts that led to the unadventurous oven cooker we use each and every single day.

Television was invented by John Baird in 1925 and was at first made from a lantern inside a biscuit container with lenses, timber and cord. The first television broadcast aired in 1930, even though it did not generate colored images until 1958 in the USA. Models kept on to be upgraded and bit by bit advanced quality picture and audio were available because flaws could be determined as imagination developed. Johann Gutenberg also imagined the innovatory printing press after observing an easy olive press. He invented this point and labor saving device for printing same text on several pieces of paper in about 1443. Though all of these inventions used already acquired knowledge, they took what was identified as a quantum step ahead. This required good imagination. Advancements in technology rely on the growth of new concepts to solve problems which are born by imagination.

In our language essays we use imagination to come up with brilliant and interesting stories. Knowledge here plays a small or rather no role here, because if you had knowledge and no imagination then all would be in vain. It's through imagination that we escape the world of reality for a second. Great films come about as a result of brilliant imagination and it's due to this imagination that a movie sells many copies. Taking an example of the movie 'Men In Black 3' it has a great and advanced sense of imagination in everything that is shown in the movie. Knowledge is only what we know but imagination does not have a limit as you can imagine of anything both practical or not. "I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge. That myth is more potent than history. That dreams are more dominant than facts. That hope always triumphs over experience. That laughter is the only cure for grief. And I consider that love is stronger than death." ― Robert Fulghum, even the great philosophers have the same line of thought as I do and I still strongly believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge.

Essay on Role of Science and Technology in Education

Posted in BlogSpot, Paragraphs and Articles by Abdullah On 27 May  2015.

We live in age of science and technology. Scientific inventions and modern day technologies have completely changed the human life and paving the way for our future. Science and Technology has added greatly to our material comforts. It has also quickened the tempo of life. It has given man an altogether new social and political outlook. Hence in this age the study of science is a necessity. Without such study a modern man is is like a bullock cart lumbering behind a motorized vehicle.

It should Begin at school – with the training of Observation

The study of science should begin early in life. The first steps should be to teach boys and girls the habit of observation. The child is always interested in trees, in flowers, in birds, in insects, in all the things that he sees around him. His curiosity in this regard should be fostered and developed. This can be done easily and naturally if teaching be related to those material objects that he is always seeing.

Knowledge of Technology should be imparted naturally in the form of answers to intelligent questions. At the initial stage, more can be taught in this way than mechanically through books and expositions.

And pass on to experiments 

After a kindergarten course of this kind, books on science and technology should be gradually introduced. Here also practice, demonstration, actual experiments should precede the study of theories. It is only after the mind is well trained with the help of examples and experiments that the explanations of theories should be attempted. In our country, the reverse method is largely followed. It means wastage of time. A student passes out by mere memory work, and as memory becomes faint, his knowledge becomes nebular, leaving him in his original state of ignorance.

Its influences on the Mind

The study of science and technology has an educative influence on the mind, and is of far-reaching importance. It makes one a lover of truth. It creates realistic attitude to life. It is also the enemy of superstition. A scientist depends on his powers of observation, reason for his knowledge of truth. By applying his reason to observed facts before believing in anything, he acquires patience and diligence. He thus lays the foundation of true knowledge.

Conclusion

The study of science and technology acts as a perpetual urge to acquire knowledge. It deepens our sense of the mystery of creation. The more we know of the secrets of nature, the more we realized how much remains unknown. Today scientists speak of the wonder of nature with a thrill of emotion.  We are learning as much of the secrets of the atoms in space as of the molecular cells in living organism.

So a modern curriculum of studies must include the study of science and technology, because the modern man needs a scientific mind in approaching the problems of life.

ESSAY ON ILLITERACY IN PAKISTAN

                            

“Are those equal, those who know and those who don’t know.”

1. INTRODUCTION:

It is now a universally recognized fact that mass education is a pre-requisite for the development and prosperity of a country. The main priority of the developing countries, in recent years has been to foster the development and renewal of primary education and to eliminate illiteracy. Pakistan, unfortunately, like the other under developed countries, has made little progress in this aspect. Since independence, she continues to remain in the group of countries with the lowest literacy rate.

Half of the world’s illiterate and 22 percent of the world’s population live in South Asia. Pakistan does not fare well on account of literacy within the region. Sri Lanka and Maldives have almost attained full literacy. The adult literacy rate for India is 61 as compared to 53 percent in Pakistan. India, according to a recent study done by the World Bank, has attained 100 percent Gross Enrollment ratio (GER) and 90 percent Net Enrollment Ratio (NER) at the primary level.

2. MEANING OF ILLITERACY:

For an Adult, illiteracy means primitive manual labour in agriculture and industry, uncertain employment opportunities and low wages, life-long miserable living conditions, and humiliating dependence on the literates of the community for the day-to-day civic and business interactions and deprivation in all walks of life. For adults illiteracy also means exclusion from most of economic, social and cultural activities.

For the Out-of-school Children, illiteracy means forced labour, vagrancy, sickness and slavery.

For Women, literacy is a survival kit and symbol of status. It means emancipation, participation in the decision making of the family and equality.

3. IMPORTANCE OF LITERACY:

Illiteracy is a small pane in a large window, opening into the world of knowledge based on reading and writing as one of the earliest cultural activities of mankind. Mankind’s civilization, and its accumulation, sharing and transmission of knowledge over the centuries has been made possible by written and readable words. Every Muslim knows that the first command revealed by Allah to the Holy Prophet of Islam Muhammad (PBUH) was ‘READ’. 

Literacy, over the centuries, has become the lever of human progress and the leveler of social and economic conditions. It is a basic human need, and human right to knowledge. Illiteracy is brake on human development, and maps of illiteracy – poverty, underdevelopment, social discrimination and disease are always co-incident. It is a challenge to human dignity and imposes a second-class status on a person in all societies. Life without literacy is life without hope, security and freedom.

4. CRITERIA FOR DETERMINING THE LITERACY STATUS:

The literacy status of a country is determined by the following parameters:

I. The existing level of literacy.

II. The rate on increment of new literates.

III. The volume of the education system’s output.

IV. The demographic factors engage structure, mortality and birth rate.

V. The last but not the least is the percentage of budget engaged for the education.

5. RAISING THE LITERACY RATE:

Countries have succeeded in raising their literacy rates by taking the following steps:

I. Universalization of primary education.

II. Providing non-formal primary education facilities for out of school youth and dropouts.

III. Launching countrywide programmes for adults backed by political leadership.

IV. Broad involvement of various social groups, institutions, public and voluntary organizations etc.

6. ILLITERACY SCENARIO IN PAKISTAN:

The picture of illiteracy in Pakistan is grim. Although successive governments have announced various programmes to promote literacy, especially among women, but they have been unable to translate their words into actions because of various political, social and cultural obstacles. Access to basic education is the right of every individual. Education is the most important instrument in enhancing human capabilities, and in achieving the desired objectives of economic development. Education enables individuals to make informed choices, broaden their horizons and opportunities and to have a voice in public decision-making. It is one of the most important factors that act as a counterweight to social and economic mobility imposed by cultural and historical biases. Education is a vehicle of nation building through which a nation’s shared interpretation of history and cultural values are reproduced across generations. At the country level, education means strong economic growth due to productive and skilled labor force. At the individual level, education is strongly correlated to higher returns in earning and a more informed and aware existence. The emerging global scenario offers immense opportunities and challenges, and only those nations can benefit from it, which have acquired the required knowledge base and skills.

There are 163,000 primary schools in Pakistan, of which merely 40,000 cater to girls. According to UNICEF, 17.6 per cent of Pakistani children are working and supporting their families.

7. CAUSES OF ILLITERACY IN PAKISTAN:

1) Half-hearted planning and management of literacy and continuing education.

2) Limited budget.

3) Lack of reliable statistics and research researchers.

4) Weak community participation.

5) Lack of multimedia material.

6) Lack of special skilled textbook writers.

7) Poor follow up of programmes.

8) In-service teachers do not take such work seriously.

9) Dependence on foreign aid.

10) Dropout rate is high.

11) Over-crowded classrooms.

12) Panacea of private sector.

13) Outdated curriculum.

14) Problems of higher education; brain drain etc.

15) Corruption.

16) Rote learning.

17) Unfair examinations.

18) Lack of adequate facilities such as clean water, electricity etc. in the rural schools.

8. EFFECTS OF ILLITERACY:

1) Over-population.

2) Low-GDP and per capita income.

3) Increase unskilled labour.

4) Infant mortality and maternal mortality.

5) Political instability.

6) Poor use of natural resources.

7) Heavy international debts.

8) Child labour.

9) Poor international image.

10) Low per acre agriculture yield.

11) Halting industrial growth and less trade activities.

9. PRESENT GOVERNMENT POLICY:

According to World Bank Report, Pakistan’s spending on public sector education is only 2.3 per cent of the GDP and this is much lower than the south Asian average of 3.6 per cent and the low-income countries’ average of 3.4 per cent

I. Millennium Development Goals (MDGs):

Pakistan has committed to all the International declaration to extend the agenda of providing the basic right of education to all of its citizens. Pakistan is among the signatories of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as well as the Dakar World Education Forum 2000. The Government of Pakistan has taken several policy and program initiatives to achieve these international goals since then. The National Plan of Action for Education for all was initiated in response to the commitment made at Dakar for World Summit. The Education Reform Action Plan (ESR), which is built upon the National Education Policy 1998-2010, is a long-term plan, with three yearly action plans. The ESR addresses the development of the overall education sector through investment in rehabilitation of schools, improving the curriculum and assessment reform system, an adult literacy campaign, mainstreaming the Madressahs, a pilot school nutrition program and technical stream in secondary schools. The Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) views education as a strong policy instrument in bringing poverty down. 

Three main goals that are the underlying objectives of all of these programs and initiatives include universal access to primary education by increasing the net enrollment and higher rate of survival of children till grade 5, increase in the adult literacy rate and to attain gender equality at all levels.

Currently, adult literacy rate is 53 percent; net enrollment at the primary level is 52 per cent, retention rate for 2004- 05 is noted as 61 per cent and significant gender gaps at all levels especially in the rural areas persist. Public spending on education as a percentage of GDP is 2.1 per cent and has approximately increased by less than one percentage point since 2000-01.

II. Education Institutions and Enrollment

Attainment of Universal Primary Education (UPE) has become a compelling national priority. This is a challenge that has been accepted at the highest level in the federal and provincial governments. UPE is anticipated to increase in access to education by 4%, reduction in gender disparity by 10% and enhancing primary completion rate by 5% per annum. In the past year, 2187 new primary schools were established, 1221 in the public sector and 881 in the private sector. This increase has occurred in both rural and urban areas. Statistical annexure table 9.1 and 9.2, show the number of the girls in the primary and middle school in year 2004-05. The expansion in the number of institutions is inconsistent with the need to provide easy access to the half the country’s school going population. The public sector was able to establish only 999 new primary schools for girls in 2004-05. The responsibility of expanding the primary and middle schools for girls has been devolved to District Governments under the devolution plan.

III. Primary education

Two main indicators that show the changes in the primary schooling are Gross Enrollment Rate (GER) and Net Enrolment rate (NER). The last four years have witnessed 14 percentage points increase in the gross primary enrollment which is more then 3 percentage point per annum increase on average. This increase from 72 percent in 2001-02 to 86 percent in 2004-05 is a result of targeted and resilient polices of the government. Adoption of free provision of universal basic education polices in the provinces (except Balochistan) is gradually delivering the promised increase in the enrolment rate. In the urban areas, the GER is impressive in all provinces, ranging from 84 percent in Balochistan to 108 percent in Punjab. In the rural areas, Punjab has made a marked progress, particularly in female GER, which increased from 61 percent in 2001-02 to 82 percent in 2004-05. The Gender gap has also seen an improvement at the primary level in Punjab and has been modest in Sindh, NWFP and Balochistan.

IV. Gender gap

Gender disparity in literacy and enrollment is one of the key concerns of the Government. Pakistan’s overall record in promoting and delivering gender equality has been weak. There are, however, areas in which significant progress has been made and indicators point to a steady though slow improvement in the ratio of girls to boys at all levels of education, the ratio of literate females to males, share of women in urban employment (as proxy indicator for share of women in wage employment in non-agricultural sector) has improved marginally and improvement in participation of women in national decision making process.

Statistics show that gender disparity has been declining since 1998-99, however the recent decline is only marginal from 26 percent in 2001-02 to 25 percent in 2004-05. Reducing gender gap in education at all level will ensure equality of opportunity and economic participation for females. Gender disparity in literacy is lower in urban areas where it is 16 percent, as compared to 29 percent in rural areas in 2004-05. In fact there has been no progress in reducing the gender gap either between the urban and rural areas or between genders in both areas.

V. Public Private Partnership

The Community Support Rural Schools Program (CSRSP) is NEF’s largest program and it encourages pilot innovations to promote education in rural areas. Notable among them are Child Friendly School Program and Education for Working Children. Currently, 260 schools are running under CSRSP with an enrollment of 23300 students and another 350 schools are established in 2005 supported by NORAD. Moreover, teacher training has been a significant component of CSRSP, with the goal to enable in-service community teachers to re-learn modern pedagogical principles and techniques to manage today’s classrooms.

VI. Higher Education Commission

Pakistan is ranked amongst the lowest in the world in higher education enrollment rates at 2.9 percent. Other Asian developing countries, such as India and Korea, stand at 10 percent and 68 percent respectively. According to a report of the steering committee for higher education in 2001, only 2.6 percent of the students between the ages 17-23 enrolled in universities, which have increased to 2.9 in 2005. The target is to double enrollment in the next five years by increasing the capacity of the existing higher education institutions and also establishing new ones. The quality of education provided is not up to the mark, which can be gauged from the fact that not a single Pakistani university is ranked among the top 500 universities of the world.

VII. Financing of Education in the public sector

Public expenditure on education as a percentage to GDP is lowest in Pakistan as compared to other countries of the South Asian region. Pakistan spends 2.1 percent of it’s GDP on education as compared to India which spends 4.1 percent, Bangladesh 2.4 percent and Nepal spends 3.4 percent.

VIII. National Education Assessment System

National Education Assessment System (NEAS) is a World Bank funded project with a total cost of Rs. 319.364 million including foreign exchange component with World Bank share of Rs. 273.110 million. The government of Pakistan is committed to improve the quality of education at all levels. The NEAS is one of the key programs of the Ministry meant to improve the quality of education at elementary level, with the objective to measure learning achievements of grade 4 and 5 students, to develop capacity in educational assessment related activities, to institutionalization of sustainable monitoring system and information dissemination.

IX. Curriculum Development

The curriculum development is an on going process to respond to global challenges and emerging trends. This process has been initiated in collaboration with the federal units and provincial and regional governments (AJ&K, FATA). The present government realizing the importance of vibrant and dynamic curriculum has decided to review /revise curriculum of class 1 to 8. The committee has initiated consultative meetings to develop a curriculum reflecting the latest trends in individual subjects as well as equipping the education of the country with the requirement of today and tomorrow.

10. SUGGESTIONS:

1) A uniform education policy.

2) Ability and merit must be declared as corner stones of our national life.

3) Adequate educational facilities.

4) Removal of fake schools; 23000 present in whole country.

5) Fair examination system.

6) Updated curriculum.

7) High standard of academic research.

8) Removal of corruption.

9) Training of teachers.

10) Removal of rote learning.

“Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave.”

CURRENT EDUCATION SYSTEM

“The struggle to raise a nation’s living standards is fought first and foremost in the classrooms.”

1. INTRODUCTION:

Birds and animals require teaching or training to lead a successful bird or animal life. They know how to make a home or shelter for themselves and how to keep themselves alive instinctively. The instinct of self-preservation is implanted by nature. They are given certain faculties, which develop, to their maximum level with their physical growth without much conscious efforts on their part or on the part of their parents. Not so with man. His intellectual growth depends on many outside factors and cannot attain maturity without long and deliberate efforts on his part and on the part of his well-wishers. A forest can grow itself but a garden cannot.

A flower is pretty by itself but a diamond requires a lot of cutting and polishing before it will sparkle and scintillate into thousand colours. Man is like a rough diamond and requires filling and polishing before all his faculties can function fully. Inevitably, in fact, education enables one to lead a better life physically, mentally and spiritually. Education helps iron out one’s emotions, prejudices, and idiosyncrasies to rationalize things rather objectively. This enables an individual to visualize his position in a society he lives and the world society as a whole.

The process of education can be regarded as a function of five M’s namely Man, Money, method, Management and Machinery. That is the short human expression of the major variables that figure in the educational process, though social milieu, reflecting attitude of society towards education.

2. GLOBAL EDUCATION SCENARIO:

Access to basic education is the right of every individual. Education is the most important instrument in enhancing human capabilities, and in achieving the desired objectives of economic development. Education enables individuals to make informed choices, broaden their horizons and opportunities and to have a voice in public decision-making. It is one of the most important factors that act as a counterweight to social and economic mobility imposed by cultural and historical biases. Education is a vehicle of nation building through which a nation’s shared interpretation of history and cultural values are reproduced across generations. At the country level, education means strong economic growth due to productive and skilled labor force. At the individual level, education is strongly correlated to higher returns in earning and a more informed and aware existence. The emerging global scenario offers immense opportunities and challenges, and only those nations can benefit from it, which have acquired the required knowledge base and skills.

3. EDUCATION SCENARIO IN SOUTH ASIA:

Half of the world’s illiterate and 22 percent of the world’s population live in South Asia. Pakistan does not fare well on account of literacy within the region. Sri Lanka and Maldives have almost attained full literacy. The adult literacy rate for India is 61 as compared to 53 percent in Pakistan. India, according to a recent study done by the World Bank, has attained 100 percent Gross Enrollment ratio (GER) and 90 percent Net Enrollment Ratio (NER) at the primary level.

4. LITERACY SCENARIO IN PAKISTAN:

(From page 25)

5. CAUSES OF ILLITERACY IN PAKISTAN:

(From page 25)

6. EFFECTS OF ILLITERACY:

(From page 25)

7. PRESENT GOVERNMENT POLICY:

(From page 25, 26, 27)

8. NEW SCHEME OF STUDIES:

• The federal education ministry on Thursday notified a new scheme of studies for classes I to XII, extending the number of annual academic days from 170 to 210 and making Islamiyat compulsory from class III-instead of class IV from next year.

• Non-Muslim students have been given the option to study ethics in place of Islamiyat.

• Computer education has been made compulsory from class VI. Physical training, arts and crafts, library sessions and after-school team sports have also been made compulsory.

• The number of academic days in a year has been increased from 170 to 210.

• The new scheme will be effective from 2007.

• Science and maths would be taught in English by 2011, it was notified.

• All middle schools will get computer labs within three years. Standard exams will be conducted at the end of class VIII to grant scholarships to students at the provincial and district levels.

• Under the new scheme, students of classes I and II will be taught Urdu, English, mathematics and general knowledge, which will include short stories from Islamic history, science and social studies.

• The provinces have the discretion to use their regional languages as medium of instruction and no student will be retained in classes I and II.

• From class VI onwards, science, geography, history and computer education will be taught in addition to other compulsory subjects. Maths, science and computer education will be taught in English, whereas, for geography and history the medium of instruction can be Urdu or English up to 2011.

• For classes IX and X in humanities group, Pakistan studies and three out of 22 elective subjects will be taught in addition to Urdu, English, maths and Islamiyat. An advanced Islamic study has been introduced as an elective subject.

• In the science group, physics, chemistry, biology and maths will be taught in English, whereas Islamiyat and Pakistan studies will be taught in Urdu.

• At the higher secondary school level, there will be five academic groups — science group-I (pre-medical), science group-II (pre-engineering or computer science), humanities, commerce, medical technology and home economics.

• In the pre-engineering group, maths, physics, chemistry or computer science will be taught in addition to the compulsory subjects of Islamiyat, Urdu and English.

• In the humanities group, three out of 24 elective subjects, including advanced level Pakistan studies and Islamic studies etc, will be offered in addition to the compulsory subjects.

• In the commerce group, business maths and statistics, principles of accounting, computer skills or banking, principles of economics and commercial geography will be taught in addition the three compulsory subjects.

• In the medical technology group, labs, images, operation theatre, ophthalmology, physiotherapy and dental hygiene technologies will be taught in addition to the compulsory subjects.

• In the home economics group, food and house management, food and nutrition, home farming, clothing, child development, group behaviour, childcare and nursing will be taught in addition the compulsory subjects.

9. SUGGESTIONS:

1) A uniform education policy.

2) Ability and merit must be declared as corner stones of our national life.

3) Adequate educational facilities.

4) Removal of fake schools; 23000 present in whole country.

5) Fair examination system.

6) Updated curriculum.

7) High standard of academic research.

8) Removal of corruption.

9) Training of teachers.

10) Removal of rote learning.

Life beyond Earth

For years the pantheon of characters dreamed up by science fiction writers has both excited and alarmed us. Taking the myth out of science fiction and into the realms of respectable science is the relatively new interdisciplinary field of astrobiology.

  

Saturn's largest moon Titan is home to oceans of methane which, unlike water on Earth, is not an ideal environment to sustain life.

What is life?

If we are going to look for life, we need to be able to define what it is that distinguishes living from non-living. Unfortunately for us, life defies simple definition.

There is no neat sentence that sums up what life is, no mathematical formula, no straightforward schematic. Instead we have resorted to describing life, with lists of characteristics that living things have. These familiar characteristics can be found in any biology text, and include cellular organisation, ability for growth and reproduction, heredity, metabolism, movement, and response to stimuli.

While all living organisms on Earth exhibit these characteristics, vexingly, so do some non-living entities. Fire can be said to metabolise, that is convert energy from one form to another, but fire is not alive. Crystals can reproduce, but they are not alive. Viruses are seemingly living when they take over the machinery of a host cell, but by themselves are not alive.

Although there are difficulties with the way we answer this most fundamental of questions, without some idea of what constitutes life, we will find it very difficult to go and look for it. So, while the clumsy definitions that we currently employ have a range of limitations, we do not have a great deal of choice but to use them in our search to see if we are the only creatures in the universe that exhibit this peculiar set of characteristics.

Origins of life on Earth

In the search for life beyond Earth, it's also important that we have some understanding of how and where life on Earth originated. As we can be 100% certain that life has emerged once in the universe, discovering the origins of life on this planet has the potential to tell us a great deal about the occurrence of life on others.

There are a number of theories on how life began on Earth. It may have cooked up in a primordial soup of increasingly complex compounds on the Earth's surface 3.5 billion years ago. Alternatively, it could have originated many miles underground in the exceedingly hot and chemically volatile regions of the Earth's still forming crust. It may have even arrived from space, riding in on one of the vast number of meteorites that impacted the surface of the newly formed earth. We can not be sure.

The latter theory, widely known as panspermia, has for the most part been widely disregarded. Recently, in light of findings such as the discovery of amino acids in the Murchison meteorite, and evidence of microfossils in a meteorite of Martian origin, the theory has undergone a resurgence of popularity.

Primordial Soup?

The primordial soup theory, while still popular, is losing some support in favour of the idea that life may have evolved deep in the Earth's crust.

Evolution of life on the surface of the relatively young Earth would have had a lot of obstacles to overcome, not least of which was frequent bombardment by meteorites and radiation. Although the subterranean environment would have provided shelter from bombardment, and allowed early life a reasonably uninterrupted chance to establish, the extreme conditions present there were thought to be too harsh for life to exist. Now, with the relatively recent discovery of a totally new order of life, known as Archaea, this belief is being reviewed.

Archaean microbes live in environments of extreme temperature, pressure, salinity and pH. Broadly termed extremophiles, the different groups have been given equally inventive names to describe their particular habitat. Thermophiles live in temperatures of 50-80°C, while hyperthermophiles have been found in the temperature range 80-115°C. On the other end of the scale are the psychrophiles, which live at temperatures of around -2°C. Halophiles live in very saline environments. Barophiles live in high pressure environments (up to 110 Mpa). Acidophiles live in conditions where pH ranges from 0.7-4, while alkalophiles can be found in pH ranges of 8-12.5.

The interest in these organisms, apart from the very novelty of their existence, is that the inhospitable conditions in which they thrive may be similar to what Earth was like 1 billion years or so after its formation. The discovery of extremeophiles lends a great deal of support to the theory that life may have emerged on Earth in the high pressure, high temperature, chemically volatile depths of the planet, and only emerged once things had settled down on the surface.

If this is the case, and life could have emerged in such unfriendly conditions on Earth, why couldn't the same be said for other planets that until now were thought not to be suitable for life?

What's the chance of life beyond Earth?

"If science fiction authors and Star Trek writers can envision life as we don't know it ... then surely the Universe is equally creative." — Michael Lemonick

It was recently estimated that there are 70 thousand million million million observable stars in the universe, not to mention those that are beyond our detection. Given this, it is my personal belief is that we are not alone in the universe. There's no real science behind this belief, but to me the size and numbers involved seem to indicate that there is more than a fair chance that there is life, intelligent or otherwise, somewhere out there. Otherwise, it would be an incredible waste of space.

There are, of course, many people who are more scientific in their approach to determining the existence of life beyond earth than I am. One such person is Frank Drake. Currently Chairman of the Board of the SETI Institute, in 1961 he developed the now famous Drake equation, which for the first time attempted to quantify the probability of detecting life (in this case, intelligent life) beyond Earth.

The Drake equation basically states that the number of civilizations we could detect will depend on the rate at which stars like our sun form, then the fraction of these stars that form planets, then the number of these planets that are hospitable to life, then the number of these planets where life actually emerges, then the number of these planets were life evolves to develop intelligence, then the fraction of these planets where interstellar communication evolves and, finally, the time that communication is carried on for before these intelligent civilizations die out or stop trying. More succinctly, the equation looks like:

The Drake equation - N = R* F_p N_e F_l F_i F_c L

Where:

N the number of detectable civilizations

R* the rate at which Sun-like stars form

F_p the fraction of stars that form planets

N_e the number of planets per solar system hospitable to life

F_l the fraction of planets where life emerges

F_i the fraction of life bearing planets where intelligence evolves

F_c the fraction of such planets where the inhabitants develop interstellar communication

L the length of time such civilizations continue to communicate before they end

Not only does the Drake equation convert the question of the existence of extraterrestrial neighbours from one of metaphysics to hard science, but it gives those looking for life beyond Earth a place to start.

What are we looking for?

It's accepted that life on Earth is highly unlikely to be representative of all life in the universe, but we have to start somewhere.

The most basic requirement of life on Earth is the presence of liquid water. Water is important to life because, in liquid form, it is an excellent medium for carrying chemical and biological compounds. It is also stable as a liquid over a wide temperature range, a temperature range that (conveniently) accommodates a wide range of biological processes. In identifying places where life may exist, astrobiologists are looking for signs of water, particularly in liquid form.

Astrobiologists are also looking for the right cosmic chemistry in their search for life. The presence of organic (carbon) compounds, while not conclusive, could be suggestive of life. Atmospheric concentrations of certain substances could also be indicative of living organisms. Oxygen and methane, for example, are both found in our atmosphere, but are both highly reactive molecules. Their individual presence suggests that molecules are being constantly produced to replenish the numbers in the atmosphere, and the source of this replenishment could be life.

Given that life did emerge and evolve on Earth, it seems a logical step to look for Earth-like planets as potential hosts for extraterrestrial life. These planets would be of a similar age and size to Earth, and orbit a similar distance from sun-like stars — far enough away from the star that any water present doesn't evaporate, but close enough that it doesn't freeze.

If there are highly evolved life forms out there we may even intercept signals from them. This search is the whole premise of the SETI program - the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. Rather than looking for chemical and biological artefacts, SETI scientists are aiming to make contact with ETI through radio astronomy.

Of course, finding all of these things does not mean that we should not expect to find life forms (particularly evolved or higher life forms) that are in any way similar to life as we know it. The Earth's biota is the result of a set of unique conditions shaping the products of the natural life giving processes — the laws of chance dictate that finding a planet whose population has survived five great extinction events, not to mention geological, meteorological , physical, chemical and biological conditions that ensued as a result of each other, is exceedingly slim, and even if we did, the probability of life beyond Earth following exactly the same evolutionary pathway is too remote to contemplate.

Where are we looking?

On Earth

Although it may seem an odd place to look for our extraterrestrial neighbours, there are a vast number of astrobiological projects taking place here on Earth. Apart from being easier to access and a whole lot cheaper to study than sites in deep space, the terrestrial laboratory that is our planet provides an array of fascinating opportunities for astrobiologists. Extremophile studies may help to unlock the origin of life on Earth, and so offer insights into life beyond it. Animal communication studies utilising information theory, which allows the complexity of a given signal to be measured, will hopefully allow us to identify the long awaited signal from space once it comes from random noise.

Other studies that are being undertaken involve examining materials from space that we find here on Earth. Over 22,000 meteorites have been discovered on Earth, including 28 of Martian origin. As mentioned earlier, studies of these meteorites have broadened our ideas about the beginnings of life, and about its distribution in the solar system and beyond.

These lines of enquiry are but a few of the many being examined on Earth in the search for life beyond it. NASA's astrobiology site gives details of many more.

In the Solar System

Mars

Mars has always been a favourite source of speculation when it comes to extraterrestrial life. Its proximity means that it is also a target for scientific expeditions. Since 1960 there have been 34 missions to Mars.

Of the successful ones (16 have failed), four have involved landing spacecraft on the surface of Mars. In 1971 the first Martian landing was accomplished by the Soviet Mars 3 mission. Although only broadcasting information for 20 seconds, landing a craft on another planet was a huge success. NASA followed with the successful deployment of two orbiter-lander pairs in 1976 — Viking 1 and Viking 2. The landers conducted experiments looking for signs of life, but found no conclusive proof at their landing sites. Most recently, the Carl Sagan Memorial Station lander and Sojourner rover of NASA's 1997 Pathfinder mission collected information suggesting that Mars was at one time warm and wet — conditions suitable for life.

Mars is again the destination du jour with three separate craft winging their way to the red planet. The European Space Agency (ESA) launched its Mars Express mission in June 2003, with the primary objective being the search for subsurface water. The Mars Express spacecraft is carrying the Beagle 2 lander which will perform exobiological and geochemical research after it lands on the Martian surface in December 2003. NASA's Mars Exploration Rover program is also looking for signs of water, and has two separate rovers on their way to Mars. Spirit, launched in June 2003, and Opportunity, launched in July 2003 are set to arrive at their destination in January 2004.

In addition to the missions landing on the surface of the red planet, there have been a number of orbiting spacecraft sent to try and unlock some of its mystery. At present the Japanese spacecraft Nozomi is on its way there. Although plagued with problems since its launch in 1998, it is hoped that Nozomi will make it to Mars where it will study the upper Martian atmosphere. A summary of all missions to Mars, past and present, is on the NASA website.

Europa

Europa is one of the four large "Galilean satellites" orbiting Jupiter. Although it is the smallest of these satellites, Europa is still the sixth largest satellite in the solar system, only slightly smaller than our own moon. Europa has a relatively smooth, icy surface under which there is good evidence for the presence of liquid or semi-liquid "oceans". As liquid water is one of the key signs of potential life beyond Earth, Europa has caused a great deal of excitement in astrobiological circles.

Pioneer 10 and 11, and Voyager spacecraft have flown by Jupiter, but Galileo has given us the most information about Europa. Galileo was launched in October 1989, and after arriving at Jupiter in July 1995, made 11 orbits of Jupiter and its moons over the two year period of its prime mission. In addition, a probe was sent plummeting through the Jovian atmosphere early in the mission, where it recorded 58 minutes of data before being destroyed by the harsh conditions it encountered. In 1997 after the prime mission was completed Galileo completed an additional 14 orbits, eight of which were around Europa.

Titan

Titan is Saturn's largest moon, and it is believed that the atmospheric composition (nitrogen, methane, ammonia and argon) and surface conditions might be similar to those that we would have found on Earth when life was first emerging.

Pioneer 11 made the first direct observations of Saturn in 1979, with the two Voyager spacecraft following in 1980-81. These spacecraft took photographs of Titan (although the hazy atmosphere of the moon obscured the surface) and obtained atmospheric pressure and composition readings.

The latest mission to head to Saturn is Cassini-Huygens, an international collaboration between NASA and the ESA. Scheduled to reach Saturn in the second half of 2004, the craft consists of the Cassini orbiter (NASA), and the Huygens probe (ESA). On arrival, the Huygens probe will be deployed to the surface of Titan, where it will relay information about what it finds to the Cassini orbiter. This part of the mission is expected to last for four hours. The Cassini orbiter will continue to orbit Saturn and its moons for another four years.

Beyond the Solar System

Earth-like planets

Although more than 100 planets have been found orbiting stars outside of our solar system, they have all been more "Jupiter-like" than "Earth-like". At present, we do not have sensitive enough equipment to detect the presence of relatively tiny planets like Earth. A number of missions are being planned in an attempt to overcome these limitations such as NASA's Terrestrial Planet Finder which it is hoped will be implemented in 2006, and the ESA's Darwin mission, to be launched in 2014.

Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI)

Perhaps the most well known search for life beyond earth is the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. Projects under the SETI banner are not just looking life beyond earth, but highly evolved, intelligent life.

The search is based on the premise that the intelligent civilizations will be either deliberately or inadvertently transmitting signals that we will be able to detect on earth. The largest program being undertaken at present is Project Phoenix. Starting in 1995 at the Parkes Radio Telescope in Australia, the program is now based at the world's largest single-dish radio telescope at Arecibo in Puerto Rico. It involves the systematic scrutiny of space in the vicinity of sun-like stars. To date approximately half of the target stars have been investigated with no success. However, there are still an awful lot of stars to go...

... so the search continues

The search for life beyond earth is potentially one of the most exciting, illuminating and confronting pieces of science ever to be undertaken. Its success will change the face of science and life as we know it forever. The journey through space and time that this success could take us on has profound implications, but none more so I suspect, than the realisation that at the end of the day, there's no place like home. Maybe then we'll give our own planet the care and attention it deserves.