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Paperback Alien Life: The Search for Extraterrestrials and Beyond Book

ISBN: 0738208817

ISBN13: 9780738208817

Alien Life: The Search for Extraterrestrials and Beyond

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Format: Paperback

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Book Overview

Pointing up to the heavens, today's cutting-edge radio telescopes scan the cosmos for any signal that may indicate alien life, as tantalizing prospects lead us further along our quest. Already we may have found microbes in meteorites from Mars. As Parker points out, three of Jupiter's moons are now known to contain ice and liquid water - leading some scientists to believe that perhaps under this ice lie hidden areas teeming with aquatic life. After discovering planets outside our solar system, astronomers believe that other "suns" may exist capable of supporting planets that harbor alien life-forms. Beyond making contact, Parker stresses that disaster surely awaits us on Earth as its ever-growing population depletes our planet's natural resources. He delineates the plans to mine treasures in space, generate power on distant bodies, and establish thriving communities in space. We can control our alien searches in space, but what if they find us first? Have we already been visited? Have humanoid creatures with large black eyes actually hovered over our towns? How do we account for eyewitness reports of bizarre glowing lights, "scorched" patterns on crop fields, and alleged abductions? Parker investigates the truth surrounding these visits and discusses the UFO phenomenon.

Customer Reviews

3 ratings

A readable basic introduction at the high school level

People looking for a simple introduction to the question of extraterrestrial life will find this book easy to read. Physics professor Parker begins with basic descriptions of life on Earth. He then devotes three chapters to Mars, including the possible existence of microfossils in a chunk of Mars that hit the Earth as a meteorite. Parker moves on to extrasolar planets and the radio search for extraterrestrial intelligence. After touching on interstellar flight, he closes with a discussion of the claim that Earth has been visited by aliens. All this adds up to a broad brush overview, leaving out most of the detailed arguments associated with this question. The writing, which avoids equations and elaborate statistics, seems to be aimed at the high school level. Some of the black and white illustrations, particularly the caricatures of scientists, are surprisingly crude.

General scientific introduction to the search for alien life

This book treats the topics of alien lives which usually appear only in science fiction novels. Contrary to the conventionality, the auther dares to challange this topic using the various aspects of scientific knowledges. Because there are virtually no evidence for the alien lives, these scientific knowledges are not fully utilized for solving the puzzles of alien lives or the related topics such as UFOs. However, this book teaches us the present state of scientific knowledges and the methods how to use them. This book is especially recommendable for young amateur astronomers or students who wish to be scentists in future.

Easy to read, balanced and highly recommended

Alien Life is an easy-to-understand survey of alien life. It goes from the biochemical origin of life on earth to possible Mars microfossils to the Drake formula to SETI to spaceflight to other suns with some discussion (dismissive but respectful) of UFOs. Parker is a scientist (Professor of Physics and Astronomy) but can write like a journalist; so the book is authoritative yet so well written that it almost breezes along in places. The whole presentation is very evenhanded. I like that. Too often I have purchased books that were peddling one point of view and shading the evidence without me knowing it until later. Not here though. Parker discusses pros and cons of several points of view, keeping the discussion balanced while making it all lively and interesting. Highly recommended.
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