Lonely Planets: The Natural Philosophy of Alien Life

David Grinspoon is a protégé of Carl Sagan, and has quite ably taken it on himself to continue his mentor's quest for making science palatable to the masses. Grinspoon may have even beaten the master here, as he can ably combine science, culture, and religion without Sagan's Achilles Heels of condescension and strict anti-spirituality. In this fascinating book, Grinspoon takes us on a fantastic voyage of speculative thought mixed with real science concerning the possibilities of intelligent life in the universe. This is a true return to "natural philosophy" as Grinspoon is not afraid to tackle the larger spiritual and existential issues that are usually frowned upon by scientists.After a pretty interesting history of belief in extraterrestrials, Grinspoon offers an excellent summary of all the branches of science that are involved with this new field of "astrobiology," or the study of possible alien life. Comparative planetology, physics, and geology play a large role in determining how many worlds out there would be capable of supporting life (Jupiter's moon Europa is the current local favorite). From biology we find that we don't really know exactly what life is, and we should not necessarily expect aliens to be dependent on water and oxygen. The final parts of the book, dealing with religion, psychology, and sociology (including some debunking of ufology and other fads) show that we cannot expect aliens to be similar to us in any of those areas, and they may be so different from us culturally, mentally, and physically that we may not even recognize them as other intelligent life forms, especially when they are likely to be more advanced than us.Grinspoon has taken great pains not to sound like a stiff scientist but like a regular guy who can rap with the masses, a mission that he sometimes takes a little too far. We get language like "our punk little moon" and "you follow, G?" as well as at least two footnotes mentioning pot smokers and an endless supply of cheesy jokes. Also, the tail end of the book slows down a bit with some rather drifty explorations on the meaning of humanity in the universe and how we would react to alien life. But in the long run, Grinspoon is a brilliant thinker on all matters of science and humanity, and he is a true natural philosopher rather than a mere scientist. As for those possible aliens, I beg them to come for a visit. It's getting boring around here. [~doomsdayer520~]

I picked up "Lonely Planets" on a whim, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Grinspoon is a planetologist first, and the best part of this book lies in the author's descriptions of Venus (which he has studied intensively in his own career), Mars, Europa and other moons and planets in our solar system. Mars and Venus are probably but not certainly lifeless, but Europa--well, there's an interesting world, which may have a liquid ocean and life beneath a miles thick layer of ice. Scientists think enough of the possibility that they crashed the aging Galileo space probe into Jupiter's atmosphere rather than run the risk that it might someoday collide with (and possibly contaminate) Europa.The balance of "Lonely Planets" reviews the history of philosophical and scientific thinking about the prospect of life on other worlds, the conditions that might give rise to life, the prospect of intelligent life evolving on other worlds (or even on this one), and the means by which "advanced" civilizations might communicate with each other. The questions raised are thought provoking. Is life on Earth a unique phenomenon, or is it possible (likely?) that life also developed on other worlds? Is all life (or at least the life in this part of the galaxy) related by virtue of accidental or intentional "panspermia"? If life exists elsewhere, is it likely to be carbon-based, or will some other element do the trick? Does life always evolve toward intelligence as we understand it, or does it usually remain simple and gooey? If there are advanced civilizations on other worlds, why don't they call or write? Are we not cute enough (or smart enough)? Maybe other forms of intelligent life just aren't talkative--or if they are, we can't figure out how to communicate with them, or them with us (when was the last time you had a chat with a whale or dolphin?) Are alien visitors already here, or are people just imagining things?Grinspoon does a good job of illuminating these and other fascinating questions. His style is conversational and friendly, which is not a bad trick for a rocket scientist. On the whole, a good, approachable introduction to what may be the most important scientific question of our time. If we conclude that there is life on other worlds, that's amazing; and if we learn that there isn't any life on other worlds, that's amazing, too.

What planetologist David Grinspoon is working on in this book is similar to the consilience that biologist Edward O. Wilson talked about in his book of that name and what C.P. Snow dreamed about in his discussions of the two academic cultures half a century ago. But what Grinspoon is reconciling is the informed and creative speculation of the human mind with the rigorous requirements of scientific orthodoxy. He uses the almost forgotten term "natural philosophy" as a means to the end of reconciling the dreamer in his soul with the scientist in his head.Grinspoon represents a new breed of scientist not afraid to speculate aloud and in public about matters that cannot be proven, to joke about them, to relate to them personally and passionately, and to say that it shouldn't be career-threatening for a scientist to venture into the realm of the unknown.He realizes how complex and wondrous is all that we know and especially all that we don't know, and that in a world of uncertainty one can still make decisions and speculate while recognizing that there is a place where science ends and natural philosophy begins. In this regard is a nice quote from Bertrand Russell:"When one admits that nothing is certain one must, I think, also add that some things are more nearly certain than others." (p. 374)This is perhaps Grinspoon's major point. He seeks to separate not just pseudoscience from science, but the likely from the unlikely, and to allow the unproven to remain the unproven but without prejudice. He admits his biases and he gives his reasons for them. At the same time he allows that he could be wrong and hopes that in some cases he is. "Aliens on the White House lawn?--Not yet, but it could happen," might be a fair way to summarize Grinspoon's position.This book is about why we think about alien life (which is in some sense just a metaphor for the unknown) and how our emphasis and focus have changed over time, and what we know and what we don't know, and what the prospects are for finding answers. Grinspoon is clearly on the side of the angels in spirit, but with the Skeptical Inquirer in cognition.Grinspoon knows that the new science, like the new music, always sounds discordant to the establishment. But because he comes from a personal culture steeped in the ideas of Carl Sagan, Isaac Asimov, Olaf Stapledon, Arthur C. Clarke, Robert Heinlein, etc., not to mention Stanley Kubrick and Steven Spielberg, Bob Dylan and Jerry Steinfeld and, yes, even Madonna, he doesn't care. Let the establishment cope with the new sciences of complexity, astrobiology, chaos, and let them grapple with the inadequate definitions of "life" and "consciousness." Let them rankle at Gaia and squirm at group selection. Grinspoon wants to go beyond that. He wants us to become one of the "immortals"--civilizations so advanced and in tune with the cosmos that they will never die until the universe grows cold, and maybe not even then.Here are some examples of Grinspoon's

David Grinspoon has written the book I wanted to write, and he's done it so very well that I'll be forever thankful I never got to it! David's style is so direct, so personal, and so punctuated with delightful humor that it's like sitting in his living room with him. At the same time he is dealing with cutting edge scientific knowledge in the revolutionary field of astrobiology and he speaks of it from understanding his science at depth.David covers the subject from the Epicureans of ancient Greece to the SETI Institute while passing informatively through the Copernican revolution, up to the minute astrophysics, the origins of DNA, crop circles and alien abductions along the way. If you want to know what we know today, and how we got here, this book puts it all, not only into perspective, but into relationship.What's particularly wonderful about David's approach in this book is that he is willing to look at and deal with things which other scientific writers are unwilling to touch. He makes quite clear when he's off into speculation or his own musings on the more controversial subjects, but he nevertheless digs into them. I found myself again and again nodding my affirmation (or more truthfully, interrupting my wife to read a paragraph to her) as he approached some of the more bizarre ideas that circulate in the public mind with sympathetic understanding while not compromising his scientific grounding. David closes the book by diving into those things we all wonder about when we let our kid come out; are we alone, who else might be "out there", will we ever make contact, and how are we related? Are we part of the plan of the universe or some freak of circumstance? The latter seeming vanishingly improbable, the unavoidable question then becomes, where are "they"? Is there some rite of passage required by the Universe for us to qualify for cosmic citizenship? Great questions to grapple with and a terrific author to hold hands with in doing so.

I loved Dave's book. He covers the debate about the possibility of alien life from every angle, thoughtfully and with a strong sense of humor. I appreciate the perspective that he brings to the issues- not only is he a scientist, but he is a musician, an explorer, and he has a deep love for culture and subculture. I know quite a few planetary scientists, and I find them in almost complete agreement on the mathematical probability that other sentient life evolved somewhere in the universe. If you run the numbers, as Dave does quite entertainingly in this book, you see how far-fetched it is to assume that we occupy the only planet in the ENTIRE UNIVERSE with organized civilisations of life forms. The universe is freaking gigantic. It's huge! And we have only the sketchiest idea of what might be out there.I found his discussions of the various alien abduction subcultures and the people who talk about government coverups of crashed ships to be very sympathetic to the cause, and I followed him through the book with anticipation, wondering how he would come down on the myriad of issues. What's real? What's crazy? What might be out there that we can't even fathom?Get the book, you'll love it. Even if you never watched Star Trek.