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I love learning about space. It’s so fascinating: there’s so much out there. I’d be beyond thrilled if I could just go up in orbit for an hour and see our beautiful home planet from above and get a better look at the stars from a different vantage point. So I appreciate nonfiction that gives me more insight into space, and I generally enjoy fiction set in space. Given that, I couldn’t resist picking up this nonfiction book about scientists looking for other planets that could host life.
The author of Alien Earths is an astrophysicist who is the founding director of Cornell University’s Carl Sagan Institute. She shares some of her background and talks about the many things that piqued her interest in space and the search for other planets. Kaltenegger’s interests and accomplishments certainly indicate she is a brilliant and curious woman.
It’s interesting to read about the various facets of science that she researches and the types of other scientists with whom she collaborates. For instance, readers may not think about how much biology comes into play in her field. But if you think a bit longer about it, it does seem a bit obvious that it must, since if we’re looking for signs of life on other worlds, we need to define (and study) life on our own planet!
Kaltenegger explains how scientists find stars and planets circling them, even though they’re many, many light-years away. Quick hint at one way they do that: look for wobbles.
She also talks about how even if we are able to see signs of possible life on planets far, far away — or if aliens were to see signs of life here — it would be signs of life from (likely) hundreds or thousands of years ago because of the light-year distances that will (again, likely) be involved. I have to say that when Kaltenegger explored that idea a bit toward the end of the book, it took me on a fascinating train of thought. Because of those extreme distances and the speed of light, we have to think differently about time and space. Rather than thinking about “now,” we have to think about past or future. I’m simplifying these ideas quite a bit here for all kinds of reasons, but suffice it to say it is a touch mind-bending.
I appreciated much of what Kaltenegger wrote about in Alien Earths, but I wasn’t glued to it, to be honest. I felt it was dry at times, though she was trying to inject a lot of personality and personal experiences into it throughout. While I do love science and books written for the general public on scientific subjects aren’t difficult for me to follow, this book still felt a bit too textbook-ish sometimes. I had to read it in smaller bites in between some other books to get through it. I can’t say that will be the case for other scientifically minded readers, however.
Rated: None.
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