14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Kla-too Barada Nik-toe, June 9, 2001
This book finds polymath Clifford Pickover at nearly the top of his game. This is a wide-ranging exploration of alien-related topics from science and popular culture. The book is organized into 9 chapters, each dealing with a different aspect of "alien-ness".
Liberal use of material from science fiction literature (including Pickover's own SF books) provide a good contrast to the hard science also on display here. Very nicely done black and white illustrations from many sources are a plus.
The chapter on 'Appearance' goes beyond the obvious 'they won't look like us'. Pickover meditates on the many exotic shapes of life on our own planet, and discusses symmetry, brain location, and appendages. In 'Senses', he speculates on how aliens might 'smell' and 'see' their own environment. He makes the interesting proposition that the first aliens that we meet will likely be 'immortals'.
Like much of good science fiction, he describes in some detail the extreme 'Environments' in which aliens might live, using earth geology as a starting point. He discusses life as we know it in very hot, cold, airless, acidic, alkaline, salty, high pressure, and dry conditions. He then proceeds to speculate on environments as inhospitable (relatively) as a high gravity Brown Dwarf, and the vacuum of space.
In 'Origins' he discusses earth-based molecular biology as well as the theory of panspermia. He also considers the likelihood that meteorites and comets have been important mechanisms for dispersing some of the keys elements for life. He concludes this discussion closer to home with some speculation on the kinds of life we will find on Io, Ganymede, Europa, and Mars (when we get there).
He posits that our initial 'Communication' will likely be mathematical in form; although, he does allow for the possibility of finding some kind of genetic message first. He is a strong advocate of the work done by SETI. The book generously includes a description of how to build an amateur SETI system.
In the section on 'Travel' I found a wondrously simple explanation of TACHYONS (I've wondered about them since my first Star Trek episode in 1966). Pickover surveys the physics of high speed travel, distance and death.
He wraps the book with a skeptical discussion of (what else?) 'Alien Abduction'. He branches off here into one of his favorite topics, temporal lobe epilepsy.
Numerous references to popular culture (television & movies) will date the material eventually. Chapter notes are as interesting as the main text; very good bibliography and table of contents.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Generates a sense of wonder, January 20, 1999
This review is from: The Science Of Aliens (Hardcover)
Dr Clifford Pickover's book "Science of Aliens" evokes a sense of wonder often absent in much so called science *fiction* these days, especially the political wranglings of humans dressed in funny rubber make up kits in Star Trek, X Files or Babylon 5.
He discusses issues such as whether aliens will offer humanity immortality as means of subduing our warlike nature. Even more mind stretching is the possibility that when all matter is exhausted in the universe after 10^100 years, there will still exist a "diffuse sea of electrons". He evokes questions such as: Could these be arranged into structures to contain the intelligence of immortals left over from the age of matter? Could these structures simulate universes of matter that appear to their inhabitants to be like the universe we currently inhabit? On the basis that most of the lifespan of the universe will be spent in this state, it is in fact more probable that we inhabit such a simulation than the real thing!
Dr Pickover speculates further about way life could survive in this post-matter age of the universe in "Science of Aliens".
Science of Aliens is an easy fun to read type of book. It may not be the first book to touch on each topic within it, but it does collect them together in a format and with a title to attract new readers into thinking about.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good, with annoyances, February 19, 2009
Over all, the book has some good information, and makes you think about things. For that alone, it's decent. I had to mark it down, though, because after awhile, the author's constant references to his other books becomes very annoying.
The reason it lost another star with me is that near the end, it becomes rambling, particularly where a couple of pages go off on a tangent about how the author feels about alien abduction theories.
It was a worthwhile read, but I'm glad I checked it out at the library, rather than bought it.
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