Customer Reviews

The Search for Life in the Universe (Third Edition)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is used as a text by the University of North Dakota Space Studies program where I was exposed to its content. It is an excellent book filled with the recent nuggets of information about the search for life in the universe. It is an excellent guide to understanding the cosmos in galatic and down-to-Earth terms. This book can be read for pure pleasure as well as for general knowledge of astrobilogy and astronomy.

The book deals with everything from the formation of stars and planets, to how life formed, to even the best ways to search for life and the odds of life being on other planets. It goes step by step, is easy to understand and even has review questions at the end of each chapter (along with a summary). Lots of photos, some in color, along with figures and tables to help explain and give more details. Great for people who want to understand the reasons people are searching for life on other planets, but also great for just understand the science of life on our planet too. All that and humor too.

The new edition of this book still is by far the most comprehensive introduction to Bioastronomy, touching almost every branch of science along the exciting path it follows. Remaining firmly grounded in science it shows that reality is so fantastic that it is in no way necessary to fantasize up facts and fictions. Science still is one of the greatest adventures of mankind, and the search for life in space is one of its most stimulating branches. It also is a good motivation for young college students from other subjects to further their knowledge in science - which is necessary because we live in a science dominated world.

Stefan Thiesen www.bioastronomie.de

The second edition is a good book but some of the information is a little outdated as we have now found many exoplanets.
The second edition INMO is a good textbook to teach general science, astronomy, some chemistry and some physics to a high school class or maybe parts to a freshman college science course. The essential science does not go out of date like the various methods scientists use to find the distance to stars and their compositions. There are nice colored pictures of galaxies, nebulae and star clusters as well as an assortment of black and white photos and diagrams.

The use of the scientific method and experiment verification is discussed and why it so important to scientific investigation. Early theories of the origin of life are discussed. The loss of being able to verify life's origin on earth is discussed as the earths surface has weathered and much of the surface has been brought back under the earths crust so its impossible to verify possible earth's earliest life. Mars is discussed as a place to possibly find answers.

The best chapter for me was the Search for Life in the solar system. I have a keen interest in Mars.
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Different areas of different kinds of galaxies are discussed and the best places where to find life are discussed. Some areas are too new..only a few hundred million years old. Too young for life to form. Other areas are too violent, being riped apart and would not be good places for life. The vastness of space, the billions of galaxies and the trillions of stars are discussed. Just in sheer probability there MUST be other life. The difficulty of either us or "them" contacting each other is discussed due to the enormous distances involved.

I really LOVED the picture of "The First Baby on Mars" by Jon Lomberg on page 250 of a human baby being held by a woman's hands looking out a plate of glass window at the landscape of Mars. The baby's face is reflected back and a small Earth and possible Moon can be seen over the baby's reflected head. This one picture was worth the price of the book.

Part 5 was good too... The search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. About half the information I already knew but it was an excellent review. The book is 530 pages but reads quick and well. No difficult math. I got the second edition used for $1 plus shipping.

The third edition is probably better as some of the material will be updated. If you can get the third edition at a good price get that one. If not get the second edition at very low cost as much of the science and research will not have changed. The second edition rated 4 stars. A very good book.

June 2.... side note. Just bought and ordered a print of "The First Baby on Mars" from Jon Lomberg. As a life Mars Society member for me it was a must have. Glad to have seen the picture first in the book "The Search for life In the Universe"!

If you're a fan of Astronomy as a discipline, aren't a scientist and are curious as to whether or not and how there might be other life in the universe, this book is as good as it gets! It starts with many of the basics, but is not so "dumbed down" that you feel like you're reading a newspaper article, but a substantive paper. It isn't filled with too much "technobabble" so that someone who doesn't have a background in the sciences of more than a class or two will get lost. The book leaves virtually no stone unturned. By that I mean that when I read the book, I thought something like, "well, I get THAT, but what about ______?" In almost every instance it was as if they were reading my mind because in very short order they addressed my question. It is clear that they have taken feedback from students and colleagues seriously in writing this edition (3rd). The only problem that I had with the book was that some of the information was a bit dated. For example, Cassini has already arrived at Saturn and dropped its probe into Titan's atmosphere. I would estimate that the 3rd edition is about 4 years behind the latest discoveries. However, can they really be blamed for that? I would expect that they would update their textbook in a few years so that all of the latest discoveries are present. If you love astronomy and want to learn more about the scientific reasoning about the likelihood of life elsewhere in the universe BUY THIS BOOK!

This book really explaines in simple language how scientists work on this search. It is written in a way that keeps your interest on top all the way.