Gr 5-7--A sampling of early human attempts at space travel and astronomical observations leads readers to a thorough examination of recent and potential discoveries and the difficulties that need to be overcome. The vast distances between the sun and all other stars currently pose insurmountable problems for exploring the reaches of our solar system, yet theories involving "frozen" astronauts or generations of space colonists on a traveling station are proposed. Descriptions of UFO sightings throughout history open a lengthy discussion of the feasibility of our establishing contact with extraterrestrial life-forms through radio waves. Despite past discouraging results, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) plans to increase its scope to include Internet users, promising greater potential for useful evidence. Fradin stresses that even if life on Earth is found to be unique in the universe, this finding can be as dramatic as the alternative. This title includes impressive, current photographs, such as those of possible Martian fossil life-forms in a meteorite found on Earth and of the sensational Mars Pathfinder that landed on the Red Planet in 1997. A list of "Numbers, Measures, and Conversions" is appended and the list for further reading includes two CD ROMs. This is a fine and sensible adjunct to the myriad UFO and alien-abduction accounts, which present subjective experiences rather than scientific evidence.
Ann G. Brouse, Big Flats Branch Library, NY
Copyright 1998 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Product Description
Examines the history of our beliefs regarding extraterrestrial life and our continuing efforts to explore outer space.
