Overview
What determines whether complex life will arise on a planet, or even any life at all? Questions such as these are investigated in this groundbreaking book. In doing so, the authors synthesize information from astronomy, biology, and paleontology, and apply it to what we know about the rise of life on Earth and to what could possibly happen elsewhere in the universe. Everyone who has been thrilled by the recent discoveries of extrasolar planets and the indications of life on Mars and the Jovian moon Europa will be fascinated by Rare Earth, and its implications for those who look to the heavens for companionship.
Synopsis
Maybe we really are alone.
That's the thought-provoking conclusion of Rare Earth, a book that is certain to have far-reaching impact in the consideration of our place in the cosmos.
While it is widely believed that complex life is common, even widespread, throughout the billions of stars and galaxies of our Universe, astrobiologists Peter Ward and Donald Brownlee argue that advanced life may, in fact, be very rare, perhaps even unique.
Ever since Carl Sagan and Frank Drake announced that extraterrestrial civilizations must number in the millions, the search for life in our galaxy has accelerated. But in this brilliant and carefully argued book, Ward and Brownlee question underlying assumptions of Sagan and Drake's model, and take us on a search for life that reaches from volcanic hot springs on our ocean floors to the frosty face of Europa, Jupiter's icy moon. In the process, we learn that while microbial life may well be more prevalent throughout the Universe than previously believed, the conditions necessary for the evolution and survival of higher life—-and here the authors consider everything from DNA to plate tectonics to the role of our Moon—-are so complex and precarious that they are unlikely to arise in many other places, if at all.
Insightful, well-written, and at the cutting edge of modern scientific investigation, Rare Earth will fascinate anyone interested in the possibility of life elsewhere in the Universe, and offers a fresh perspective on life at home which, if the authors are right, is even more precious than we may ever have imagined.
Science
. . . a sobering and valuable perspective . . .
Editorials
London Times
If they are right, it could be time to reverse a process that has been going on since Copernicus.Newsday
[a book that] has hit the world of astrobiologists like a killer asteroid . . .Associated Press
. . . a pleasure for the rational reader . . . what good books are all about . . .The New York Times
Maybe we really are alone in the Universe, after allScience
. . . a sobering and valuable perspective . . .Library Journal
. . . a startling new hypothesis . . .American Scientist
. . . a stellar example of clear writing . . .The New York Times
...Rare Earth...is producing whoops of criticism and praise...[some] call it 'brilliant' and 'courageous' ....Now, two prominent scientists say the conventional wisdom is wrong. The alien search, they add, is likely to fail Their book, "Rare Earth" (Springer-Verlag), out last month, is producing whoops of criticism and praise, with some detractors saying that the authors have made their own simplistic assumptions about the adaptability of life forms while others call it "brilliant" and "courageous.""We have finally said out loud what so many have thought for so long-that complex life, at least, is rare," said Dr. Peter D. Ward of the University of Washington, a paleontologist who specializes in mass extinctions and whose previous works include "The Call of Distant Mammoths" (Springer-Verlag, 1997). "And to us, complex life may be a flatworm."