Why read Extraterrestrial?

Book cover of Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth

Book description

'An astronomical Sherlock Holmes' WASHINGTON POST

'Visionary' STEPHEN GREENBLATT

'Compelling . . . The book is not so much a claim for one object as an argument for a more open-minded approach to science - a combination of humility and wonder' NEW STATESMAN</font>

Harvard's top astronomer takes us inside the…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Extraterrestrial as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Stephen P. Maran

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The first known object from interstellar space, ʻOumuamua, plunged through the solar system and headed out again in 2017. It was seen by telescopes for just 17 days, enough to tell that it wasn’t as the saying goes, a bird, a plane, or Superman. Perhaps it was a space vehicle or other artifact from distant aliens, an older and superior civilization than ours. At least that’s what the brilliant Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb suggests. I think his theory is soundly based on the limited observational data, but that doesn’t make it true, and other astronomers won’t touch aliens with a…

From Stephen's list on The best books about space from someone with 35 years at NASA.