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miscilux's review against another edition
4.0
Un manuale che tratta in estrema completezza l'argomento. Per tutti i curiosi, per chi non ne sa molto e per chi vuole approfondire. Lo consiglio davvero a tutti. Ogni capitolo tratta la possibilità della vita extraterrestre vista sotto ambiti diversi: biologia, chimica, letteraria, cinematografica, psicologia... Davvero un bel manuale (anche da consultazione perché i capitoli non sono collegati tra loro)
books_and_therapy's review against another edition
5.0
A fantastic book. Great for those with a medium understanding of science and astronomy. The contributors were excellent. I highly recommend.
tyler_j's review against another edition
3.0
That was...kinda dull, and not what I expected. Different essays. Lots of science, some of which was interesting and some of which went over my head. At times it felt pessimistic about the search for extraterrestrial life. I don't know. It was ok.
monroev1225's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this compilation immensely. I have found myself lost in the science, considering the evidence each author brought to the table. If you are looking for a conclusive/decisive view on extraterrestrial life than you will be disappointed. I left the pages with more questions than answers. More doubts...and hopes than when I first began.
annagrac's review against another edition
3.0
An interesting collection of essays on all things alien. This book jumps around somewhat from movie critiques to the chemistry of life and it is a shame that the essays are not unified with a narrative, but on the other hand it is a good structure for dipping in and out of.
One interesting aspect of having lots of authors is that you can see the uncertainty and disputes between the scientists and the contradictions between their different viewpoints - e.g. chapter 14 & 17. One of the downsides is that there is a fair amount of repetition eg on the importance or otherwise of liquid water.
FWIW - I've come out of reading this book with two conclusions. Firstly, it is only the result of mind-boggling levels of luck that I am here today (hypothesising a God to get round the improbability of eukaryogenesis & multicellularity really doesn't seem far-fetched). Secondly, scientists are dreadful at predicting the future (see the predictions of past scientists in the book that have not come true and the strong assertions of the authors that are, frankly, highly unlikely).
One interesting aspect of having lots of authors is that you can see the uncertainty and disputes between the scientists and the contradictions between their different viewpoints - e.g. chapter 14 & 17. One of the downsides is that there is a fair amount of repetition eg on the importance or otherwise of liquid water.
FWIW - I've come out of reading this book with two conclusions. Firstly, it is only the result of mind-boggling levels of luck that I am here today (hypothesising a God to get round the improbability of eukaryogenesis & multicellularity really doesn't seem far-fetched). Secondly, scientists are dreadful at predicting the future (see the predictions of past scientists in the book that have not come true and the strong assertions of the authors that are, frankly, highly unlikely).
mantaq10's review against another edition
4.0
Great collection of articles, each diverse and mutually exclusive, giving thought provoking matter on intelligence, consciousness , biology and the quest for the unknown
mirandacactusreads's review against another edition
4.0
This book is an awesome collection of essays that pushes its readers to think about life's emergence and complications beyond the familiar in order to hypothesize what alien life might be like. One of my favorites discusses how we can think about the possibility of alien life and how to understand it by considering the octopus--a creature with a completely different way of existing and experiencing the world. It challenges the human perception of life, consciousness, and the probability of life developing elsewhere in the galaxy and beyond. It also analyzes the ways people portray aliens in science fiction and film, and suggests alternative answers for UFO sightings and abductions. I also liked that it addresses that the kind of life that may be out there is not "life" at all, but advanced artificial intelligence, or that the kind we may create ourselves will be the post-human colonizers in the galaxy instead. A very neat compilation of differing opinions among experts on a wide array of topics related to the possibility of extraterrestrial life.
s_books's review against another edition
3.0
This is a decent book, mostly sort of summaries of the history of searching for extraterrestrial life (including claims of UFO sightings and abduction by aliens), what we know so far about how life began and what we are looking for to determine other planets that could hold life, what we are looking for regarding technological signals, etc. None of the chapters really go too deep -- again, they're basically summaries -- so the book itself doesn't really go to deep. A good number of the contributors mention the James Webb telescope which is expected to launch in 2018 and that's kind of telling for where we evidently currently stand regarding SETI (the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) and the overall takeaway from the book which is basically "not there yet but we hope to know more as technology improves".
epictetsocrate's review against another edition
3.0
Enrico Fermi, american de origine italiană și laureat al Premiului Nobel pentru fizică, a adus unele dintre cele mai importante contribuții la știinta secolului XX; în 1950 a formulat o întrebare foarte simplă, care nu avea nimic de-a face cu cercetările lui din fizica nucleară, însă avea profunde implicații pentru cei interesați de problema vieții extraterestre(...) Se spune că intrebarea respectivă a apărut într-o discuție la masa de prânz pe care o lua cu colegii de la Laboratorul National Los Alamos din New Mexico, care găzduia pe atunci Proiectul Manhattan. Se discuta despre posibilitatea ca Pământul să fi fost vizitat de extratereștri în farfurii zburătoare. Conversația era lejeră și nu părea ca vreunul dintre cercetătorii de la acea întrunire privată credea cu adevărat în extratereștri. Dar Fermi a pus o întrebare foarte simplă: „Unde sunt?"