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nerdyreferencelibrarian89 's review for:
Well, the first like 175 pages of this was riveting, I could not put it down. If you are looking for information on how scientists are trying to find or contact actual alien life (rather then just stories of abductions) this is the book for you.
There were so many theories and experiments I was unaware of. While a great deal of the discussion revolved around where microbiological alien life may be, there is also discussion of more complex life.
I did not know much about SETI entering the book, and this really opened my eyes.
The author's writing style is conversational and witty, while still giving you a nice overlay of complex scientific theories and ideas.
So why did I only give this 3 stars. Well right after about page 175 the book really bogs down in complicated and boring discussion of equations that relate to the chances of life developing on earth. It then moves into more earth focused science theories and seemed to go on a 75 page tangent with little to no connection to the search for alien life.
The book tries to pull it back by discussing animals on earth that may also have language or forms of civilization, and how until we can understand these life forms better, understanding aliens will be a struggle. However, this small section pops up only in the last 20 or so pages, and still isn't a strong finish, especially when compared to the amazing beginning of the book.
I would recommend this book to people looking to read about the search for alien life, but I would stop after the 3rd or 4th chapter, and maybe skip to the final section.
There were so many theories and experiments I was unaware of. While a great deal of the discussion revolved around where microbiological alien life may be, there is also discussion of more complex life.
I did not know much about SETI entering the book, and this really opened my eyes.
The author's writing style is conversational and witty, while still giving you a nice overlay of complex scientific theories and ideas.
So why did I only give this 3 stars. Well right after about page 175 the book really bogs down in complicated and boring discussion of equations that relate to the chances of life developing on earth. It then moves into more earth focused science theories and seemed to go on a 75 page tangent with little to no connection to the search for alien life.
The book tries to pull it back by discussing animals on earth that may also have language or forms of civilization, and how until we can understand these life forms better, understanding aliens will be a struggle. However, this small section pops up only in the last 20 or so pages, and still isn't a strong finish, especially when compared to the amazing beginning of the book.
I would recommend this book to people looking to read about the search for alien life, but I would stop after the 3rd or 4th chapter, and maybe skip to the final section.