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The surprisingly long history of debate
over extra-terrestrial life is full of marvelous visions
of what life "out-there" might be like, as well
as remarkable stories of alleged sightings and heated disputes
about the probability that life might actually have arisen
more than once. In Planetary Dreams, acclaimed author
Robert Shapiro explores this rich history of dreams and
debates in search of the best current answers to the most
elusive and compelling of all questions: Are we alone?
In his pursuit, he presents three contrasting
views regarding how life might have started: through Divine
Creation, by a highly unlikely stroke of luck, or by the
inevitable process of a natural law that he terms the Life
Principle. We are treated to a lively fictional dinner debate
among the leading proponents of these schools of thought
-- with the last named group arguing that life has almost
surely formed in many places throughout the universe, and
the others that life may well be entirely unique to our
own blue planet.
To set the stage for a deep exploration
of the question, the author than leads us on a fantastic
journey through the museum of the cosmos, an imagined building
that holds models of the universe at different degrees of
magnification. We then journey deep into inner space to
view the astonishingly intricate life of a single cell,
and learn why the origin of such a complex object from simple
chemical mixtures poses one of the most profound enigmas
known to science.
Writing in a wonderfully entertaining style,
Shapiro then reviews the competing theories about the start
of life on Earth, and suggests the debate may best be settled
by finding signs of life on the other worlds of our solar
system. He takes us on a guided tour of the most likely
sites, from the underground hot springs of Mars to the ice-covered
oceans of Jupiter's airless moons.
Along the way, he shares a wealth of fascinating
stories about the ways in which our views of the heavens
have changed, from the theories of ancient philosophers,
who argue that the Moon was inhabited, to the current Origins
and Astrobiology initiatives of NASA. He describes the probes
that will be sent out in the near future in pursuit of the
first compelling physical evidence of life beyond Earth,
and concludes with a radical suggestion about how this quest
might be supported through the next millennium.
As we launch into an exciting new era of
space exploration, Planetary Dreams offers a thoughtful
and entertaining exploration of a possible future in which
the discovery of life elsewhere will provide a new view
of our place in the universe.
Robert Shapiro is an expert in DNA research
and the author of the critically acclaimed books The
Human Blueprint and Origins. He is a professor
of chemistry at New York University.
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