Life as We Do Not Know It: A Book Review, with Spoilers!

[justTripn]

Hey, I just wrote this to post to an astronomy club list, but you guys care about aliens, . . . right!!!



I just finished ?Life As We Do Not Know It: The NASA Search for (and Synthesis of) Alien Life,? by astrobiologist Peter Ward. I know a book review isn?t supposed to ?give away the good parts? but when the question is ?Are there Aliens?? I?m sorely tempted to do so!

Peter Ward is often called on to play the role of pessimist in debates about the possibilities of alien life due to ?Rare Earth? (Peter D. Ward and Don Brownlee), in which he details the special astronomical, geological, and historical conditions responsible for the evolution of intelligent life on Earth. Bottom line: life may be widespread in the universe, but complex life will be rare.

But listen again, ?Life may be widespread in the universe!? The glass is half full!

Ward is in fact an enthusiast in the search for alien life?but don?t hope to find ?Wookies? he tells us dismissively. He?s thrilled about microbes, viruses, RNA life, and simple self-replicating physical structures in wet clay (one a possible precursor to life).

He reports facts of which I was completely unaware:

The synthesis of life in a test tube WILL succeed; the major hurdles have been jumped.

Europa does not seem to have enough energy reaching its oceans to support life. (Bummer!).

The evolution of Earth life might have required conditions found only on Mars.

As for ongoing Martian life . . . . .(BIG SPOILER . . . )

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?No one [of the NASA astrobiologists] is yet shouting ?life,? but in the corridors, over the water cooler, when it is Miller time at the end of the day, the astrobiologists gathering this data [on Mars] are quietly smiling, believing they have detected life.? (pg. 90).

And Ward is so curious about life on Titan, he seriously proposes one-way human mission to this moon of Saturn; and he is confident that some astrobiologist like himself would volunteer!

Ward?s enthusiasm is contagious; the bottom line, quite surprising.

I would recommend this book to everyone?except that . . . well . . . the details are a little boring. Chemistry just isn?t fun. You wade through it to get to the good stuff.

I decided that wading through the carbon, hydrogen, nucleic acids, DNA, proteins, boron, and silicon is a small price to pay to be on the cutting edge. But if you want a shortcut . . . talk to me. I?ll be glad to spill all the secrets . . .

: )

justTrip'n (Ann)

[Elessar]

That sounds awesome -- and admittedly I skimmed to the spoilers of your post, tehehehe. I might check it out... and man I'd love to fly that mission to Titan

[justTripn]

NOOOoooo. Maybe an astrobiologist in his 70's with a terminal disease.