Publishers Weekly
06/03/2024
This stimulating survey from Cabrol, director of the Carl Sagan Center at the SETI Institute, details how she and other scientists search the cosmos for extraterrestrial life. Cabrol offers insight into what kinds of planets are most likely to harbor life by outlining theories for how life emerged on Earth, with some scientists claiming that the first organisms developed from alternating periods of dryness and wetness around volcanic hot springs, while others believe that reactions among RNA molecules in ice constitute a more likely genesis. Elsewhere, Cabrol notes that one study has detected phosphine, a compound “only produced by life on Earth,” in Venus’s atmosphere, and that geysers on Saturn’s moon Enceladus suggest the planet has a mantle composed of water. Cabrol has a talent for making technical research accessible for general readers and serves up a bounty of fascinating trivia, pointing out that “rogue planets” wander the universe after getting “ejected from their parent systems” and that the exoplanet 55 Cancri e has a 2,700ºC surface “where gases behave almost like liquids.” Amateur astronomers will be spellbound. Photos. (Aug.)
From the Publisher
This stimulating survey...details how [Cabrol] and other scientists search the cosmos for extraterrestrial life... Cabrol has a talent for making technical research accessible for general readers and serves up a bounty of fascinating trivia... Amateur astronomers will be spellbound.” —Publishers Weekly
“Some people are in the enviable position of loving their work. Cabrol is one of them, and it shows in this wonderfully sweeping book... This is a book for anyone with an interest in scientific discovery and a perfect choice for any budding astronomer or astrobiologist. Combining enthusiasm and knowledge, Cabrol gives a lovely guided tour of the possibilities of the cosmos.” —Kirkus, starred review
“In this cutting-edge, wide-ranging survey of a truly extraordinary subject, the celebrated scientist Nathalie Cabrol takes us on an odyssey full of astonishing possibility, crossing vast distances and many scales to tell the story of our search for extraterrestrial life. The Secret Life of the Universe weaves together the history of space exploration, planetary science, the changing technological and intellectual frameworks of SETI, and deliberations on the very nature and meaning of life. It’s a mind-altering and exhilarating read for anyone who has ever wondered: are we alone?"—Helen Macdonald, author of H is for Hawk
“The Secret Life of the Universe delivers on the grand promise of its title. Intimate and cosmic, it is the passionate traveler’s tale of a distinguished scientist approaching the most fascinating questions of all.” —Ann Druyan, writer, producer, and director of “Cosmos”
“Of all the popular books on the search for life that are now being published, this one is quite special. Written by an outstanding astrobiologist, Dr. Nathalie Cabrol, The Secret Life of the Universe takes you step by step through each of the top candidates in the solar system and beyond into the Milky Way where life could exist, and how we are looking for it. Nathalie tackles advanced concepts and explains them with ease. I highly recommend this book!” —James L. Green, former NASA chief scientist
“In The Secret Life of the Universe, astrobiologist Nathalie Cabrol takes us on a sweeping exploration of life on Earth and the potential of the universe to harbor life beyond our planet. Drawing on the latest space missions and ground-based studies, she paints a picture of habitability over time perhaps reaching from the inner edge of our solar system to its outermost depths and from its earliest days to the present. Beyond our solar system, she charts the potential for habitability and even civilizations on countless exoplanets orbiting stars similar to and different from our sun. The nature of life as well as the practical and ethical dilemmas we face as a technological space-faring society are also part of the journey we take with her through the pages of this stimulating and provocative book.” —Carl B. Pilcher, Former Director of NASA's Astrobiology Institute
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2024-04-04
We are on the cusp of a new wave of exploration, according to a leading astrobiologist.
Some people are in the enviable position of loving their work. Cabrol is one of them, and it shows in this wonderfully sweeping book. As director of the Carl Sagan Center at the SETI Institute, the author leads projects in planetary science and research, spending much of her time thinking about life beyond Earth. With the invention of advanced telescopes and exploratory spacecraft, “we are living in a golden age in astrobiology, the beginning of a fantastic odyssey.” Cabrol is not a starry-eyed dreamer, and she readily admits that the first life we find outside of Earth is likely to be microbial. There are various theories about how life developed on Earth, and she examines them to establish where the chemical ingredients and environmental conditions for life might exist in our solar system. Planets long thought to be completely inhospitable are now being reconsidered, she notes. Mars, Venus, and the dwarf planets Pluto and Ceres are new possibilities. Cabrol is particularly excited by the moons Europa and Titan, which will be the subjects of unmanned explorations in the foreseeable future. Looking further afield, there are also intriguing prospects among the thousands of other planets discovered in the rest of the galaxy. In the concluding chapters of the book, Cabrol discusses the likelihood of encountering intelligent life and explains the Drake equation, used to estimate “the number of advanced extraterrestrial civilizations whose electromagnetic emissions are detectable.” Along the way, the author also speculates about entirely new types of organisms. This is a book for anyone with an interest in scientific discovery and a perfect choice for any budding astronomer or astrobiologist.
Combining enthusiasm and knowledge, Cabrol gives a lovely guided tour of the possibilities of the cosmos.
