Overview

Since its formation nearly five billion years ago, our planet has been the sole living world in a vast and silent universe. Now Earth's isolation is coming to an end. Over the past two decades, astronomers have discovered thousands of exoplanets orbiting other stars, including some that could be similar to our own world. Studying those distant planets for signs of life will be crucial to understanding life's intricate mysteries right here on Earth. In a firsthand account of this unfolding revolution, Lee Billings draws on interviews with top researchers. He reveals how the search for other Earth-like planets is not only a scientific pursuit but also a reflection of our culture's timeless hopes, dreams, and fears. This is a compelling story of the pioneers seeking the meaning of life in the infinite depths of space.

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Reviews

"[Billings] narrates his own writing with a sense of wonder, making the search for life something that's human, not a mess of scientific calculations.-- ""AudioFile"" ""Billings performs a brilliant sleight of hand...the ending is a poignant reminder that humankind may yet find a way to the stars, but people--the ones we know, the ones we love, the ones we lose--are our entire history and our full universe."" -- ""Washington Post"" ""Graceful...the best book I have read about exoplanets, and one of the few whose language approaches the grandeur of a quest that is practically as old as our genes."" -- ""New York Times Book Review"" ""The search for Earthlike worlds orbiting distant stars is just a step in the age-old quest to learn whether or not we are alone in the universe. In his compelling, wide-ranging survey, Billings steps back to look at this broader picture, largely through richly textured portraits of some of the giants of the field...[an] extraordinary tale of scientific discovery."" -- ""Scientific American"" ""Will leave readers who aren't rocket scientists slack-jawed."" -- ""New York Times"""

Author Information

Lee Billings is a science writer whose work has appeared in Nature, New Scientist, and Popular Mechanics, among other publications. He lives in New York. Lee Billings is a science writer whose work has appeared in Nature, New Scientist, and Popular Mechanics, among other publications. He lives in New York.

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