Overview

A thrilling tour of Earth that shows the search for extraterrestrial life starts in our own backyard. Is there life off Earth? Bound by the limitations of spaceflight, a growing number of astrobiologists investigate the question by studying life on our planet. Astronomer and author Jon Willis shows us how it's done, allowing readers to envision extraterrestrial landscapes by exploring their closest Earth analogs. With Willis, we dive into the Pacific Ocean from the submersible-equipped E/V Nautilus to ponder the uncharted seas of Saturn's and Jupiter's moons, search the Australian desert for some of Earth's oldest fossils, and consider the prospects for a Martian fossil hunt, visit mountaintop observatories in Chile to search for the tell-tale twinkle of extrasolar planets, and eavesdrop on dolphins in the Bahamas to imagine alien minds. With investigations ranging from meteorite hunting to exoplanet detection, Willis conjures up alien worlds and unthought-of biological possibilities, speculating what life might look like on other planets by extrapolating from what we can see on Earth, our single ""pale blue dot""—as Carl Sagan famously called it—or, in Willis's reframing, scientists' ""pale blue data point.""

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Reviews

“The Pale Blue Data Point is goosebump-inducing. Willis grapples with deep questions about our place in the universe, and readers may be astonished to learn that the answers could be breathtakingly close at hand.” -- Lee Billings, author of ""Five Billion Years of Solitude: The Search for Life Among the Stars"" “[Willis] conveys great enthusiasm alongside necessary scientific skepticism.” * The Wall Street Journal, on ""All These Worlds Are Yours"" * “Energizing. . . . Through humorous, concise, accessible writing, Willis eloquently presents the growing—though still circumstantial—evidence that we are not alone.” * Publishers Weekly (starred review), on ""All These Worlds Are Yours"" *

Author Information

Jon Willis is professor of astronomy at the University of Victoria in British Columbia where he studies both the properties of the universe we live in and the formation of life within it. He is the author of All These Worlds Are Yours: The Scientific Search for Alien Life.

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