Aliens: The World’s Leading Scientists on the Search for Extraterrestrial Life by Jim Al-Khalili (PDF)

Description

In these lively and fascinating essays edited by theoretical physicist Jim Al-Khalili, scientists from around the world weigh in on the latest advances in the search for intelligent life in the universe and discuss just what that might look like. Since 2000, science has seen a surge in data and interest on several fronts related to E.T. (extraterrestrials); A.I. (artificial intelligence); and SETI (search for extraterrestrial intelligence). The debate has intensified over whether life exists outside our solar system, what that life would look like, and whether we’ll ever make contact.Included here are essays from a broad spectrum of the scientific community: cosmologists, astrophysicists, NASA planetary scientists, and geneticists, to name just a few, discussing the latest research and theories relating to alien life. Some of the topics include: If life exists somewhere in space, what are the odds that it evolves into something we would recognize as intelligent? What will space travel look like in the future, and will it all be done by cyborg technology? How long until we are ruled by robot overlords? (This is actually a serious consideration.) Are we simply a simulation in the mind of some supreme being, acting out a virtual reality game?For those who have ever wondered, Is there anybody out there? here are the latest theories and evidence that move us closer to answering that question.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐For seven decades I have had an interest in astronomy, space travel, Quantum physics, cosmology, and Alien life questions. I have red numerous books on this and related subjects and when I saw this 232 page hardcover volume (Aliens: The world’s leading scientists on the search for extraterrestrial life edited with an introduction by Jim Al-Khalili) on Amazon for a bargain price I sent for it.I just finished reading this absolutely fascinating collection of essays by leading brilliant scientists and they have actually made me realize just how rare it is in the universe to create ‘Intelligent Life” on other worlds. Like many people, including many scientists, I used to assume the universe being so vast and how quickly life developed on Earth that the Universe is teaming with life. When SETI research first began I thought we would be detecting countless intelligent signals across the wide reaches of space; however, it has been eerily silent. I realized that we may indeed be alone in the universe when it comes to intelligent human life.This excellent book is organized into four parts. After a great introduction the following material is covered: (Close encounters) (UN) welcome visitors, history of flying saucers, aliens on Earth, abducted. Part two (Where to look for life elsewhere) Home sweet home, the next door neighbors, further out, and monsters, victims and friends. Part three (Life as we know it) Randomness versus complexity, electric origins in deep-sea vents, Quantum leap, a cosmic imperative, and alone in the universe. Part four (Alien hunting) It came from the silver screen, what are we looking for? Are they out there, good atmosphere and what next? The future of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.In conclusion, if you are seeking a clear, objective and scientific approach to the subject of intelligent beings in our dark and cold universe this is a must book to read. It does not pull punches or merely speculate but gives hard scientific evidence and research which is refreshing for any rational thinking individual.Rating: 5 Stars. Joseph J. Truncale (Author: Tactical Principles of the most effective Combative Systems).

⭐There are a lot of books out now about exoplanets and extraterrestrial life. It’s hard to decide what to read. What makes this one a little different is that, although the authors are, with only one exception, scientists and academics, they step out of the constraints of academic writing to write informally about an entertaining variety of topics.Some topics are the basics of the field — how life arose on earth, what makes an environment likely friendly to life, and how to detect the presence of life remotely. Others are a bit more imaginative— why do people believe in flying saucers, how alien might alien life really be, and might we be more likely to detect artificial than biological life.The authors are both optimists and pessimists, and there are some hard realists in there as well. The broader topic is a great one to let scientists free to speculate about. While we do have facts to rely upon for answering some core questions concerning evolution on earth and the prevalence of planets around other stars, we are all educated guessers on so many others — How did life first appear on earth? What characterizes a planet’s ability to host life or its origin? What is the likelihood of life evolving something recognizable to us as intelligence? How do we really know life when we see it? Would we really even recognize “intelligence” if we encountered it?Here are some highlights from my own reading.Anil Seth’s chapter, “What Octopus Minds Can Tell Us about Alien Consciousness” — Seth asked the question, what is it like to be an octopus (taking off on Thomas Nagel’s famous philosophical paper, “What Is It Like to Be a Bat?”). What is the first “person” experience of life like for an octopus? Seth suggests that consciousness could be very different from our own first person experience of life. For an octopus, an intelligent creature with semi-autonomous limbs, a more distributed nervous system, and a less extensive communication system uniting the parts of its nervous system, conscious life could be unimaginably different from our own — “alien”. It could have a sense of self that was inherently collective, for example. Thought experiments like Seth’s make us realize how truly alien alien life could be — types of life and types of intelligence that are so different from ours that we cannot possibly know what to look for in our search.Maybe not surprisingly, the chapters on the topic I know least about — the chemical origins of life — taught me the most dramatic lessons. Chemistry, as Andrea Sella says in her chapter on “Randomness vs. Complexity”, is not random. Life didn’t originate in the happenstance of collisions or interactions between various elements or molecules, like a jar of rattling marbles. There are biases built into chemistry itself. Likewise, in “Electric Origins in Deep Sea Vents”, Nick Lane describes how deep sea vents favor the interactions we see in living membranes.We would certainly like to think that the origin of life is “easy”. And there is pretty good evidence that it happened quickly on Earth. That doesn’t mean it is “easy” though, in the sense that it will likely happen anywhere else, even under what we think are favorable conditions.The difficulty we have in even talking reasonably about these topics is our sample size of one. One instance of the origin of life, one instance of its evolution, and one instance of the kind of technological intelligence we are looking for out there. But this is what opens the field to speculation. It’s refreshing to see scientists shake off the shackles a bit and tell us what they think.

⭐Just finished a very impressive book that addresses the question “Is there life out there”? Until the recent 30 years this question was mostly in the realm of idle speculation, formed as much by myth, opinion, and fringe ideas, than any hard evidence. In the past couple of decades many disciplines from biologists, to geologists, to earth systems scientists have been brought to the table with astronomers to start to shed informed light on the subject. This book, a collection of essays, presents diverse informed ideas from some of the best scientists working on the subject. Very accessible to the general reader and one of the most up to date books for the general public I have seen on cutting edge ideas. Both sides are equally represented in thoughtful discussion. I highly recommend this if you are interested in the state of play on the question.

⭐There is a lot to think about here. I like the way they stretch the possibilities for life.

⭐interesting discussion on the issue of extraterrestrial life…not a wooo-wooo scary look at little grey men or kidnapping humans, but a thoughtful examination of possible development of life forms throughout the universe, beyond our own planet and its moon, and even past our own solar system.

⭐Intelligent essays that examine the alien issue from different angles. A fun read.

⭐this is a very interesting and well presented book.

⭐Escrito por expertos en el tema, el libro nos proporciona información muy valiosa y actualizada sobre las posibilidades de existencia de vida en otros planetas y sobre las investigaciones que se están llevando a cabo al respecto. Ameno, asequible y variado.

⭐

⭐A lot – A LOT – of repetition but overall a very informative collection of essays. I would recommend it.

⭐excellent read……..great consistent editing. it was (for me ) very stimulating.

⭐Fascinating, the comments regarding the transport of wet brains was alone qworth the read.

Keywords

Free Download Aliens: The World’s Leading Scientists on the Search for Extraterrestrial Life in PDF format
Aliens: The World’s Leading Scientists on the Search for Extraterrestrial Life PDF Free Download
Download Aliens: The World’s Leading Scientists on the Search for Extraterrestrial Life 2017 PDF Free
Aliens: The World’s Leading Scientists on the Search for Extraterrestrial Life 2017 PDF Free Download
Download Aliens: The World’s Leading Scientists on the Search for Extraterrestrial Life PDF
Free Download Ebook Aliens: The World’s Leading Scientists on the Search for Extraterrestrial Life