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Chargement... Lonely Planets: The Natural Philosophy of Alien Life (2003)par David Grinspoon
Chargement...
Inscrivez-vous à LibraryThing pour découvrir si vous aimerez ce livre Actuellement, il n'y a pas de discussions au sujet de ce livre. Great read and a brilliant reference ( ) This is a very readable blend of science, history, and sociology focused on the study of life in the universe. Specifically, of life on earth and the possibility of life beyond our planet. Since this was published in 2004, some of the information is outdated, such as Pluto still being classified as a planet, but that doesn't change the big question - is there life out there and how can we detect it if there is? My one complaint is that the images weren't formatted properly in the kindle version. Fascinating! This book was obviously thoroughly researched. The author provided lots of insights into the theories involving how life got started on Earth, how it evolved, and the ways it may have evolved on other planets (or moons). He also discussed the possible reasons why we have yet to discover definitive proof of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe. There's even a fun chapter on UFO theories, crop circles, and government conspiracies. The book was a great read. I'd definitely recommend it to others! This book was *so* great. A really awesome nutshell history of planetology and astronomy, and a lot of different ideas about alien life to chew on. Grinspoon is a logical, brilliant pop science writer with some of the funniest footnotes I've ever read. He discusses everything from the fanatically logical mathmatical theories behind SETI to thoughts about cosmic consciousness and ufology, all with a rational eye and infinite compassion. (posted on my blog: davenichols.net) Planetary scientist David Grinspoon presents a robust presentation centered on alien life in the universe. An interesting and popular subject, this book was somewhat underwhelming overall, though it had some interesting and enjoyable passages. While the book presumes to be a "natural philosophy" of the subject, the actual philosophy in the book is largely contained in a few sections of a few chapters. Most of the book describes historical or scientific fundamentals necessary for understanding the alien discussion, including histories of planetary science, alien philosophy, and biology. Except for the history of alien philosophy, which was the best part of the book for me, the history and science sections were good but not great. And while it is necessary to understand these basics, Grinspoon takes several hundred pages to get to his "philosophy". By that time, the decent narrative felt overly-drawn out. Still, the book is a decent read for anyone with an interest in this sort of subject matter. But don't expect too much if you are an experienced reader, Grinspoon doesn't cover a great deal of original ground here, and except for the history of alien theories, I've read much better treatments of the history and science matters. Additionally, SETI dominates much of the discussion in a way which I found a bit off-putting, though I honestly can't say why. I like Grinspoon and love his enthusiasm, but I came away from Lonely Planets with a sense that it needed to be condensed and reorganized significantly. Three stars. aucune critique | ajouter une critique
Prix et récompenses
It's been nearly four decades since Carl Sagan first addressed the general public from a scientist's perspective, confronting the possibility of extraterrestrial life. We've learned a lot in those years, and planetary scientist David Grinspoon is well prepared to explore this field with a new generation of readers. In Lonely Planets, Grinspoon investigates the big questions: How widespread are life and intelligence in the cosmos? Is life on Earth an accident or in some sense the "purpose" of this universe? And how can we, working from the Earth-centric definition of "life," even begin to think about the varieties of life-forms on other planets? In accessible, lively prose, and using the topic of extraterrestrial life as a mirror with which to view human beliefs, evolution, history, and aspirations, Grinspoon takes readers on a three-part journey. History is an overview of our expanding awareness of other planets, from the observations of seventeenth-century natural philosophers to modern-day space exploration. It traces the history of our ideas on alien life to the earliest days of astronomy, and shows how these beliefs have changed with humanity's evolving self-image. Science tells the story of cosmic evolution and the evolution of life on Earth. Here, Grinspoon disputes the recent "Rare Earth hypothesis," which argues that Earth is unique for sprouting advanced life-forms, maintaining instead that life is likely to be well adapted to a wide variety of planets. He questions conventional assumptions of what is required for a planet to come to life, scrutinizing current ideas and evidence for life on Mars, Venus, and the moons of Jupiter, and challenging readers to think about other life-forms that may exist on other worlds. Belief discusses the limits of our abilities to conceptualize or communicate with intelligent aliens living on planets circling distant stars. Grinspoon speculates on what intelligent life might become, eventually, on Earth and elsewhere, and the implications, both scientific and philosophical, of these far-future evolutionary possibilities. Written with authority and edge, and rich in personal,often amusing anecdotes, Lonely Planets explores the shifting boundary between planetary science and naturalphilosophy and reveals how the search for extraterrestrial life unites our spiritual and scientific quests for connection with the cosmos. Aucune description trouvée dans une bibliothèque |
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Google Books — Chargement... GenresClassification décimale de Melvil (CDD)576.839Natural sciences and mathematics Life Sciences, Biology Genetics and evolution Evolution Life 1.0 astrobiologyClassification de la Bibliothèque du CongrèsÉvaluationMoyenne:
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