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Alien Life: The Search For Extraterrestrials And Beyond
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Alien Life: The Search For Extraterrestrials And Beyond | Paperback

by Barry Parker (Author)

List Price: $25.00  
Available:  Usually ships in 24 hours

Binding:  Paperback
Publisher:  Basic Books
Page Count:  264 Pages
Publication Date:  June 26, 2003
Sales Rank:  1,848,694st

FEATURES

  • ISBN13: 9780738208817
  • Condition: USED - VERY GOOD
  • Notes:
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EDITORIAL REVIEWS


Product Description
A wonderful overview of our search for signs of intelligent life in the universe. "Parker has done an outstanding job of pulling together the current scientific understanding of life on Earth and the possibilities of life elsewhere." --Christopher P. McKay, Research Scientist, NASA Ames Research Center


CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.5 based on 3 reviews)

A readable basic introduction at the high school level by M. A Michaud (Dulles, VA United States) 4 Stars
September 08, 2003
People looking for a simple introduction to the question of extraterrestrial life will find this book easy to read. Physics professor Parker begins with basic descriptions of life on Earth. He then devotes three chapters to Mars, including the possible existence of microfossils in a chunk of Mars that hit the Earth as a meteorite. Parker moves on to extrasolar planets and the radio search for extraterrestrial intelligence. After touching on interstellar flight, he closes with a discussion of the claim that Earth has been visited by aliens. All this adds up to a broad brush overview, leaving out most of the detailed arguments associated with this question. The writing, which avoids equations and elaborate statistics, seems to be aimed at the high school level. Some of the black and white illustrations, particularly the caricatures of scientists, are surprisingly crude.

General scientific introduction to the search for alien life by Nagatuka@jeol.co.jp (Tokyo, Japan) 5 Stars
March 15, 1999
This book treats the topics of alien lives which usually appear only in science fiction novels. Contrary to the conventionality, the auther dares to challange this topic using the various aspects of scientific knowledges. Because there are virtually no evidence for the alien lives, these scientific knowledges are not fully utilized for solving the puzzles of alien lives or the related topics such as UFOs. However, this book teaches us the present state of scientific knowledges and the methods how to use them. This book is especially recommendable for young amateur astronomers or students who wish to be scentists in future.

Easy to read, balanced and highly recommended by mayw@cais.com (Sterling, VA) 5 Stars
November 23, 1998
Alien Life is an easy-to-understand survey of alien life. It goes from the biochemical origin of life on earth to possible Mars microfossils to the Drake formula to SETI to spaceflight to other suns with some discussion (dismissive but respectful) of UFOs. Parker is a scientist (Professor of Physics and Astronomy) but can write like a journalist; so the book is authoritative yet so well written that it almost breezes along in places. The whole presentation is very evenhanded. I like that. Too often I have purchased books that were peddling one point of view and shading the evidence without me knowing it until later. Not here though. Parker discusses pros and cons of several points of view, keeping the discussion balanced while making it all lively and interesting. Highly recommended.

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