The pale blue data point : an Earth-based perspective on the search for alien life / Jon Willis.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Willis, Jon (College teacher), Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Exobiology.

Life on other planets.

Extraterrestrial anthropology.

Physical Description:

viii, 253 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color), color map ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Chicago, IL : The University of Chicago Press, 2025.

Summary:

"Is there life off Earth? Bound by the impracticalities of spaceflight, astrobiologists investigate the question by studying life on our planet. Astronomer and author Jon Willis shows us how it's done, allowing readers to imagine extraterrestrial landscapes by exploring their closest Earth analogs. With Willis, we dive into the Pacific Ocean on the submersible E/V Nautilus to ponder the uncharted seas of Saturn's and Jupiter's moons, search the Australian desert for stromatolites and consider Martian rocks, listen to dolphins in the Bahamas to imagine alien minds, and visit La Silla Observatory in Chile to listen for sounds of extraterrestrial communication. With investigations ranging from meteorite hunting to exoplanet detection, Willis speculates 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.""-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

The pale blue data point

Twenty thousand pings under the sea: in search of alien oceans

Swimming with stromatolites: the hunt for Martian fossils

The arc of the firmament: mapping exoplanets

To catch a falling star: meteorites and the clues to Earth's origin as a life-bearing planet

So long and thanks for all the fish: a dolphin-led guide to alien communication.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780226822402

0226822400

OCLC:

1500062164

Publisher Number:

CIPO000295652