Books

Is there life beyond Earth?

That question once belonged largely to those who wondered whether unidentified flying objects are alien spacecraft. Today, however, respected scientists speculate about the existence of life elsewhere in the galaxy. As astrophysicist Jeffrey Bennett declares in the title of his new book, it is time to look beyond UFOs to the emerging science of astrobiology.

This is, as the opening paragraph of Chapter 1 promises, "a book about possibilities."

"It is about the possibility that, within a decade or two, robotic or human explorers will drill into the Martian surface and discover microscopic life. It is about the possibility of landing space-borne submarines on Jupiter's moon Europa, where they might ... observe life swimming in a volcanically heated ocean. It is about the possibility of strange, cold-adapted life forms on Saturn's moon Titan ... It is about the possibility of ... researchers detecting an unmistakable signal coming to us from a civilization that has grown up around a faraway star."

In a series of well-crafted chapters, the book delivers on all of those promises.

Planet by planet, moon by moon, the book explores the possibility of life elsewhere in this solar system. It then speculates about other solar systems in our galaxy, where, according to the prevailing scientific view, simple life almost surely exists, and intelligent life is plausible.

For the most part, this adds up to a satisfying package that comprises the first part of the book's subtitle, "The Search for Extraterrestrial Life."

More problematic are the author's diversions into his personal philosophy and politics. Those make up the second part of the subtitle, astrobiology's "Astonishing Implications for Our Future." Mr. Bennett repeatedly warns that he is about to climb up on his soapbox and preach. In those cases, he usually ends up preaching to the choir and making arguments that are too brief to be persuasive.

Fortunately, these flights of passion are forgivable. At its core, Beyond UFOs delivers a combination that is hard to beat: solid yet highly speculative science plus accessible prose that add up to an out-of-this-world reading experience.

Physicist Fred Bortz is the author of many science books for young readers, including Astrobiology in Lerner Publishing's "Cool Science" series.

The Search for Extraterrestrial Life and Its Astonishing Implications for Our Future

Jeffrey Bennett

(Princeton University Press, $29.95)

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