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Jim Al-Khalili (Editor) - Aliens (2nd Hand Paperback)
Synopsis
Do Aliens Exist? And if they do - what would they look like? . . . Where would they live? . . . Would they be conscious beings?
And what would happen if they found us? These are the biggest questions we've ever asked - and here, Professor Jim Al-Khalili, theoretical physicist and host of BBC Radio Four's The Life Scientific, blasts off in search of answers.
Coming with him are Martin Rees, Ian Stewart, Louisa Preston, Monica Grady, Sara Seager, Paul Davies and a crack team of scientists and experts who've made it their life's work to discover the truth. So get ready to visit the ice boulders and hydrocarbon lakes of Saturn's moon Titan, meet the tiny eight-legged critters that could survive in space, and learn about the neuroscience behind belief in alien abductions.
Along the way, you'll enter the mind of an octopus, work out the probability of us finding an alien civilisation and discover whether quantum computing might hold the secret to life itself. Lively, curious and filled with scientific insights fresh from the cutting edge of the Galaxy,
Aliens is the perfect book for anyone who has ever looked up into the starry sky and wondered: are we alone?
Details
- Format : Standard 2nd Hand Paperback
- Condition : Very Good
- Category : Non-Fiction - Science & Technology
- Published : 2016 (Profile Books)
- ISBN : 9781781256817
- SKU : B003139
- PPC : LL300gm
- RRP : £8.99
- Quantity Available : 1 only.
External Reviews
"A brilliantly sharp collection." - Nicola Davis, The Observer.
"Jim Al-Khalili has gathered a useful cross-section of the brightest minds in space science . . . [Aliens] goes far beyond the what and the where and the when of extraterrestrial-hunting to the biggest conundrum of all: why bother? . . . This book is always lucid and sometimes unexpectedly beautiful." - Oliver Moody, The Times.
"With a handsome cover sprinkled with green glitter, and pages wittily edged in matching green, this is an ideal stocking-filler for keen alien-fanciers." - Jane Shilling, Daily Mail.
"This thought provoking collection of essays really demands a fundamental shift in our notion of alien life. It also implores us to value life on our own planet. A central part of this body of work is a detailed discussion about what constitutes life, something that is surprisingly not as simple to agree as you may expect. This existential preamble is clearly a vital prerequisite of the writing that follows. Various experts in the fields of: astrobiology, physics, cosmology and chemistry write convincingly about the potential for alien life on the ever increasing number of Earth like exoplanets found by the Kepler space telescope. Techniques such as transit spectroscopy and future direct imaging spectroscopy are succinctly explained. The possibility of life within the Solar system notably on: Titan, Enceladus or Europa is compellingly discussed with particular reference to extremophiles on Earth." - Waterstones Review.
The Editor
Jameel Sadik "Jim" Al-Khalili CBE FRS FInstP is an Iraqi-British theoretical physicist, author and broadcaster. He is professor of theoretical physics and chair in the public engagement in science at the University of Surrey.