Life Everywhere: The Maverick Science of Astrobiology

Rating:
Summary: Superb!
Review: This is the best book on the subject I've come across. It certainly lives up to the billing given by James Kasting, of Penn State Astrobiology Center, on the cover: "A lucid and surprisingly accurate introduction to the field of astrobiology and a thoughtful response to the Rare Earth hypothesis." Chapter 6 pretty well demolishes Rare Earth and exposes its surprising creationist roots. Elsewhere, Darling explains when and where we might expect to find extraterrestrial life, what methods we'll use to detect it, the missions and projects planned over the next 10-20 years, the latest on the controversies surrounding Mars, the Martian meteorites, Europa, organic matter in space, and extrasolar planets, and the principles that might govern life wherever it appears. He manages to cram a huge amount of information and ideas into a small space and yet it's so well explained you never get lost in the detail. It's hard to believe that the "reader" who gave the book only two stars actually read it at all. I can see how it might not be popular with those who want to cling to the belief that the Earth and humans are somehow special. But the fact is this is first-class science in a first-class package.

Rating:
Summary: Engaging and authoratative
Review: While there are many accessible books on SETI, surprisingly few have been written on astrobiology. This is undoubtedly one of the best and most current. The material is so fresh that many of the references are to work published in 2000 and even the early part of 2001. In little more than 200 pages, Darling covers almost every major aspect of the subject and provides a balanced treatment of issues such as the SNC meteorites, extrasolar planets, and the importance to life's origins of exogenous organic matter. He also addresses areas of astrobiology, including panspermia, that were once considered far-fetched but are now beginning to enter the mainstream. I noted only one significant omission. Darling's discussion of life's origins is excellent but focusses almost entirely on "hardware" - the source of the chemicals of life; we are left to wonder about the source of biological information or "software". Otherwise, this is really a very good, very lucid book indeed. But, oh dear! It seems that one individual has been submitting a number of tawdry reviews under various pseudonyms ("Adolf", etc) in an ill-concealed attempt to discredit the author and his work. I'm glad to see that most of these have been removed. But how sad that this very effective forum is marred by silly people with alternative agendas.