All These Worlds Are Yours: The Scientific Search for Alien Life

by Jon Willis

Overview

An astronomer explores the science of astrobiology in this “serious but accessible examination of the prospects for finding life elsewhere in the universe” (Sean Carroll, author of The Big Picture).

Describing the most recent discoveries made with space exploration technology, including the Kepler space telescope, the Mars Curiosity rover, and the New Horizons probe, astronomer Jon Willis asks readers to consider five possible scenarios for finding extraterrestrial life. He reviews what we know and don’t know about the life-sustaining potential of Mars’s subsoil ice and the water-ice moons Europa and Enceladus. He also looks at Saturn’s moon Titan through the lens of our own planet’s ancient past. In this concise yet far-reaching volume, Willis even looks beyond our solar system, investigating the top candidates for a “second Earth” in a myriad of exoplanets.
 
“Through humorous, concise, accessible writing, Willis eloquently presents the growing—though still circumstantial—evidence that we are not alone."—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780300224757
Publisher:	Yale University Press
Publication date:	08/11/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	232
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

An active researcher in the fields of cosmology and the evolution of galaxies, Jon Willis is associate professor of astronomy at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, where he teaches a popular course on astrobiology.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Acknowledgments xi

1 Alien Extravaganza 1

2 A Universe Fit for Life? 16

3 What on Earth Is Life? 29

4 A Biological Tour of Our Solar System 53

5 Mars: The Riddle in the Sands 74

6 Europa and Enceladus: Life Aquatic? 103

7 Titan: Nature's Petrochemical Plant 125

8 Exoplanets: Worlds without End 144

9 The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence 169

10 The Meaning of (Alien) Life? 180

Notes 189

References: Billions and Billions of Books 199

Index 207

Editorial Reviews

…[a] a lively introduction to the field of astrobiology…

The New York Times Book Review - James Ryerson

★ 09/12/2016
In this energizing book, Willis, associate professor of astronomy at British Columbia's University of Victoria, charts how the 1977 "discovery of deep-sea hydrothermal vents on Earth has transformed our view of the habitability of the outer solar system" and bolstered the search for life elsewhere. Microbes dependent on the energy of otherworldly, belching hydrothermal vents on the deep ocean floor were hailed as the first evidence that life may exist in extremes of space. Since then, discoveries of potential parallel life forms—and parallel ecosystems—have snowballed. The liquid methane cycle of Saturn's moon Titan "mirrors the hydrological cycle on Earth," Willis writes, and resembles the conditions on "early Earth before life arose." An ocean on Jovian moon Europa resembles Antarctica's frozen Lake Vostok. Similarly, warm salty oceans on Jovian and Saturnian moons are not altogether different "from the warm salty water that constitutes the bulk of our cells and that we retain as a chemical memory of our origins." The Kepler space observatory, designed to detect Earth-like planets orbiting sun-like stars, has discovered more than 3,500 "candidate planets" by measuring the dimming light of suns as planets pass; one of those planets, Willis notes, could be sufficiently like ours to harbor life. Through humorous, concise, accessible writing, Willis eloquently presents the growing—though still circumstantial—evidence that we are not alone. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

"[Jon Willis] conveys great enthusiasm alongside necessary scientific skepticism."—Wall Street Journal

"Energizing. . . . Through humorous, concise, accessible writing, Willis eloquently presents the growing—though still circumstantial—evidence that we are not alone."—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"[Willis] clearly lays out reasons why alien life could exist on astronomical bodies near Earth."—Winnipeg Free Press

"A concise overview of astrobiology and what we know—and, more importantly, what we don’t—about the search for life elsewhere in our solar system and beyond."—The Space Review


"All These Worlds Are Yours is a serious but accessible examination of the prospects for finding life elsewhere in the universe. From the solar system to planets around other stars, this is a lively guidebook for where life could be and how we can go about looking for it."—Sean Carroll, author of The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself

"Jon Willis has written an engaging primer on astrobiology that is both comprehensive and conversational. All These Worlds Are Yours covers everything under the sun—and far beyond—about the hunt for alien life."—Lee Billings, author of Five Billion Years of Solitude: The Search for Life Among the Stars

"A brilliantly written summary of the classical work on the chemistry of life, and the latest results in the exploration of moons and planets within, and the search for planets without, our Solar System."—Steven Benner, author of Life, the Universe, and the Scientific Method

From the Publisher

“All These Worlds Are Yours is unashamedly popular, but tells a coherent story… Willis provides an impressively concise and reasonably accurate account of the place of the Earth and solar system in the universe, then concentrates on the chances of finding extra-terrestrial life among the Sun’s family of planets.”—John Gribbin, Literary Review, February 2017.

Literary Review - John Gribbin

"Each chapter is authoritative, accessible and fun, and together they form a skillfully executed and entertaining book."--Alastair Gunn, BBC Sky at Night

BBC Sky at Night - Alastair Gunn

“Expert, measured and drily humorous, Willis is an excellent guide to the lunar environments that may, just conceivably, be harbouring microscopic life… “—Tom Holland, Spectator

Spectator - Tom Holland

“A concise overview of astrobiology and what we know—and, more importantly, what we don’t—about the search for life elsewhere in our solar system and beyond.”—The Space Review

The Space Review

“[Willis] clearly lays out reasons why alien life could exist on astronomical bodies near Earth.”—Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press

“[Jon Willis] conveys great enthusiasm alongside necessary scientific skepticism.”—Wall Street Journal

Wall Street Journal

“A brilliantly written summary of the classical work on the chemistry of life, and the latest results in the exploration of moons and planets within, and the search for planets without, our Solar System.”—Steven Benner, author of Life, the Universe, and the Scientific Method

Steven Benner

“Jon Willis has written an engaging primer on astrobiology that is both comprehensive and conversational. All These Worlds Are Yours covers everything under the sun—and far beyond—about the hunt for alien life.”—Lee Billings, author of Five Billion Years of Solitude: The Search for Life Among the Stars

Lee Billings

“All These Worlds Are Yours is a serious but accessible examination of the prospects for finding life elsewhere in the universe. From the solar system to planets around other stars, this is a lively guidebook for where life could be and how we can go about looking for it.”—Sean Carroll, author of The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself

Sean Carroll