Alien Earths
The New Science of Planet Hunting in the Cosmos
by Dr. Lisa Kaltenegger
„I see the world around me from a particularly privileged vantage point, the same view that Carl Sagan, the most famous popularizer of astronomy, must have seen as he wrote his books in this same third-floor office of Cornell’s Space Sciences Building […]. His work has had a profound impact on me and sparked the curiosity and imagination of everyone at the institute that carries his name, and of so many other people,” writes astrophysicist Lisa Kaltenegger, founding director of the interdisciplinary Carl Sagan Institute. This book is both a tribute to the great scientist and a perfect continuation of his life’s work.
I was one of the many people influenced by Carl Sagan. I will never forget the first time I read his Cosmos as a teenager. It was a mind-blowing experience that forever changed the way I thought about our place in the universe. And I am happy to say that a new generation now has its own talented science storyteller – and even happier that she is a woman.
You will find much more here than the latest information on the search for the eponymous alien earths. Lisa Kaltenegger puts it into a broader context of astronomy, geology, evolutionary biology, and the history of space exploration. She also mixes it with a memoir of her path to her current prestigious position, and I found those parts particularly inspiring. But I believe that an astronomy novice will find the whole book as enlightening as I found Sagan’s work several decades ago.
Thanks to the publisher, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.
