The Biological Universe: The Twentieth Century Extraterrestrial Life Debate and the Limits of Science - Hardcover

Dick, Steven J.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521343267 ISBN 13: 9780521343268

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1996

Synopsis

Throughout the twentieth century, from the furor over Percival Lowell's claim of canals on Mars to the sophisticated Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, otherworldly life has often intrigued and occasionally consumed science and the public. The Biological Universe provides a rich and colorful history of the attempts during the twentieth century to answer questions such as whether "biological law" reigns throughout the universe and whether there are other histories, religions, and philosophies outside those on Earth. Covering a broad range of topics, including the search for life in the solar system, the origins of life, UFOs, and aliens in science fiction, Steven J. Dick shows how the concept of extraterrestrial intelligence is a world view of its own, a "biophysical cosmology" that seeks confirmation no less than physical views of the universe. This book will fascinate astronomers, historians of science, biochemists, and science fiction readers.

About this title

Review:

As biological scientists learn more about how terrestrial life was formed, they increasingly turn to the stars to ask whether life might have evolved elsewhere. Thus far, despite a recent flurry of interest in Mars, they have found no solid evidence, but they keep looking. This scholarly book, written by a historian at the U.S. Naval Observatory, examines the long development of that quest, along with some of the philosophical questions that have emerged from it. Steven J. Dick notes that our observational abilities are both limited and biased, and that the search for extraterrestrial intelligence forces us to examine some of our own assumptions about what constitutes life in the first place.

Book Description:

Are there other histories, religions, and philosophies outside of those on Earth? Do extraterrestrials ponder the mysteries of the universe? The attempts to answer these often asked questions form one of the most interesting chapters in the history of science and culture, and The Biological Universe is the first book to provide a rich and colorful history of those attempts during the twentieth century. Steven J. Dick covers a broad range of topics, including the search for life in the solar system, the origins of life, UFOs, and aliens in science fiction.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0521343267
• ISBN 13: 9780521343268
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 598