The Little Book of Aliens

June 1, 2023

University of Rochester astrophysicist Frank answers all your questions about humanity's search for extraterrestrial life in The Little Book of Aliens (50,000-copy first printing). Prepub Alert.

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August 28, 2023
“Is there anyone out there?” asks University of Rochester astrophysicist Frank (Light of the Stars) in this animated overview of scientists’ search for extraterrestrial life. Frank notes that researchers only started taking the quest to find aliens seriously in 1960 after astronomer Frank Drake tried (and failed) to detect radio emissions “from a star ten light years away.” Highlighting some of the major discoveries made since then, Frank writes that such advanced technologies as NASA’s Kepler space telescope have expanded astronomers’ knowledge of planets outside the solar system (among the peculiarities observed are planets that don’t spin on an axis, so “the sun never moves in their sky”) and that the discovery of water on Jupiter’s moon Europa, “far outside the Sun’s habitable zone,” changed astronomers’ assumptions about the most promising places to look for life. Frank discusses some of the ways astronomers are currently looking for aliens and hospitable planets, including studying the chemical composition of distant planets’ atmospheres by observing how they filter starlight as it passes through. The conversational tone keeps things light (“Our solar system has eight planets. ”), though the lack of a cohesive narrative can sometimes make this feel like a collection of trivia. Still, it’s a solid survey of the hunt for life beyond Earth.

September 15, 2023
A jocular title does not even hint at the real wonders of this cook's tour of alien life. Astrophysicist Frank, author of Light of the Stars and The Constant Fire, has been obsessed with the idea of extraterrestrial life since childhood. After years of dreaming about exploring the cosmos for signs of intelligent life, he and other scientists are on the threshold of a new era of unprecedented discovery in the field of astrobiology. He details not only recent revelations in the detection of exoplanets, but also the search for technosignatures, indicators of technologically advanced species on worlds light years distant. These are not merely elements of science fiction. They are realities now within human reach thanks to the continuing development of ultra-powerful telescopes and to the sea change in a scientific culture that once scoffed at the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). Frank's enthusiasm is contagious, occasionally over-exuberant, and there is plenty of hard science in this survey, which the author presents with economy and accessibility. The book brims with fascinating facts and speculations, from the particulars of astrobiology to Dyson spheres. Frank's cosmic tour makes stops at such milestones as the Fermi Paradox and the Drake Equation, showing how these 1950s advances continue to inform our thinking about the possibility of technological civilizations. The author also recounts the origins and current manifestations of the UFO craze and how the advancement of actual science has been impeded by 70 years of pop culture images that haunt our collective expectations. Frank advises we look for alien life where it most likely exists: deep space. He also stresses the key point that we have only begun to peer into the universe with instruments capable of breakthrough discoveries, a useful riposte to critics of the effort. Throughout, Frank champions the importance of demanding standards of evidence: "They are, literally, why science works." Solid data and reasoned conjecture strike a harmonious balance in a new SETI.

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October 15, 2023
Astrophysicist Frank (Light of the Stars, 2018) unpacks the history of the search for alien life, the ideas that have gone into conducting the search, and the current undertaking in the scientific community. From people arguing about whether or not alien life is even possible to the pioneering work of SETI through the discovery of exoplanets in 2014, this book provides an excellent overview of nearly everything about UFOs, or UAPs (unidentified aerial phenomena) as the government now calls them, and does so with Frank's genuine enthusiasm for the subject. Frank and his colleagues have set the groundwork for the search for UFOs. Utilizing just enough hard science and plenty of examples to aid in understanding some of the basics of astrobiology, like Dyson spheres and the Drake equation, Frank has provided the reader with a thorough and exciting front-row seat to the future of searching for life in other worlds. This book would be a valuable addition to a library's collection on the topic.

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