This book is full lame similes, alliteration, and HORRIBLE puns. There's just NO EXCUSE for this cheesy style of writing!!! What was Seth thinking? MaybeThis book is full lame similes, alliteration, and HORRIBLE puns. There's just NO EXCUSE for this cheesy style of writing!!! What was Seth thinking? Maybe he intends to keep the reader's attention, or something. Instead, it reads like a low-budget, local car commercial.
I don't know why all SETI books all have to pander to the layest of layperson. Ben Bova and Paul Davies both wrote really poor ones, too.
Though, Seth does a good job dismissing the case for Neutrino and Gravity Wave communication as being too expensive. Paul Davies should take note.
Also, he tells some interesting first hand tales from inside SETI. That alone is worth giving it a read, if you can stand the writing style.
He really likes to use the word "opine"...
UPDATE: I had the pleasure of meeting Seth at a SETI convention. He's a very nice man and his schtick works MUCH better in person!...more
Oops! Another correction: He says that 4 Hydrogen atoms fuse into one Helium. It's only 2. Editor should have caught that one!
I did NOT enjoy reading about the following pseudo-scientific ABORTIONS: * UFOs, the Roswell crash site, etc. * Lowell and his canals on Mars * The ALH84001 Mars rock and imagined lifeforms therein
I guess Ben Bova had nothing else to write about, so he included the bad science along with the good. Ugh.
This is almost as bad as a similar (almost identical!) book by Paul Davies:
Sometimes, I feel like I'm listening to the ravings of a rambling lunatic. There is some real astrophysics in this book, but it's nothing special. The mSometimes, I feel like I'm listening to the ravings of a rambling lunatic. There is some real astrophysics in this book, but it's nothing special. The majority of the book is dedicated to a lunatic sort of radical skepticism. A whole chapter on UFOs, another on how first contact will effect religions. I almost filed this book under the "science fiction" shelf. Most of what passes for logical argument in this book is wild speculation. I think the greater problem with a book about SETI is lack of evidence. The author does pose some interesting predictions:
1. Life on Earth which does not share a common ancestor with the rest would imply that life arising in a dead environment happens often; so we should expect lots of life out there. Such a "shadow biosphere" existing parallel to the known biosphere is a neat idea.
2. Aliens might communicate using high energy neutrino sources. Higher energy neutrinos, Davies argues, would be more easily detectable than the sort that pass through the Earth in the trillions each day. If Davies is right, it's a neat idea.
3. Opposed to the position taken by Stephen Hawking, Davies argues that sending messages out to aliens can't hurt, since (assuming they are a danger to us) they would only be interested in Earth for it's resources, not enslaving intelligent life. Of course, they might want to take out the competition... but Davies has a good point....more
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