Secret Life of the Universe: An Astrobiologist's Search for the Origins and Frontiers of Life

‘A mind-altering and exhilarating read’ Helen Macdonald, author of H is for Hawk ‘Of all the popular books on the search for life that are now being published, this one is quite special’ James L. Green, former NASA chief scientist. Over the last few decades, space exploration has revolutionised our understanding of our place in the cosmos. We now know that there are many habitable environments within our solar system. Yet a profound question remains: are we alone in the universe? Nathalie A. Cabrol, leading astrobiologist and director of the Carl Sagan Center at the SETI Institute, takes us to the frontiers of the search for life. This book’s odyssey begins by searching for how life began on Earth in order to understand what’s necessary for life to exist elsewhere. What role did our Moon play? And could life on Mars, or another world, have seeded life on Earth? Cabrol continues this dazzling interplanetary tour, illuminating the likeliest places for life in our neighbourhood: Venus, Mars, the icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn, and Pluto. Finally, we seek life beyond our Solar System, looking at the recent revolution in the night sky: the realisation that there are millions of exoplanets within our galaxy that could support life. The Secret Life of the Universe is both a comprehensive and authoritative guide to the latest discoveries and an awe-inspiring exploration of what this means for us as humans on Earth today. It’s an exhilarating journey, perfect for anyone who has ever looked up at the stars and wondered what might be out there