Lonely Planets: The Natural Philosophy of Alien Life

There is about one book a decade that when you finish it you just sit there for 10 minutes and think "Wow!" Trinity by Leon Uris was such a book. As was How Green Was My Valley by Richard Llewellyn. Lonely Planets is another that did that to me. I finished it after reading for an hour and a half in a coffee shop. My coffee was cold. My leg had fallen asleep. And my mind was in some other place. Wow, indeed.

This is a book that was recommended to me by an astronomer who had been reading my book list and thought I would enjoy this book. It is an absolutely honest and unflinching look at planetary science today. (Well, as it was in 2003. As I read the book I kept finding news articles that relate to the story.) This is a book that unsettled show more me because it changed some of my ideas about what I thought I knew and believed. I hope Grinspoon plans a sequel. It will be VERY high on my list! show less

This book was *so* great. A really awesome nutshell history of planetology and astronomy, and a lot of different ideas about alien life to chew on. Grinspoon is a logical, brilliant pop science writer with some of the funniest footnotes I've ever read. He discusses everything from the fanatically logical mathmatical theories behind SETI to thoughts about cosmic consciousness and ufology, all with a rational eye and infinite compassion.

This is a very readable blend of science, history, and sociology focused on the study of life in the universe. Specifically, of life on earth and the possibility of life beyond our planet. Since this was published in 2004, some of the information is outdated, such as Pluto still being classified as a planet, but that doesn't change the big question - is there life out there and how can we detect it if there is? My one complaint is that the images weren't formatted properly in the kindle version.

(posted on my blog: davenichols.net)

Planetary scientist David Grinspoon presents a robust presentation centered on alien life in the universe. An interesting and popular subject, this book was somewhat underwhelming overall, though it had some interesting and enjoyable passages.

While the book presumes to be a "natural philosophy" of the subject, the actual philosophy in the book is largely contained in a few sections of a few chapters. Most of the book describes historical or scientific fundamentals necessary for understanding the alien discussion, including histories of planetary science, alien philosophy, and biology. Except for the history of alien philosophy, which was the best part of the book for me, the history and science show more sections were good but not great. And while it is necessary to understand these basics, Grinspoon takes several hundred pages to get to his "philosophy". By that time, the decent narrative felt overly-drawn out.

Still, the book is a decent read for anyone with an interest in this sort of subject matter. But don't expect too much if you are an experienced reader, Grinspoon doesn't cover a great deal of original ground here, and except for the history of alien theories, I've read much better treatments of the history and science matters. Additionally, SETI dominates much of the discussion in a way which I found a bit off-putting, though I honestly can't say why. I like Grinspoon and love his enthusiasm, but I came away from Lonely Planets with a sense that it needed to be condensed and reorganized significantly. Three stars. show less

Fascinating! This book was obviously thoroughly researched. The author provided lots of insights into the theories involving how life got started on Earth, how it evolved, and the ways it may have evolved on other planets (or moons). He also discussed the possible reasons why we have yet to discover definitive proof of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe. There's even a fun chapter on UFO theories, crop circles, and government conspiracies.

The book was a great read. I'd definitely recommend it to others!

Wow, this was quite a book. I would highly recommend this book to anyone, but definately to anyone who is interested in astrobiology. The author is a great writer, and writes with a sense of humor. I enjoyed the first two sections, History and Scienece, the most with the third section, Belief, only a little bit less. One of the best books I have read in a long time.

440 pages of jaunty (sometimes smartassy) writing. A better astrobiology book than the Ben Bova effort. (www.funkyscience.net)