Jaime Green

I was expecting this to be all about the current state of the scientific search for life on other planets, but it is so much more than that! Green does talk about science, but she spends more time focusing on literature and media, analyzing science fiction and what it has to say about life on other planets. This is a delightful synthesis of literary analysis and science. Ultimately, the search for life on other planets is really a quest to understand our own existence.

Green discusses the various means scientists have used to detect life on other planets, and what that other life might look like. She describes what we know and don't know about the origin of life on our own planet, and speculation about whether life is likely to be abundant, or is a freak occurrence on Earth. She also looks at books, movies, and TV shows about first contact, and what those have to say not only about the potential reality, but about our own hopes and fears.

There is a lot of delightful food for thought in this book!… (altro)

This was such an engaging and fascinating book to read! I loved how Green was able to guide the reader through explorations of real life science through the lens of more familiar and accessible science fiction stories and speculations. As someone who is a big sci-fi reader/lover myself, I found this to be a deeply helpful method of understanding theories and concepts that are perhaps a little more complex. In addition, the overall attitude Green has towards the idea of extraterrestrial life is one full of curiosity and compassion, and is just totally palpable through the pages, embedding it with a justified sort of hopefulness.
Personally, I found one of the most engaging discussions to be the idea of contemplating what “life” actually is, and might look like were humans to encounter it elsewhere. This isn’t just limited to how a physical alien body might look, but the many ways in which we as humans would even be able to realize life is there or happening. It helped me shift my perspective into a more broadminded one, away from more linear, anthropocentric ways of thinking.… (altro)

{audiobook narrated by the author}

Analysis and musings on aliens. Not whether they actually exist, but why we humans do or do not want them to, and why we imagine that they look particular ways. What do our thoughts on aliens say about us as a species?

I really enjoyed this gentle little book, a mix of pop culture about aliens and philosophy about aliens. I have read similar books about a cultural analysis of other phenomena like zombies, but this is just so much kinder and more human than anything else. You almost don’t notice the massive amounts of research and interviews with expert scientists and writers that clearly went into it.

The author is not a professional narrator, but she’s very good (and I was already familiar with her voice from a few podcast episodes).… (altro)

Reading this book is like taking a terrifying rollercoaster ride through the world of science and nature in 2020 -- which was, of course, dominated by COVID, COVID, and yep, more COVID.

Inside you'll find a compilation of 26 articles, mostly penned by journalists or staff writers at magazines. Yong has neatly divided them into three sections: Contagion, Connection, and Consequences. Most of the articles are gems - well-written, engaging, and most importantly, eye-opening.

Among my favourites were "I'm an ER Doctor in New York. None of Us Will Ever Be The Same" by Helen Ouyang? (Heart-wrenching.) "What Happened In Room 10?" by Katie Engelhart? (A real page-turner.) "The Friendship and Love Hospital" by Jiayang Fan and "The Last Children of Down Syndrome" by Sarah Zhang. (Both simply brilliant.) These pieces resonated with me on a personal level, and I found myself thinking about them long after I'd finished reading.

But, like any rollercoaster, there were a few dips. "What the Coronavirus Means for Climate Change" by Meehan Crist, "River of Time," by Namwali Serpell and "The Unsung Heroine of Lichenology" by Sabrina Imbler didn't quite hit the mark for me. They were well-written, sure, but they just didn't grab me in the same way.

What I love about this book is how it doesn't shy away from the tough stuff. These articles confront us with the harsh realities of our world, the result of our own carelessness. It's like a wake-up call, a reminder that we need to do better.… (altro)