I hope we’re not alone in the universe. When I look up at the stars, I like to imagine that there is life orbiting quite a lot of them. Like in Star Trek. Which is referenced heavily throughout this book. And you know what? I’m here for it!
The Possibility of Life: Science, Imagination, and Our Quest for Kinship in the Cosmos
Author: Jaime Green
Pages: 304
Format: Hardcover
Published: April 18, 2023
Publisher: Hanover Square Press
View on Goodreads
Date Completed: June 17, 2024
My rating: 
Thoughts
This was the April pick in the Planetary Society Book Club. And this is the kind of book I really enjoy. Not to spoil the entire thing, but Green observes that our search for intelligent life out in the cosmos is really an expression of our desire to understand ourselves better. Wow!
My biggest takeaway from this book was that all our searches for extraterrestrial life are from a human point of view. Obviously. But what never really occurred to me was in a lot of science fiction, or even in the actual search for extraterrestrial intelligence, our view and vision of life is that it is carbon-based, needs liquid water, probably resembles humans in some way (RNA/DNA).
But what about silicon-based life. Is that even possible? Would we know it if we saw it?
The Voyager spacecraft that are now effectively in interstellar space each contain a golden record with simple images which we believe(d) would be understandable to intelligent, space-faring life. But that’s pretty egotistical of ourselves to think that any race other than humanity would be able to understand the concepts that we’ve created. Or even that the image of a man and a woman are representations of us. We also kind of missed the mark a little on the sounds of people saying “hello” in different languages – everyone just kind of gave their own welcome/greeting. So it’s not even an audio Rosetta Stone. But I digress…
Jaime Green is a science writer, essayist, editor and teach. And it shows in this book. She does a wonderful job pulling quotes from interviews from scientists to science fiction writers, includes her own thoughts, and asks great questions to ponder about humanity.
This was a solid 4 out of 5 stars for me. It’s the kind of science book that I enjoy reading. Not only do I learn something about science or space, but I also learn about humanity. And I’m left wanting more!
