Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Alien Earths:
Just in case we need another one.
Quick synopsis:
A look at the possibilities (and probabilities) of another planet just like ours.
Fact for Non-History People:
The nearest star to us besides the Sun is Proxima Centauri which is 25 trillion miles away. It takes light 4 years to travel that distance.
Fact for History Nerds:
The Moon recedes from Earth about 1.5 inches per year or about the same rate at which fingernails grow.
My Take on Alien Earths:
There is no thinner line than the one between talking down to people about science and explaining it in a way that everyone can understand. Lisa Kaltenegger wonderfully stays on the latter side in her book, Alien Earths. It is also possible that I am the lowest common denominator and it’s impossible to insult my intelligence when it comes to science. No matter!
Kaltenegger tells an engaging story which revolves around a basic idea. Is there any earths out there like ours? Her answer: maybe! So, what do we need the book for? Well, Kaltenegger to take the next steps to explain what are the conditions needed for those earths, what would it be like on those planets, and do we even have any indication they exist. Along the way, she gets in some good jokes and her love for this subject truly shines through.
Depending on your love of science, you may find this to be a must read or it may lose some steam by the end. While I enjoyed all of it, the concluding chapters start to feel a bit repetitive. There are also some memoir type tangents that range from perfectly placed to completely misplaced. These are small issues and the good of the book well outweighs any faults.
(This book was provided as an advance copy by Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press.)
Verdict:
A great read even for non-science nerds. Buy it here!
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