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Strange New Worlds: The Search for Alien Planets and Life beyond Our Solar System
Soon astronomers expect to find alien Earths by the dozens in orbit around distant suns. Before the decade is out, telltale signs that they harbor life may be found. If they are, the ramifications for all areas of human thought and endeavor--from religion and philosophy to art and biology--will be breathtaking. In Strange New Worlds , renowned astronomer Ray Jayawardhana brings news from the front lines of the epic quest to find planets--and alien life--beyond our solar system. Only in the past fifteen years, after millennia of speculation, have astronomers begun to discover planets around other stars--hundreds in fact. But the hunt to find a true Earth-like world goes on. In this book, Jayawardhana vividly recounts the stories of the scientists and the remarkable breakthroughs that have ushered in this extraordinary age of exploration. He describes the latest findings--including his own--that are challenging our view of the cosmos and casting new light on the origins and evolution of planets and planetary systems. He reveals how technology is rapidly advancing to support direct observations of Jupiter-like gas giants and super-Earths--rocky planets with several times the mass of our own planet--and how astronomers use biomarkers to seek possible life on other worlds. Strange New Worlds provides an insider's look at the cutting-edge science of today's planet hunters, our prospects for discovering alien life, and the debates and controversies at the forefront of extrasolar-planet research.
255 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2011
26 people are currently reading
1503 people want to read
About the author
Ray Jayawardhana
5 books27 followersRay Jayawardhana is a professor and the Canada Research Chair in Observational Astrophysics at the University of Toronto. Originally from Sri Lanka, he is a graduate of Yale and Harvard. He is the co-author of more than one hundred papers in scientific journals. His discoveries have made headlines worldwide, including in The Times, The Economist, Sydney Morning Herald, and BBC News, and have led to numerous accolades such as the Steacie Prize, the McLean Award, the Rutherford Medal, and the Radcliffe Felllowship. He is an award-winning writer whose articles have appeared in the New Scientist, Times Higher Education, and others. He is the author of Strange New Worlds.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
August 6, 2014
Too many sentences like this: "Seth Redfield, now at Wesleyan University, and colleagues sighted sodium at last in 2007 in HD 189733b, with the 9.2-meter Hobby-Eberly Telescope in west Texas."
December 20, 2022
Thanks for help on my literature review 👌
August 1, 2015
Sui quotidiani di qualche giorno fa è stata riportata la notizia della scoperta di un pianeta (gemello?) similterrestre in orbita attorno alla stella Kepler 452.
Se siete interessati alla storia ed alle tecnologie che stanno a monte di questa e di altre scoperte, questo è il testo che fa per voi. L'autore è un astrofosico che si occupa proprio della caccia ai pianeti extrasolari, è molto bravo nel divulgare il suo lavoro e quello dei colleghi e non calca la mano sugli aspetti tecnici.
Se siete interessati alla storia ed alle tecnologie che stanno a monte di questa e di altre scoperte, questo è il testo che fa per voi. L'autore è un astrofosico che si occupa proprio della caccia ai pianeti extrasolari, è molto bravo nel divulgare il suo lavoro e quello dei colleghi e non calca la mano sugli aspetti tecnici.
April 2, 2011
I read this one because the author was coming to speak at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics observatory night and I wanted to get some background ahead of time.
Seriously, wow. I'd been only passively following the search for exoplanets in the news and I had NO idea how far they'd come. Scientists have found over a thousand planets outside our solar system, and they've gone so far in some case as to begin analyzing their atmospheres. From thousands of light-years away. How mind-blowing is that?
Jayawardhana brings in a number of little anecdotes which make the story of exoplanets more personal, like how an amateur astronomer housewife in Australia helped locate the first planet by micro-lensing (using the space-time warping effects of gravity. I said this stuff is mind-blowing, right?).
The writing is very inconsistent, sometimes clearly aimed at an audience with no background in astronomy and sometimes waxing extremely dry and technical. I sense an editing conflict. But the subject matter is so interesting, it didn't overly bother me.
On a personal note, it is extremely cool to read a book chronicling discoveries that all occurred since I was old enough to read about them in the news as they happened. This was an awesome way to bring it all together and get up to speed.
Seriously, wow. I'd been only passively following the search for exoplanets in the news and I had NO idea how far they'd come. Scientists have found over a thousand planets outside our solar system, and they've gone so far in some case as to begin analyzing their atmospheres. From thousands of light-years away. How mind-blowing is that?
Jayawardhana brings in a number of little anecdotes which make the story of exoplanets more personal, like how an amateur astronomer housewife in Australia helped locate the first planet by micro-lensing (using the space-time warping effects of gravity. I said this stuff is mind-blowing, right?).
The writing is very inconsistent, sometimes clearly aimed at an audience with no background in astronomy and sometimes waxing extremely dry and technical. I sense an editing conflict. But the subject matter is so interesting, it didn't overly bother me.
On a personal note, it is extremely cool to read a book chronicling discoveries that all occurred since I was old enough to read about them in the news as they happened. This was an awesome way to bring it all together and get up to speed.
September 29, 2011
This book by Ray Jayawardhana stayed true to its name. The author gave us a quick history lesson and described the current state of searching for new worlds orbiting other stars. The text was not overly complicated but not too weak. Giving us a good description of the difficulties involved in finding planets light years away. Ray indeed took us to Strange New Worlds. I look forward to a follow up book as new worlds are discovered.
March 23, 2015
This only gets one star because I can't give it zero stars.
December 9, 2015
In the line of the book by Kastings but lest exaustive an easy to read, tells the histhory ,future and techniques of search the exoplanets,focusing on earthlike planets and markers of life
May 21, 2017
(Cross-posted from my blog.)
I was excited going into Strange New Worlds. I’m a sucker for astronomy, but I don’t keep up with it as much as I should, so I was looking forward to getting to hear about the new techniques and results in the field. Especially as relate to exoplanets and alien life, something I’ve been acutely interested in since I started working on a science fiction RPG.
I got what I asked for, and I wish I hadn’t.
The book, to its credit, does a good job of covering the entire field, from the first tentative steps to the newest techniques, including near-future techniques that are currently under development. The problem is that the author doesn’t seem to see fit to delve into any depth or engage in a single bit of speculation. Prime opportunities to fire the imagination with ideas of what the distant worlds could be like are instead replaced with a monotonous drone of: “Person Z, at institution W, used technique X to examine planet Y.” Over and over again. Evocative language is ignored, the author instead choosing to name-check and move on. It becomes history without a real sense of narrative, and as a result is as dry as a rock on Mercury.
There is also an issue of at least a few women being dismissed as merely “helping” their husbands or brothers without discussing the women’s unique contributions to field. It feels very dismissive of what they contributed, but there are at least a few modern female astronomers who are given more time on the page. Still, it feels like the author just accepted a very male-centric narrative of the field. I would have liked to see some more digging and more women given the credit I’m sure they deserve. Or at least proper credit given to the historical women already mentioned in the book, instead of lumping their achievements in with that of their male relations.
The narration of the book didn’t help with the monotonous narrative problem, either. Pinchot tries gamely to inject some emotion into this flat timeline of events, but when there’s no real excitement to be found in the text, there’s only so much a reader can do. The end result is like a college professor who thinks he’s a good dynamic speaker because he’s using a few techniques he read about in a book. He only gets about halfway to giving the text any life, and the emotion that is added is as robotic as Data without Brent Spiner. Meanwhile I was sitting in the stands, wondering if I was trapped in purgatory and if the book was ever going to finish. No mean feat, given that the runtime is relatively short in the audiobook world, clocking in at under seven hours.
All of that said, this book could be a lot worse. It’s an effective overview of the history of the field, and covers everything from the oldest of techniques to the modern day. It does a good job tying in historical discoveries and incidents with modern developments, showing how sometimes a thinker from a couple hundred years ago was very, very close to discovering something and only lacked a critical piece of technology or insight to do it. There’s even some interesting tidbits about exobiology, like the color of the star of a world affecting the likely color of the plants on that world.
In the end, I think this is a good book for an academic student of the field. It gives, essentially, a list of the key discoveries in the field, which could be an effective jumping off point for further, deeper research. But as a casual student of astronomy, it left me cold, mostly due to its presentation. Which is a shame, because there’s some interesting stuff here. It’s just all buried under a foot of dust.
Score: 2.5/5
I was excited going into Strange New Worlds. I’m a sucker for astronomy, but I don’t keep up with it as much as I should, so I was looking forward to getting to hear about the new techniques and results in the field. Especially as relate to exoplanets and alien life, something I’ve been acutely interested in since I started working on a science fiction RPG.
I got what I asked for, and I wish I hadn’t.
The book, to its credit, does a good job of covering the entire field, from the first tentative steps to the newest techniques, including near-future techniques that are currently under development. The problem is that the author doesn’t seem to see fit to delve into any depth or engage in a single bit of speculation. Prime opportunities to fire the imagination with ideas of what the distant worlds could be like are instead replaced with a monotonous drone of: “Person Z, at institution W, used technique X to examine planet Y.” Over and over again. Evocative language is ignored, the author instead choosing to name-check and move on. It becomes history without a real sense of narrative, and as a result is as dry as a rock on Mercury.
There is also an issue of at least a few women being dismissed as merely “helping” their husbands or brothers without discussing the women’s unique contributions to field. It feels very dismissive of what they contributed, but there are at least a few modern female astronomers who are given more time on the page. Still, it feels like the author just accepted a very male-centric narrative of the field. I would have liked to see some more digging and more women given the credit I’m sure they deserve. Or at least proper credit given to the historical women already mentioned in the book, instead of lumping their achievements in with that of their male relations.
The narration of the book didn’t help with the monotonous narrative problem, either. Pinchot tries gamely to inject some emotion into this flat timeline of events, but when there’s no real excitement to be found in the text, there’s only so much a reader can do. The end result is like a college professor who thinks he’s a good dynamic speaker because he’s using a few techniques he read about in a book. He only gets about halfway to giving the text any life, and the emotion that is added is as robotic as Data without Brent Spiner. Meanwhile I was sitting in the stands, wondering if I was trapped in purgatory and if the book was ever going to finish. No mean feat, given that the runtime is relatively short in the audiobook world, clocking in at under seven hours.
All of that said, this book could be a lot worse. It’s an effective overview of the history of the field, and covers everything from the oldest of techniques to the modern day. It does a good job tying in historical discoveries and incidents with modern developments, showing how sometimes a thinker from a couple hundred years ago was very, very close to discovering something and only lacked a critical piece of technology or insight to do it. There’s even some interesting tidbits about exobiology, like the color of the star of a world affecting the likely color of the plants on that world.
In the end, I think this is a good book for an academic student of the field. It gives, essentially, a list of the key discoveries in the field, which could be an effective jumping off point for further, deeper research. But as a casual student of astronomy, it left me cold, mostly due to its presentation. Which is a shame, because there’s some interesting stuff here. It’s just all buried under a foot of dust.
Score: 2.5/5
April 8, 2018
This is a general audience book about one of the most exciting astronomical developments of our time -- the emergence of our ability to detect the presence of planets outside our solar system. The search for extrasolar planets is one of those fields which has explosively bloomed in our lifetimes, just in the last decade. Jayawardhana gives a compact history of the methods and achievements of planet detection, pausing to explain in laymen's terms each method as it develops, with its drawbacks and its advantages.
A book about the search for extrasolar planets is a prime example of a book doomed to be out of date as soon as it hits the shelves, no matter when it hits the shelves. That, though, can also be what makes the book compelling -- the field is hot with new discoveries, new methods, new characters. Its time has come. There are currently over 700 confirmed expoplanet discoveries. Even though the book went to print just as the Kepler telescope mission began to bring in huge results Jayawardhana is able to put us in position to appreciate its discoveries and understand the need for their confirmation by other means. He supplies what we need in order to appreciate the announcements that come now on an almost weekly basis.
The search for extrasolar planets is inevitably bound up with the search for alien life, but Jayawardhana doesn't let the cart get in front of the horse. Our ability to detect planets runs far ahead of our ability to detect life, or to understand the conditions under which life may develop and flourish. While not ignoring the question, Jayawardhana presents himself neither as an unbridled enthusiast nor as a disinterested planetologist -- of course we'd love to know where to look, how to look, and what we're going to find, but it's going to take us a while to get to that point.
All in all, this is a very readable, relatively non-technical guide to a developing field that transcends the interests of professional scientists, that addresses truly mind-boggling questions about our place in nature.
A book about the search for extrasolar planets is a prime example of a book doomed to be out of date as soon as it hits the shelves, no matter when it hits the shelves. That, though, can also be what makes the book compelling -- the field is hot with new discoveries, new methods, new characters. Its time has come. There are currently over 700 confirmed expoplanet discoveries. Even though the book went to print just as the Kepler telescope mission began to bring in huge results Jayawardhana is able to put us in position to appreciate its discoveries and understand the need for their confirmation by other means. He supplies what we need in order to appreciate the announcements that come now on an almost weekly basis.
The search for extrasolar planets is inevitably bound up with the search for alien life, but Jayawardhana doesn't let the cart get in front of the horse. Our ability to detect planets runs far ahead of our ability to detect life, or to understand the conditions under which life may develop and flourish. While not ignoring the question, Jayawardhana presents himself neither as an unbridled enthusiast nor as a disinterested planetologist -- of course we'd love to know where to look, how to look, and what we're going to find, but it's going to take us a while to get to that point.
All in all, this is a very readable, relatively non-technical guide to a developing field that transcends the interests of professional scientists, that addresses truly mind-boggling questions about our place in nature.
February 15, 2023
Humanity constantly seeks the answer to an age-old question: are we alone in the universe?
The first thing to know about space is that it’s big. I know I’m paraphrasing Hitchhiker’s Guide, but it’s a great place to start. When you look at the sky at night and see a vast expanse of stars, you are looking at millions of possible suns.
People like to talk about the Goldilocks situation that our Earth is in, but statistically speaking, it’s hard to imagine this being the only place for it to happen. The Goldilocks Zone does limit all of the stars in the sky to around 0.3 percent of them, let’s say. I pulled this number out of my head; there is no basis for it. Even so, that only takes several million stars and reduces it to 30,000 stars if my mental math isn’t off.
The number above only covers one small corner of the sky. There are more arbitrary limits, however. When we speak of life, we don’t mean a bacterium, we want a reasoning being with civilization and technology. Preferably something that won't try to kill us on sight.
Author Ray Jayawardhana discusses the story behind the search for exoplanets. He does a good job explaining the ideas to a layperson.
Thanks for reading my review and see you next time.
The first thing to know about space is that it’s big. I know I’m paraphrasing Hitchhiker’s Guide, but it’s a great place to start. When you look at the sky at night and see a vast expanse of stars, you are looking at millions of possible suns.
People like to talk about the Goldilocks situation that our Earth is in, but statistically speaking, it’s hard to imagine this being the only place for it to happen. The Goldilocks Zone does limit all of the stars in the sky to around 0.3 percent of them, let’s say. I pulled this number out of my head; there is no basis for it. Even so, that only takes several million stars and reduces it to 30,000 stars if my mental math isn’t off.
The number above only covers one small corner of the sky. There are more arbitrary limits, however. When we speak of life, we don’t mean a bacterium, we want a reasoning being with civilization and technology. Preferably something that won't try to kill us on sight.
Author Ray Jayawardhana discusses the story behind the search for exoplanets. He does a good job explaining the ideas to a layperson.
Thanks for reading my review and see you next time.
May 6, 2019
Solid four stars. The book gives a good overview of current (circa 2010) techniques for identifying exoplanets as well as the most recent (then) research. It gets fairly technical at times but the majority of concepts can be grasped by amateurs such as myself.
Would have been 5 stars had it included more on exobiology - still the book delivered on its promise.
Would have been 5 stars had it included more on exobiology - still the book delivered on its promise.
August 9, 2020
A continuous magic show: the government pulls money out of the interstellar void to pay people like Jayawardhana who are helping humanity by sleeping at a desk. Lucky for us, little green men from Mars won't have their message lost when Jayawardhana lied to have been at work because now "we" have recording devices and Jayawardhana has assistants paid by the same generous government.
April 29, 2023
I loved all of the information, but I wasn’t a fan of the writing. There were so many names being thrown in along with information on these people that it distracted from the overall message being relayed. Certain things also just felt brushed over and not explained as in depth as I would have liked.
January 12, 2019
VOTO:4
Bel saggio sullo stato dell'arte attuale per quanto concerne le moderne tecniche e quelle più all'avanguardia utilizzate per individuare e identificare gli esopianeti, al di fuori del sistema solare.
Davvero consigliato, se l'argomento appassiona.
Bel saggio sullo stato dell'arte attuale per quanto concerne le moderne tecniche e quelle più all'avanguardia utilizzate per individuare e identificare gli esopianeti, al di fuori del sistema solare.
Davvero consigliato, se l'argomento appassiona.
February 8, 2021
Informative, but on the dry side. Still, I'm glad I started my adventure with exoplanets with this book because it provides a fantastic overview of the history of the search for exoplanets, which will provide a great foundation for me as I move on to more current books.
November 8, 2021
This was so unreadable. It was too technical and the few times the author interjected with personal anecdotes, he was so cocky it just hurt.
February 5, 2024
Not sure about some of his theories of formation of planets but otherwise informative.
July 5, 2011
This book was awesome. I would have given it five stars if I liked the author's writing style a little better. It seemed a little weird to me, but I guess I should cut the guy some slack, I don't think his native language is English.
Besides that, great book! The first probably 2/3 are devoted to the history of extrasolar system planet searching, mostly failures. Then he starts getting into the success stories, explaining the evolution of various technologies along the way (said technologies allowed the successes). Mostly it focuses on American efforts, but since he works out of a Canadian university, Canada, Europe, and Japan get honorable mentions as well. He also tries hard to use examples that put things into perspective for the reader to help imagine the both enormously large and tiny measurements being made.
Once he has established how planets in other solar systems are found (in quite a lot of readable detail), he then explains the criteria that have been laid out for planets scientists feel have the best chances of harboring life. Interestingly, they don't rule out moons. The last couple chapters are devoted to this criteria, findings thus far, and ideas that may yield results (or not) in the future with more exploration and funding.
The geology of our own solar system that he describes is fascinating, especially about why Venus, Mars, and Earth all diverged in their atmospheres, etc. Very cool stuff. He describes the commonality of various planets that have been discovered by comparing them to planets in our own solar system, which was pretty neat. If you don't know the planets...you should brush up on them or you'll be confused.
I love planetary science and space both, so this book was an ideal fit. Very readable and fairly concise (about 225 pages) with a glossary at the back for those who are a little rusty on their space terms, or have a hard time tracking all the ones he uses. He also included a lot of very helpful illustrations/charts, both of physics concepts and planets. The way he explains how we might look for life on other planets using the Earth as the standard to measure by is interesting too. The different ways we know Earth is living besides the obvious, and the fact they trained a space probe back on Earth to measure these things so we can compare to foreign planets is pretty rad, too.
A very worthwhile read if you're interested in planetary science, astronomy, space, whatever. If you devoured every book on the solar system you could as a child, this book is for you. If you believe in aliens, this book is also for you.
Side note: I think the cover art of the book pretty much sums it up. The big planet talks about strange new worlds, which is the theme of the book, next the search for alien planets which is a fair chunk, and the smallest planet talks about life beyond our solar system, which is a pretty small chunk. The proportions are accurate, so good work whoever created the cover art!
Besides that, great book! The first probably 2/3 are devoted to the history of extrasolar system planet searching, mostly failures. Then he starts getting into the success stories, explaining the evolution of various technologies along the way (said technologies allowed the successes). Mostly it focuses on American efforts, but since he works out of a Canadian university, Canada, Europe, and Japan get honorable mentions as well. He also tries hard to use examples that put things into perspective for the reader to help imagine the both enormously large and tiny measurements being made.
Once he has established how planets in other solar systems are found (in quite a lot of readable detail), he then explains the criteria that have been laid out for planets scientists feel have the best chances of harboring life. Interestingly, they don't rule out moons. The last couple chapters are devoted to this criteria, findings thus far, and ideas that may yield results (or not) in the future with more exploration and funding.
The geology of our own solar system that he describes is fascinating, especially about why Venus, Mars, and Earth all diverged in their atmospheres, etc. Very cool stuff. He describes the commonality of various planets that have been discovered by comparing them to planets in our own solar system, which was pretty neat. If you don't know the planets...you should brush up on them or you'll be confused.
I love planetary science and space both, so this book was an ideal fit. Very readable and fairly concise (about 225 pages) with a glossary at the back for those who are a little rusty on their space terms, or have a hard time tracking all the ones he uses. He also included a lot of very helpful illustrations/charts, both of physics concepts and planets. The way he explains how we might look for life on other planets using the Earth as the standard to measure by is interesting too. The different ways we know Earth is living besides the obvious, and the fact they trained a space probe back on Earth to measure these things so we can compare to foreign planets is pretty rad, too.
A very worthwhile read if you're interested in planetary science, astronomy, space, whatever. If you devoured every book on the solar system you could as a child, this book is for you. If you believe in aliens, this book is also for you.
Side note: I think the cover art of the book pretty much sums it up. The big planet talks about strange new worlds, which is the theme of the book, next the search for alien planets which is a fair chunk, and the smallest planet talks about life beyond our solar system, which is a pretty small chunk. The proportions are accurate, so good work whoever created the cover art!
April 21, 2016
What a difference between Jayawardhana's writing in this book and his later book on neutrinos! Without question his style changed for the better. This book is great, but not as relatable as Neutrino Hunters. Planet formation is a favorite subject of mine, but I had to make myself pay attention. The history in the first few chapters didn't really grab me. But, then Jayawardhana began to discuss brown dwarfs and I was hooked, so much so, I started over at the beginning so that when he got to brown dwarfs, I would have really taken in everything he included in the book up to that point. Brown dwarfs are one of my favorite things in the universe. They are not a star but not a planet. They are planet-like but also star-like. They confuse and awe me and I want to know everything I can about them. Jayawardhana discusses how he and other researchers came to discover them and understand the traits they possess -- e.g. star like formation and star-like activity when young, but then as they get older, they develop an atmosphere like a planet.
The author spends a lot of time drilling home the message that size matters, not just with brown dwarfs, but all celestial objects. It is the size that determines if a clump of matter becomes a star, a brown dwarf, a huge gaseous planet, a tiny rocky planet, or a measly comet. Size determines if there will be an atmosphere on a planet and how thick that atmosphere will be. Size determines if a planet will be geologically active, and possess moving plates.
In addition to providing information about brown dwarfs, Jayawardhana details past and future exploration missions that have allowed us to begin to understand what types of solar systems exist, if there are other earth-like planets, and how systems form in general. He should put out another addition of this book and include Hawking's exploration mission in which he plans to send nanoships to Alpha Centauri in search of a habitable planet.
I am extremely fond of Phil Amitage's work on planet development and "feeding zones". Sadly, you won't read about it in this book because Armitage's work was conducted after this book was written. My hope is that Jayawardhanawill will write a new book, which includes the new strides being made in space exploration and includes Armitage's work as well -- and, I hope he does it using the writing style he employed in Neutrino Hunters (which was one of the most spectacular books of all time).
For anyone who is interested in planet formation and feeding zones (coolest idea ever), here is a link to Armitage's talk:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yp4Dz...
The author spends a lot of time drilling home the message that size matters, not just with brown dwarfs, but all celestial objects. It is the size that determines if a clump of matter becomes a star, a brown dwarf, a huge gaseous planet, a tiny rocky planet, or a measly comet. Size determines if there will be an atmosphere on a planet and how thick that atmosphere will be. Size determines if a planet will be geologically active, and possess moving plates.
In addition to providing information about brown dwarfs, Jayawardhana details past and future exploration missions that have allowed us to begin to understand what types of solar systems exist, if there are other earth-like planets, and how systems form in general. He should put out another addition of this book and include Hawking's exploration mission in which he plans to send nanoships to Alpha Centauri in search of a habitable planet.
I am extremely fond of Phil Amitage's work on planet development and "feeding zones". Sadly, you won't read about it in this book because Armitage's work was conducted after this book was written. My hope is that Jayawardhanawill will write a new book, which includes the new strides being made in space exploration and includes Armitage's work as well -- and, I hope he does it using the writing style he employed in Neutrino Hunters (which was one of the most spectacular books of all time).
For anyone who is interested in planet formation and feeding zones (coolest idea ever), here is a link to Armitage's talk:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yp4Dz...
September 19, 2012
Though most of the far far a way universe is out of sight of most of us, it definitely is not out of mind of the curious, thanks to books like Strange New Worlds. Hollywood has given us the fantasy of how strange other worlds can be but learning about the possibilities of the existence of other worlds that can support life as we know it, makes fact more thrilling than fiction. In this book Ray Jayawardhana has bridged the subject from fiction into non-fiction in a story telling style. I have learned since how long ago strange new worlds are being sought after and what were the speculations about extra solar planets in the days of no-telescopes. Now that we have the technology, how is it possible to find and determine their existence from so far away? What are we looking for exactly and how? Author also covered why are we looking for these strange new worlds. This book has satisfied my curiosities about exoplanets and still held my interest to keep up with future discoveries and information in this field. In the process I learned a bit of astrophysics too. I read about different telescopes and how are they being utilized. Came to know about on-going researches I have never heard of before; more particularly fascinating was to read about the Virtual Planetary Laboratory. Very interesting was to learn how our own earth's shine is being observed from space. Realized the significance of Carl Sagan's "pale blue dot" as the author pointed it out.
Strange New Worlds by Ray Jayawardhana is an easy read and is not at all intimidating with science jargons. The little help I needed, was available right at the back of the book, in the well-built glossary. Ray J. structured the book for all levels of readers. To me it read like a long article rather than a science textbook. I have thoroughly enjoyed it. The closing three lines gave me goose bumps! After reading this book, following news of the discoveries by Kepler telescope is more interesting and thrilling because I now understand the significance and the efforts behind it! Strange new worlds no longer feel to exist in another universe! Would the engineers please start building "Starship Enterprise"!
Strange New Worlds by Ray Jayawardhana is an easy read and is not at all intimidating with science jargons. The little help I needed, was available right at the back of the book, in the well-built glossary. Ray J. structured the book for all levels of readers. To me it read like a long article rather than a science textbook. I have thoroughly enjoyed it. The closing three lines gave me goose bumps! After reading this book, following news of the discoveries by Kepler telescope is more interesting and thrilling because I now understand the significance and the efforts behind it! Strange new worlds no longer feel to exist in another universe! Would the engineers please start building "Starship Enterprise"!
July 21, 2012
An excellent (re)introduction to the history and practice of astronomical observation, and the ways that astronomers have been learning more about other stars and planets. I find that, because I'm not pushing myself and studying like I might have when I was a university student, I typically exhaust my will to comprehend part-way through physics books. Jayawardhana writes so well that I survived this book until easily 2/3 of the way through. I definitely recommend this book: the stories are interesting, the science is interesting, and the writing is clear and engaging.
An interesting stylistic note: the book seemed to suffer once the author became a figure. In the last third, the author writes about work a team did, and then frequently will quote newspapers quoting him. It's a weird construction and doesn't work: you're writing the book I'm holding, you can just say what you think--there's no need to quote yourself. I don't think it was done as ego, but I'm not sure why it was done.
An interesting stylistic note: the book seemed to suffer once the author became a figure. In the last third, the author writes about work a team did, and then frequently will quote newspapers quoting him. It's a weird construction and doesn't work: you're writing the book I'm holding, you can just say what you think--there's no need to quote yourself. I don't think it was done as ego, but I'm not sure why it was done.
November 3, 2015
Somewhat interesting. The author gives an account of the history of astronomy, and then quickly gets into details about how they detect planets. The methods are fairly complex, but at heart simple, and the author does a good job explaining them. He also conveys his own excitement. If your a science fiction fan you'll enjoy reading about space. His writing isn't that stimulating, you get the sense that he is used to writing dry scientific papers, which is condemnation of contemporary science, at least when it comes to writing. Wasn't easy to get through. But, I do enjoy learning about planets and stars.
December 27, 2015
Il libro, in relazione a quello recensito in precedenza (che ora non ho sotto mano quindi aggiungerò a gennaio) è molto meno cronologicamente marcato. Se prima questo poteva essere visto come un difetto di forma, la mancanza totale di una demarcazione di argomento in questo libro è praticamente oscena. Sembra di star parlando di qualcosa di sensato, quando l'autore tira in ballo una cosa che non c'entra niente, ma che prima o poi verrà richiamata. E' una sorta di stile romanzato, che però non è funzionale alla narrazione che si sta facendo.
Per il resto il libro è molto chiaro e spiega tutto molto bene.
Per il resto il libro è molto chiaro e spiega tutto molto bene.
December 18, 2012
A clearly written summary of how astronomers are discovering new planets. Jayawardhana is able to explain complex ideas in language that anyone can grasp as he guides us through the universe, explaining the techniques being employed to find planets in far away solar systems. He presents the sometimes conflicting views of what is being learned and gives readers a solid understanding of the way information that is being gathered is processed and why the conclusions being drawn from it should be sound. Highly recommended for space geeks.
February 15, 2014
Nice, detailed history of astronomical exploration. Spiced with short biographies of astronomers, and personal anecdotes, breaking up and enlivening what could have been a story about filters, lenses and equations. Opening and closing chapters harken to Sagan's "Pale Blue Dot," in the latter with explicit reference. Much easier physics than what is found in "Neutrino Hunters," though Jupiter-sized objects are more comprehensible than the sub-atomic. As with many of my favorite science writers - such as Matt Ridley and Olivia Judson - Jayawardhana hut his teeth at "The Economist."
June 8, 2013
A wonderful exploration of the science and scientists behind the search for planets outside our solar system. The chapters walk through various techniques being used to detect planets, the discoveries and controversies with that technique, and the scientists performing the work. The names of stars and planets can get a bit cumbersome at times but overall it is a very readable and enjoyable book that provides insight into this exciting area of scientific exploration.
December 12, 2011
This actually wasn't a bad book. It did get dry at some parts - I mean, come on, it's a science book - but I actually enjoyed parts of it. It's so amazing to think that we're so close to discovering other worlds, and other life forms. It's not just science-fiction anymore - this stuff is really happening, and it's mindblowing.
January 16, 2012
This was such an interesting, concise yet thorough read on our search for other planets. The author doesn't get bogged down in detail and is chatty without being too personal. I have of ocurse read news stories about this work but it was great to review the whole story. It was a quick read, and I would seek out Jayawardhana for other material.
June 22, 2014
A brief, clear, and entertaining rundown of the search for extrasolar planets. The book is around three years old, which is a lifetime in the absurdly fast-moving field of planet hunting, but it's a great summary of a really exciting period in science, and it really leaves you excited for what's coming up in the next couple of decades.
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