Understanding Life in the Universe

Understanding Life

by Wallace Arthur

The two most fascinating questions about extraterrestrial life are where it is found and what it is like. In particular, from our Earth-based vantage point, we are keen to know where the closest life to us is, and how similar it might be to life on our home planet. This book deals with both of these key issues. It considers possible homes for life, with a focus on Earth-like exoplanets. And it examines the possibility that life elsewhere might be similar to life here, due to the existence of parallel environments, which may result in Darwinian selection producing parallel trees of life between one planet and another. Understanding Life in the Universe provides an engaging and myth-busting overview for any reader interested in the existence and nature of extraterrestrial life, and the realistic possibility of discovering credible evidence for it in the near future.

150 pages, Paperback

Published November 17, 2022

About the author

Wallace Arthur is a Northern Irish evolutionary biologist, science writer, and Emeritus Professor of Zoology at the University of Galway. Educated at the University of Ulster and the University of Nottingham, he became known for interdisciplinary work linking evolution, ecology, and developmental biology. Arthur was among the founding editors of the journal Evolution & Development and has held visiting positions at Harvard University and Darwin College Cambridge. His research has focused on evo-devo, animal body plans, developmental bias, and arthropod segmentation. In later years he turned toward astrobiology and the possibility of extraterrestrial life, explored in books such as Parallel Worlds: Evolution of Life Across the Cosmos. He supports an expanded evolutionary synthesis incorporating advances in developmental biology.