Cosmic Company: The Search for Life in the Universe

by Seth Shostak, Alex Barnett

In Cosmic Company, Seth Shostak and Alex Barnett ponder the possibility of aliens visiting the Earth, as well as the consequences of receiving a signal from the cosmos proving we're neither alone, nor the most intelligent life forms. They explain why scientists think life might exist on other worlds, and how we might contact it. Shostak and Barnett, experienced writers of popular astronomy, provide an accessible overveiw of the science and technology behind the search for life in the universe. Seth Shostak is a Senior Astronomer at the SETI Institute where he is involved in many of the outreach activities of the Institute, including editing the newsletter, overseeing the Web site, giving talks and writing magazine articles about SETI. He also teaches several informal education classes on astronomy and other topics in the Bay Area. Before coming to SETI, Seth did research work on galaxies using radio telescopes at observatories and universities in America and Europe. Alex Barnett is Programme Director at the National Space Centre. She is well-known in the science centre, planetarium and media worlds, particularly for public and educational programmes involving space and astronomy. She presents BBC's Final Frontier a space and astronomy programme.

168 pages, Hardcover

First published November 24, 2003

Reviews

[Driss Sekkat]

The definition of Cosmic Company is a lot. Meaning of a lot it has a lot of information. The Cosmic Company is a Space Center that search’s if there is a life in the universe meaning is their aliens or places in space where we can live. In this book I have learned 10 things that are amazing. I have learned that stars make humans and our universe may be part of a larger multiverse. If we scaled the entire timeline of the cosmos to a calendar year, the entire recorded history of human life to present day would be 14 seconds. After that, an icy shell of comets surrounds our solar system. Comets come from an Oort cloud, which is mass of icy bodies on the outskirts and it, circles around the sun. The Tardigrade, or Waterbear, is the only animal to survive all five major mass extinctions on Earth. Andromeda and The Milky Way will eventually merge into one galaxy -- but it won't be a catastrophic event. Thus, these are the most important things I learned about the Cosmic Company and what they discovered.

These two authors had two opinions because I don’t think that is real. First of all, I don’t think that human are made with stars and my opinion is that god makes humans. After that, they say there is a life elsewhere in the Universe and maybe not I don’t think there is elsewhere but people think different. I know that this book is non-fiction for several reasons. First looking at the title of the book it is real because I know that it is a company in real life that search’s for life in the universe. It talks about facts about it and some opinions and there are not characters and things that are impossible or maybe in the future like a carpet flying.

I have a small recommendation but I know to who I want to recommend this book to. First I would share this book to people from age 10-15. I chose that large amount of numbers because it is like news/newspaper. It is educational information and the young age from 10-12 they would maybe like it because it is about aliens. For more, maybe everyone will like it because it is about the universe/space. They will learn more about the world and about what does think company do. How do they work is it hard and more. Finally, this book could also be to people who wants to work at the Cosmic Company or want to work about the Universe

[Taede Smedes · Rating 4 out of 5]

A basic, easy-to-read, and very handsomely illustrated book by SETI-astronomer Seth Shostak and science popularizer Alex Barnett on the search for life in the universe. It basically covers all the issues, from a description of the habitats for life, to the question what aliens might look like, how likely intelligent life would be, whether aliens have already visited us (UFOs), to the issue how we might get in touch with aliens (SETI). Also covered is a chapter with a lucid explanation of the famous Drake Equation. And all that in less than 170 pages.

The book is careful about claiming that life definitely must exist elsewhere, but the writers seem to slide towards the optimistic part of the spectrum. The book was published in 2003. In the mean time a lot of new findings with regard to exoplanets have occurred, so the book would need an update (which I guess will not happen, since too many other books on astrobiology and extraterrestrial life have come out in the mean time).

This book makes for some very pleasant reading, written with a lot of mild humor and irony. Moreover, it still is a good summary of the issues surrounding the search for ET...

[Ada Macey · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable read, but a little out of date now, and designed more for complete newcomers to astronomy and SETI.