Lucky Planet: Why Earth is Exceptional-and What That Means for Life in the Universe

by David Waltham

Hardcover, 2014

Status

Available

Call number

QH543.W35

Genres

Publication

Basic Books (2014), 208 pages

Description

Why Earth's life-friendly climate makes it exceptional?and what that means for the likelihood of finding intelligent extraterrestrial lifeWe have long fantasized about finding life on planets other than our own. Yet even as we become aware of the vast expanses beyond our solar system, it remains clear that Earth is exceptional. The question is: why? In Lucky Planet, astrobiologist David Waltham argues that Earth's climate stability is what makes it uniquely able to support life, and it is nothing short of luck that made such conditions possible. The four billion year

User reviews

LibraryThing member Bodagirl

Waltham is trying to be conversational, but failing and I cannot muster enough interest in sediment to continue. I was expecting a lot more about space and less about Earth's climate and geology. Stopped in Chapter 7.

1 more

LibraryThing member kaitanya64

For many years, the prevailing scientific trend has been to describe Earth as a fairly "ordinary" or "common" type of planet and to extrapolate that many planets exist that are very similar to Earth and probably support abundant life, as Earth does. Waltham's book makes the argument that Earth is

actually "exceptional" in that several physical factors have made Earth a "lucky" planet that supports abundant life while many fairly similar planets differ in some minor but important way. I don't particularly care how scientists settle this question, but Waltham's book is fascinating to the non-scientist mainly because he clearly and thoroughly takes the reader through the cosmological discoveries of the last 50 years that have radically changed the scientific view of the cosmos and the earth. I was engaged from beginning to end. As a non-scientist without particular gifts in math or physics, I know I missed some of Waltham's finer points, but still I was able to learn all kinds of fascinating new things. A great read!

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