Quote:
Originally Posted by bengamblin  I keep meaning to buy the book "Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future In Space" by Carl Sagan, but haven't got round to it. Has anyone read it? |
i did and i would recommend it. if you read only one book on astronomy and the future of space exploration, this should be the one.
Quote:
Originally Posted by zenwhen Seeing images like that makes it impossible for me to feel that we are the only intelligent life in the universe. |
that's the popular assumption and mine too however not all scientists agree on this. here is an interesting review of the book "Rare Earth" :
Maybe We Are Alone in the Universe, After All Quote:
... Now, two prominent scientists say the conventional wisdom is wrong. The alien search, they add, is likely to fail.
Drawing on new findings in astronomy, geology and paleontology, the two argue that humans might be alone, at least in the stellar neighborhood, and perhaps in the entire cosmos. They say modern science is showing that Earth's composition and stability are extraordinarily rare. Most everywhere else, the radiation levels are too high, the right chemical elements too rare in abundance, the hospitable planets too few in number and the rain of killer rocks too intense for life ever to have evolved into advanced communities. Alien microbes may survive in many places as a kind of cosmic shower scum, they say, but not extraterrestrials civilized enough to be awash in technology. ... [Full article]
|