Rare Earth: Why Complex Life Is Uncommon in the Universe by Peter Ward, Donald Brownlee Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Rare Earth: Why Complex Life Is Uncommon in the Universe
Book Review: Lack of imagination.
Summary: 3 Stars
THE BIBLE ACCORDING TO EINSTEIN says that life, at least microbes, exists elsewhere in the universe. This and the argument in the book are convincing. The "science bible" also says that the question of the existence of extraterrestrial sophisticated life is too uncertain. Nothing useful can be gained from RARE EARTH.Book Review: Let's Pretend
Summary: 2 Stars
I am somewhat concerned about the authors' motives were in writing this book. I wonder how one gets to "The Rare Earth Hypothesis" if one does not already have preconceived notions about the rarity of life in the universe. The authors think that if anything were different in our solar system life on Earth would not have evolved. What they have presented here is nothing new. This argument is an old hat. You need the right kind of sun, and big gaseous outer planets to vacuum up debris, a moon to provide a shield, and water. This is an old argument. But here it has become a religious argument. Once the rise of complex life becomes exceedingly improbable, special creation becomes more probable. That is the point that they are driving home, even if it is not said explicitly. People want to read that "chance" could not have created life, and this book offers a warm and fuzzy feeling to those people. Surely the authors would have realized that their book would have this effect. They've put humans back in the center of the universe. Once again, there we are. The only blessed planet. Our star is rare. After-all, it's only one in 400 Billion (times 100 Billion). That's 1 in 40,000,000,000,000,000,000,000... just to be conservative. Yes, we are a rare jewel indeed, and of course right at the center of it all. We deserve congratulations for being human.Book Review: Five Stars and then some more!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a jewel of a book. It is a doorway to the essence of life and how precious that life is. I will also recommend Dr. Hugh Ross as another scientist/author for anyone who wishes to continue to explore the utter majesty of the Creation.Book Review: A welcome antidote to "Saganitis"
Summary: 5 Stars
"Saganitis" is a common malady suffered by the scribblers of popular science books. It is defined as "a quasireligious need to believe in the existence of intelligent extraterrestrial life, in the absence of any facts whatsoever that would tend to support this view." To the rescue come the authors of Rare Earth, who inject some hard reality into the fantasy world of deluded terrestrials: it just ain't that easy to evolve creatures as complex as we; in fact, it may be damn near impossible. And don't even THINK about invoking the Copernican Principle, that overused security blanket of the Lonely Earthlings Club: yes, if we assume that our local physical conditions are ordinary, we would be justified in inferring that life (of whatever level of complexity) might exist elsewhere. But as the authors show in glorious detail, that assumption is glaringly false. We are the end-product of EXTRAORDINARY physical and geological conditions, not ordinary ones. It's about time someone wrote a book like this. Don't miss it.Book Review: Say Goodbye to the Little Green Men
Summary: 4 Stars
Give up fairy-tales, get your head out of the clouds, and wake up to cold reality. I dont know if I want to thank the authors or curse them, for bursting my extraterrestrial bubble. Good book!