Intelligent Life In The Universe - Peter Ulmschneider

Review by Michael A. Michaud

In this densely written book, Heidelberg University professor Peter Ulmschneider covers a remarkably wide range of questions related to extraterrestrial life and intelligence, and does so with convincing authority. His work, part of Springer's Physics and Astronomy series, has the flavor of a university textbook, with numerous graphs, tables, and diagrams, and a few equations. Readers will need either a basic knowledge of science or a willingness to learn while reading.

Part I, about planets, discusses the origin of chemical elements, planet formation, the search for extrasolar planets, and planets suitable for life. Part II, about life, begins at the most basic level of organic chemistry, then moves on to a condensed discussion of biological evolution on Earth. A much briefer chapter provides a quick overview of the search for extraterrestrial life. Part III, on intelligence, takes an unusual approach by beginning with the future of Humankind, emphasizing human expansion into the solar system and possible threats to our survival. Ulmschneider argues that, by thinking about our own future development, we can gain insights into the nature of extraterrestrial intelligence. He concludes his book with a discussion of extraterrestrial intelligent life, briefly noting some of the proposed explanations for the Fermi Paradox.

This book is not for casual readers. Because it covers so much territory, the discussions are highly condensed. Nonetheless, Ulmschneider has done an impressvie job. The book includes some small but well-reproduced colored pictures.

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The First Three Minutes - Steven Weinberg

Review by Ed Ehrlich

Steven Weinberg's "The First Three Minutes" might be the best SECOND book to read on Cosmology. Because "The First Three Minutes" concentrates on the very early development of the Universe and does not provide much historical development to what lead up to the great discoveries of the Twentieth Century, a reader with little or no knowledge of Cosmology might find it heavy going.

For instance Weinberg starts off his description of "black body radiation" with "By the 1890s it had become known that the properties of radiation in a state of thermal equilibrium with matter depend only on the temperature. To be more specific, the amount of energy per unit volume in such radiation within any given range of wavelengths is given by a universal formula, involving only the wavelength and the temperature". All of that is absolutely correct of course, but it is a bit much to work through. It seems that a brilliant educator such as Richard Feynman would have thought up a description equally accurate but more intuitive.

"The First Three Minutes" is for the reader who has a particular interest in a detailed description of the first few seconds of the Universe. It is ironic that while the Biblical account of Creation was ridiculed for condensing the entire building of the Earth into 6 days, modern Cosmology describes vastly more dramatic events that occurred in fractions of a second. (I'm not advocating a Creationist theory of the Earth, just pointing out how science has come up with a theory that was beyond anyone's imagination a short time ago.)

"The First Three Minutes" divides up the early Universe into six frames, some lasting less than a second while others extending for more than a minute. In some phases energy dominates while in others matter has the upper hand. Weinberg details the incredibly energetic reactions that took place in the early Cosmological stew of the first seconds of the Universe.

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