The Secret Life of the Universe: An Astrobiologist’s Search for the Origins and Frontiers of Life

This stimulating survey from Cabrol, director of the Carl Sagan Center at the SETI Institute, details how she and other scientists search the cosmos for extraterrestrial life. Cabrol offers insight into what kinds of planets are most likely to harbor life by outlining theories for how life emerged on Earth, with some scientists claiming that the first organisms developed from alternating periods of dryness and wetness around volcanic hot springs, while others believe that reactions among RNA molecules in ice constitute a more likely genesis. Elsewhere, Cabrol notes that one study has detected phosphine, a compound “only produced by life on Earth,” in Venus’s atmosphere, and that geysers on Saturn’s moon Enceladus suggest the planet has a mantle composed of water. Cabrol has a talent for making technical research accessible for general readers and serves up a bounty of fascinating trivia, pointing out that “rogue planets” wander the universe after getting “ejected from their parent systems” and that the exoplanet 55 Cancri e has a 2,700ºC surface “where gases behave almost like liquids.” Amateur astronomers will be spellbound. Photos. (Aug.)