Great book, Learned so much about the space beyond our own little planet. You normally do not consider how vast our galaxy is, Is something out there besides us?

Genre: nonfiction

Astronomer and director of the Carl Sagan Institute at Cornell University, Lisa Kaltnegger uses Alien Earths to detail the scientific search for life on other planets. Lots of excellent science fiction and pop culture references, but this is real science- multidisciplinary astronomy, geology, biology, chemistry, engineering and more! - combined in Dr Kaltenegger's pursuit of defining and finding life on planets in other solar systems.

There is some technical information, but she writes clearly enough for someone with basic astronomical knowledge to understand (i.e. if you've been to a planetarium at least once or took a middle school science class, you'll probably be ok!). She poses a lot of interesting questions for us about the universe, and tests the limits of what we might be able to find. Alien Earths manages to gracefully walk the fine line between pop science writing and the technical components of the field, but it’s clear that her goal is to get more amateur scientists and astronomers and the general public invested in this search for life elsewhere.

The audiobook is a good way to connect with Alien Earths, and I never felt lost listening to too many facts. It’s a good blend of interesting scientific discoveries, natural history about the evolution of life on our planet, and Dr Katlenegger’s personal experiences with her field, teaching, and being a woman in science.

Pick this up if you’re a science fiction lover who also likes to think about life on other worlds in our own universe. Pick it up if you want to think about how much life on our own planet is such a tiny sliver of possibility of what’s out there in the universe.

I was provided both an audio and print ARC of this book via Netgalley, all opinions are my own.

Cassandra Campbell is a fabulous narrator, and is one of my favorites. This is my first experience with her narrating a non-fiction audiobook. I'm used to her voicing several different characters within a sci-fi or fantasy book, however she takes great care in ensuring the scientific words are pronounced clearly and correctly and if there is a non-English name or phrase it is also pronounced correctly.

This was a great non-fiction book for anyone interested in science of discovering new planets and the investigation of space. The author does a great job of mixing science, personal, experience, and pop culture in to the book without getting overly scientific. She uses real world examples from her own teaching experience and research and references movies and books that readers may be familiar to explain her points about how scientists go about trying to determine if there might be life on other planets. I felt like it was written as if she was having a conversation with you about her favorite topic which made if very approachable and easy to consume. I've read other books on the topic and it can get very technical and overwhelming very quickly depending on how the science is presented. You can tell the author loves her work and tries to make it fun and wants everyone to see the majesty in the cosmos as she does.

I appreciated that the author took the time to write about her life and accomplishments. She notes that it was not always easy being a woman in STEM, but because she had supportive parents and mentors she has had an impressive career. This book would be the perfect gift for an aspiring young lady taking an interest in a STEM career.

I would have appreciated pictures of some of the things Dr. Kaltenegger was referencing at times or links to Hubble images, as I was following along in the ebook. The cover is fantastic, and I hope the final version that comes out in a few weeks does have images, but the ARC does not.

Overall this is a great, easy to digest look at scientific approach to looking for habitable planets and potential life in the universe.

I received a gifted copy of ALIEN EARTHS: THE NEW SCIENCE OF PLANET HUNTING IN THE COSMOS by Lisa Kaltenegger from St. Martin’s Press. I also received the audiobook from Macmillan Audio.

ALIEN EARTHS takes at the science and research that is going into the quest to find out if there is life out there in the cosmos. Given that we don’t have the technology to leave our solar system and explore the far reaches of space, science must find ways to bring answers into reach through alternate means.

Lisa Kaltenegger is an astrophysicist and a founding director of Cornell University’s Carl Sagan Institute. She talks about the ways we can use our own home planet and all that we know about it’s history and present to inform the search for other life in the universe.

This book cover immediately caught my eye. I really enjoy nonfiction that brings more information about the natural world and space is always a fascinating discussion. I think the author did a good job of explaining the science she was conveying in a way that made it approachable for the non-scientific minded. She promises an “insider’s guide” to what scientists are learning from Earth, its biosphere, and some of the discoveries that have already been made.

This is a pretty quick read and it never felt too heavy or weighed down with concepts that were difficult to understand. I found the idea of growing things on Earth to study and learn how to recognize potential life on distant planets to be particularly interesting. This was a fascinating read and I would recommend it to those interested in asking the questions of what is out there in the universe!

I had such a fun time listening to this. I have been on a huge outer space learning kick over the last month so this was perfect timing. I loved that the author did an introduction at the beginning. This book did a great job dumbing down some of the concepts so that your average reader would understand most, but maybe not all, of the concepts and facts. There were a few things that I did not feel intelligent enough to truly understand - but I feel that way about outer space in general. This was a great audiobook. The narration was engaging and I learned a ton.

This book was so incredibly interesting and mind blowing! Dr. Kaltenegger describes the possibilities of other habitable planets in the universe using both observations from space telescopes and computer and lab modeling. Her writing is extremely clear and accessible for the layperson but also full of fascinating information. The narrator of this audiobook was wonderful and clear.
I would highly recommend this to readers of popular science, and to quote The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, "life, the universe, and everything."

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for this audio ARC!