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Book Review: 'Here Be Dragons' Charts Quest for Life
By Kenneth Silber
Staff Writer
posted: 09:50 am ET
13 March 2000
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here_be_dragons_000313Here Be Dragons: The Scientific Quest for Extraterrestrial Life (Oxford, $27.50) is a wide-ranging overview of astrobiology, the study of possible life in the universe. Astronomer David Koerner and biologist Simon Levay touch on topics as diverse as extrasolar planets, alien abductions, intelligent robots, and multiple universes. The sheer breadth of subject matter makes for a lively discussion, abetted by a colorful writing style. (In one odd aside, the authors go out of their way to insult New Mexico.) Yet it also ensures that the book is generally more an introduction to astrobiology than an in-depth analysis. And some of the topics (like whether humans might someday "upload" themselves into computers) seem tangential to the main issue. Koerner and Levay might be described as moderately "pro-life" (in the cosmic sense). They close the book by stating a belief that "the search will be rewarded, and soon," but also note respectfully the views of "pessimists" such as UCLA astronomer Ben Zuckerman. (Had the much-discussed book Rare Earth not been published so recently, it no doubt would have factored into the discussion as well.) The authors also, to their credit, supplement their scientific knowledge with some journalistic enterprise. They interview scientists in a variety of fields, and visit such scientifically dubious locales as a creationist museum and Nevada's "Extraterrestrial Highway." They even see their own "UFO" in southern California -- and these two UFO skeptics drive home in "chastened silence." But then they turn on the local news and find out a meteor fell west of Los Angeles. All in all, Koerner and Levay are competent, good-natured guides to astrobiology. Their book appealingly mixes scientific exposition with good writing and an amusing sensibility.
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