Book contents
- The Biological Universe
- Reviews
- The Biological Universe
- Copyright page
- Epigraph
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Part I Painting Big Pictures
- 1 A Tree with Millions of Twigs
- 2 A Galaxy with Billions of Stars
- 3 The Likelihood of Other Trees
- Part II Life Here, Implications for Elsewhere
- Part III Planetary Systems and Life
- Part IV Discovering Life
- Part V Beyond the Milky Way
- Bibliography
- Index
3 - The Likelihood of Other Trees
from Part I - Painting Big Pictures
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 September 2020
- The Biological Universe
- Reviews
- The Biological Universe
- Copyright page
- Epigraph
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Part I Painting Big Pictures
- 1 A Tree with Millions of Twigs
- 2 A Galaxy with Billions of Stars
- 3 The Likelihood of Other Trees
- Part II Life Here, Implications for Elsewhere
- Part III Planetary Systems and Life
- Part IV Discovering Life
- Part V Beyond the Milky Way
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Here, I examine whether the definition of life that we arrived at earlier needs to be modified when considering the possibility of alien life. I also note that the search for alien life of any kind – astrobiology – is a much broader venture than SETI – the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. Then I deal with the question of whether we should expect trees of life, rather than a non-tree-like pattern, to characterize other inhabited planets. In order to focus in on those parts of the galaxy that may host life, I start by excluding most parts of the galaxy from consideration – life is unlikely to be found in interstellar space or on stars, which means that more than 99% of the galaxy is lifeless in terms of both its volume and its mass. I then focus on planets. Next, I argue against the Rare Earth hypothesis – that animal life is vanishingly rare in the galaxy (and the universe). Instead, I propose the alternative Common Earth hypothesis. Finally, I ask the question: are alien trees of life likely to run in parallel to the tree of life on Earth, or might those alien trees and their constituent life-forms be very different?
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- Information
- The Biological UniverseLife in the Milky Way and Beyond, pp. 38 - 52Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020