Is Earth Exceptional?: The Quest for Cosmic Life

4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars | 12 ratings

Price: 19.1

Last update: 01-11-2025


About this item

A New York Times–bestselling astrophysicist and a Nobel laureate describe the quest to discover how and where the universe breathed life into matter

For a long time, scientists have wondered how life has emerged from inanimate chemistry, and whether Earth is the only place where it exists. Charles Darwin speculated about life on Earth beginning in a warm little pond. Some of his contemporaries believed that life existed on Mars. It once seemed inevitable that the truth would be known by now.

It is not. For more than a century, the origins and extent of life have remained shrouded in mystery. But, as Mario Livio and Jack Szostak reveal in Is Earth Exceptional?, the veil is finally lifting. The authors describe how life’s building blocks—from RNA to amino acids and cells—could have emerged from the chaos of Earth’s early existence. They then apply the knowledge gathered from cutting-edge research across the sciences to the search for life in the cosmos: both life as we know it and life as we don’t.

Why and where life exists are two of the biggest unsolved problems in science. Is Earth Exceptional? is the ultimate exploration of the question of whether life is a freak accident or a chemical imperative.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.


Top reviews from the United States

  • WALTER SLATE DSP CONSULTING
    5.0 out of 5 stars Extraordinary book
    Reviewed in the United States on November 8, 2024
    It’s not the easiest read. Clearly the audience is the educated layman. Given that, the authors are clear and their goal is to explain without dumbing down, and at this they succeed. Einstein said “Everything should be made as simple as possible… but no simpler.” You lose something by only reading the very easiest books… you lose much of the most exciting details! The movement in this field of prebiology (trying to understand how the jump was made from chemistry to biology) has been extraordinary in recent decades. You just cannot understand the excitement without patient,
    gifted professors like these carefully explaining the details, which cannot be done in the crushingly over simplied fast-read popular science books. The authors will bring you in on the “Aha!!”moments that have transformed human understanding of the very beginnings of life.
  • Stephen Lepp
    5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful overview of what we know of Life
    Reviewed in the United States on September 26, 2024
    Mario Livio and Jack Szostak have produced a very interesting book on the origins of life. It is a very enjoyable tour through chemistry, biology, geology, astronomy and more all tied together with Livio’s unique style. If you’ve enjoyed any of his previous books you should add this one to your list and if you haven’t read anything by him here is your chance to start on a book covering such an important topic as the origin of life.
  • AndreaRomance
    4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating
    Reviewed in the United States on September 11, 2024
    This book delves into cutting-edge research to explore how life arose from inanimate matter on Earth and whether similar processes could be unfolding elsewhere in the cosmos. Is life a cosmic rarity or an inevitable consequence of the laws of nature?

    I learned a lot about the potential origins of life in this book, and the different ways life could arise on other celestial bodies. The book is fascinating, entertaining, and easy to read. It focuses on biochemistry rather than on astronomy and geophysics.

    Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.
  • Yech Herz
    5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating book.
    Reviewed in the United States on October 22, 2024
    If you ever wonder if there is life anywhere other than earth, this book provides a unique approach in answering this age old mystery, combining a chemistry based novel approach to how life originated on earth with a review of space exploration for finding life in space .
    Can the complex chemistry that created life on earth be repeated in other places? read the book to find out.
  • sigp226
    1.0 out of 5 stars Not good at all
    Reviewed in the United States on January 4, 2025
    This gets bogged down in chemistry that is beyond the normal person. If you are not a chemist let this one go. It could have been good with common sense descriptions but......
  • George Rhee
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book
    Reviewed in the United States on September 25, 2024
    I highly recommend this timely fascinating book about the origin of life written by two very distinguished scientists who are also great teachers.

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