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Do Aliens Exist? And if they do – what would they look like? Where would they live? Would they be conscious beings? And what would happen if they found us?
These are the biggest questions we've ever asked – and here, Professor Jim Al-Khalili, theoretical physicist and host of BBC Radio Four's The Life Scientific, blasts off in search of answers. Coming with him are Martin Rees, Ian Stewart, Louisa Preston, Monica Grady, Sara Seager, Paul Davies and a crack team of scientists and experts who've made it their life's work to discover the truth.
So get ready to visit the ice boulders and hydrocarbon lakes of Saturn's moon Titan, meet the tiny eight-legged critters that could survive in space, and learn about the neuroscience behind belief in alien abductions. Along the way, you'll enter the mind of an octopus, work out the probability of us finding an alien civilisation and discover whether quantum computing might hold the secret to life itself.
Lively, curious and filled with scientific insights fresh from the cutting edge of the Galaxy, Aliens is the perfect book for anyone who has ever looked up into the starry sky and wondered: are we alone?
Please note that the hardback is a US version, sporting a different subtitle.
Jim Al-Khalili OBE is an Iraqi-born British theoretical physicist, author and broadcaster. He is currently Professor of Theoretical Physics and Chair in the Public Engagement in Science at the University of Surrey. As well as his research and writing, he has hosted many BBC TV and radio productions about science and was the 2016 winner of the inaugural Stephen Hawking medal for science communication.
"A brilliantly sharp collection"
– Nicola Davis, Observer
"Jim Al-Khalili has gathered a useful cross-section of the brightest minds in space science [...] [Aliens] goes far beyond the what and the where and the when of extraterrestrial-hunting to the biggest conundrum of all: why bother? [...] This book is always lucid and sometimes unexpectedly beautiful."
– Oliver Moody, The Times
"With a handsome cover sprinkled with green glitter, and pages wittily edged in matching green, this is an ideal stocking-filler for keen alien-fanciers"
– Jane Shilling, Daily Mail
