The Secret Life of the Universe: An Astrobiologist's Search for the Origins and Frontiers of Life

One of the world’s leading astrobiologists takes us on an awe-inspiring journey across the cosmos to investigate some of humanity’s most profound questions: Are we alone in the universe? And, how did life on Earth begin?

We are living in a golden age in astronomy and in the search for life in the universe. Over the last few decades, space exploration has shown that not only are there habitable environments within our solar system, but there are millions of exoplanets within our galaxy that could support life. We are on the cusp of breakthroughs that will revolutionize our understanding of our place in the cosmos in. Yet a profound question remains: Are we alone in the universe?

We have never been closer to answering this question. In The Secret Life of the Universe, astrobiologist and the director of the Carl Sagan Center at the SETI Institute Nathalie A. Cabrol takes us to the frontiers of the search for life. The book’s odyssey begins by searching for how life began on Earth in order to understand what’s necessary for life to exist elsewhere. What role did our Moon play? And could life on Mars, or another world, have seeded life on Earth?

Cabrol continues this dazzling interplanetary tour, illuminating the likeliest places for life in our neighborhood: Venus, Mars, the icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn, and Pluto. Finally, we seek life beyond our Solar System, looking at the recent revolution in the night sky: the realization that there are as many planets as stars in our galaxy. Cabrol shares the deepest insights and most provocative theories on how life emerged and if we may ever find an advanced alien civilization. As we learn, with more than 300 million exoplanets in the habitable zone of our galaxy, to think we are alone may be little more than nonsense.

The Secret Life of the Universe is a comprehensive and authoritative guide to the search for life, and a dazzling introduction to the latest discoveries. This is an exhilarating journey for anyone who has ever looked up at the stars and wondered what might be out there.

About the Author

Nathalie A. Cabrol is a French-American explorer and astrobiologist and the Director of the Carl Sagan Center at the SETI Institute. She researches habitability and life beyond Earth, develops science exploration strategies for NASA for Mars and Titan, designs robotic field tests, and leads projects in planetary science and astrobiology. Cabrol documents life’s adaptation to extreme environments and the effects of rapid climate change. She has written over nearly six hundred peer-reviewed publications and conference proceedings and has published three books on planetary science. Cabrol also holds the women’s world record for diving at altitude. Born in France, she lives in California.