Rare Earth: Why Complex Life is Uncommon in the Universe / Peter D. Ward and Donald Brownlee

		KAREN writes: RARE EARTH I found this review succinct and informative and definitely food for further thought. There are also two other vital and vast mysteries. How did life develop from non-life? And how did the cell develop? Both these are obvious questions that we can't answer, and the answers are crucial to whether life is rare or common. But, if life is common, where indeed is everybody? I don't expect the neighbours to pop over, the distances in space are truly mind-bending and I suspect travel between the stars just isn't feasible, but, there is no evidence anywhere of other life. Of course, it may be we're looking in the wrong places or not looking in the right way, and, even though, quoting some-one far cleverer than me, absence of evidence is not proof of absence, but surely, there should be something. Surely there should be some vague hint that we are not alone. And as for even mentioning god, why? This is a scientific discussion, and religion has no place in it. Mentioning god is both irrelevant and disappointing.
		[789] Posted on Sunday, 18 August 2013 at 13:03 GMT [Reply to this] [Permalink]