A wide-ranging and delightful survey, The Possibility of Life is the kind of book that makes you exclaim 'Wow!' out loud while reading on the bus. To some extent, that’s because Green packs the book with fascinating facts ... Even more mind-blowing, though, is Green’s ability to make us rethink everything we thought we knew about life on Earth ... The Possibility of Life is rich with these kinds of insights, teaching us that when we look beyond the gravity well of Earth, we are ultimately looking back at ourselves.
Ms. Green’s book, alive with the color and drama of science fiction as well as scientific fact, helps us grasp that process of imagining ... As Ms. Green takes us on a tour through science-fiction worlds... she wants us to see our own blind spots.
While many books have been written about the search for extraterrestrial life, Green’s blend of scientific facts and science fiction reveals a sense of joy and wonder beyond the usual science-based cosmological studies or speculative fiction about aliens and UFOs. Ultimately, Green’s work reflects upon the nature of life and what it means to be human.
The Possibility of Life is not a book about aliens; it’s about human beings and the possibilities of our lives, together and alone ... Green is adept at stripping away the layers of anthropomorphism and cliché that render our often strange Earth familiar to us ... Some of the most fascinating and affecting moments in Green’s book are when she examines animals and experiences readily available in our own lives that might provide a model for what extraterrestrial life might look or feel like ... Green’s most important insight in The Possibility of Life is not... that when we embark on our Quixotic search through the cosmos, we’re really searching for ourselves. What she most uniquely apprehends is why.
Rather than taking up space with unnecessary conjecture, Green begins with history ... Green gives science fiction a major role, which turns out to be a fascinating approach ... Ingenious writing about the cosmos and life itself.
