The Quest for Alien Planets: Exploring Worlds Outside the Solar System

by Paul Halpern

Paul Halpern leads us through an interplanetary adventure as we seek out new planets, brilliant stars, and extraterrestrial life forms. The only book of its kind to detail the important discoveries of the first known worlds beyond the solar system, The Quest for Alien Planets explores the unfolding search for planets both similar and alien to Earth. This book is inspired by the certain knowledge that our solar system is not unique. Halpern boldly guides us through the astonishing discoveries of yesterday and today that pave the cosmic road to new planets, space migration, and extraterrestrial life, as we enter a vast future that promises untold surprises. The Quest for Alien Planets reveals the exciting drama behind humankind's intergalactic endeavors, and details the trailblazing exploits that are propelling our new age of discovery.

293 pages, Hardcover

First published August 21, 1997

About the author

Acclaimed science writer and physicist Dr. Paul Halpern is the author of fourteen popular science books, exploring the subjects of space, time, higher dimensions, dark energy, dark matter, exoplanets, particle physics, and cosmology. He is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Fulbright Scholarship, and an Athenaeum Literary Award. A regular contributor to NOVA's "The Nature of Reality" physics blog, he has appeared on numerous radio and television shows including "Future Quest" and "The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special".

Halpern's latest book, "Einstein's Dice and Schrodinger's Cat," investigates how physicists Albert Einstein and Erwin Schrodinger battled together against the incompleteness and indeterminacy of quantum mechanics. Their dialogue inspired Schrodinger's famous thought-experiment about a cat in a box that is in a mixed state between life and death until it is observed. They struggled to find a unified field theory that would unite the forces of nature and supersede quantum weirdness. Sadly they would never find success and their efforts would lead to a fiasco.

More information about Paul Halpern's books and other writings can be found at:
phalpern.com

Reviews

[YYD · Rating 4 out of 5]

We know that there are billions of stars in the universe, and we assume that planets exist outside our solar system. However, conclusive evidence was not found until early 1990s. This entertaining book takes you on a journey of discovery for the "alien planets".