Extraterrestrial / Avi Loeb

 

Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth by Avi Loeb
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

”If you do not expect the unexpected, you will not find it.”—Heraclitus of Ephesus

I heard Loeb interviewed about this book and immediately put a hold on it at my library. As soon as it came in, I grabbed it and wasted no time getting reading. For me, Loeb's interview was more inspiring than his book. But I do think he has valid points and that the nature of the interstellar object known as ‘Oumuamua should be investigated thoroughly.

In essence, the astrophysical community seems to be sticking to the old wisdom If you hear hoof beats, think horses, not zebras. In many endeavours this is sensible advice--I've had to deal with a number of beginner birders who are adamant that they've seen something highly unlikely, say an Asian accidental in Western Canada or a species that exists in North America, but not in our area. The vast majority of the time, they haven't seen the unusual, just a normal bird under odd circumstances. But there are always those times…. I know of a Curve Billed Thrasher seen in Northern Alberta one winter, for example. So Loeb is right to remind us that the hoof beats might be horses, donkeys, or zebras and we would do well to allow for the unusual.

It's unfortunate but unsurprising that Loeb's style is somewhat pedantic. I imagine that he's used to being one of the smartest guys in the room. This book may be mostly about ‘Oumuamua, but it also is a comment on the state of the academic world, where reputation and funding opportunities seem to outweigh intellectual curiosity. He points out the unjustified denigration of those who search for life in the universe (such as the SETI project). He doesn't say so, but I think the crop-circles-and-alien-abductions crowd has tarnished this branch of study. Certainly if there were aliens actually visiting Earth, there would be no need to announce themselves so obliquely.

Although he strongly suspects an extraterrestrial origin of ‘Oumuamua, I think what he most hopes for is the opening of the scientific mindset to include this possibility. Preparing for the next appearance of such an anomalous object and getting more definitive answers should be the next goal.


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