THE search for life beyond Earth has philosophical and religious implications which science books often skirt around. Lucas John Mix, a biologist and Episcopalian priest, tackles these issues head-on. Though too detailed at times, Life in Space is a broadly researched and refreshingly personal account of astrobiology. Mix shows how our understanding of where and how to look for extraterrestrial life is biased by the fact that we have only a single example of life to go by. We are further biased, he says, by the idiosyncrasies of our perception, such as the colours we see. Our own biology – and, at higher levels, our philosophical or religious beliefs – fundamentally influence our science, a crucial point that is rarely appreciated.
Harvard University Press