BOOK REVIEW - NATHALIE CABROL's The Secret Life Of The Universe

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PC: My Paperback



Secret Life Of the Universe is such an engaging dialogue that you would want to delve deeper on an investigative level. 


The book covers various topics related to our universe and about inherent search for life as we know it and beyond our limited imagination. 

It is like reading a magical fiction yet not forgetting the reality. 


PC: Canva


From Mars to Venus, Jupiter, Pluto and several moons and exoplanets, the book lays all of the space in front of our eyes to to imagine in our own way. 


Nathalie Cabrol is not only a marvellous Astrobiologist but also a sweet storyteller. She weaves the story of space, universe, stars, planets, suns and beyond in a delicious manner. She is a connoisseur of Astrobiology! 



PC: Google Image of the author


Throughout the book, the author has emphasized the importance of a valid understanding that from the perspective of this magnificent universe, we as fellow inhabitants of the sole planet of life, forget how miniscule our pursuit of life is! Even in the evident grandeur of space, we are forgetful of our place and imagine ourselves as something greater and go about the Earth trampling on each other everyday with things like wants, desires, politics, religion, evil notions and perceptions. We are not waking up but rather fooling around the Earth under a false pretence of success by fighting for pieces of land, 'right' religion, committing unimaginable crimes and yet have the entitlement to call ourselves the the most evolved species!  This book has all it takes to evoke these thoughts and perspectives.



PC: Google Image of The Overview Effect


Apart from man-made discoveries that have led to the exploration and knowledge of our universe that we understand today, the universe has its own way of introducing itself to us time and again. 

From the innumerable stars sequined in the fabric of the blackness of space to asteroids, comets, and other planets' rocks on the Earth like the Black Beauty meteorite, the Universe has been communicating with us for eons and epochs. In this manner, we are definitely just newbeis at present and have so much more to decipher. 




PC: Google Image of The Black Beauty Meteorite


The Black Beauty is a Martian meteorite that was found in the deserts of Morocco  in 2011. It is like living in the universe of magical occurrences. Just imagine a Martian meteorite flying across the space to land in Morocco and only to be found in 2011, like Mars nudging Earth with a slingshot, 'Hey Earth, here you go, when are you coming to see me?'

This is straight out of a sci-fi movie only that it is unbelievably real!


Author talks of the most promising candidates of interstellar objects which may harbor life like Europa, Enceladus and Titan. 


PC: Google Image of the Fictional Miller's Planet


The movie Interstellar marvelled everyone! The idea of different time patterns on different space objects sparked so much of curiosity and amazement. If ever a manned shuttle is sent to Titan, we will definitely witness the magic of time dimension as 30 Earth years equal around 1 year on Titan! How mind-blowing! 




In future there are plans to send spacecrafts (Dragonfly) to Titan to search for chemical biosignatures and study active methane cycle. 

In the past, four spacecrafts were sent to Titan. 


PC: Google Image of the Dragonfly Spacecraft Model


With the advent of AI, space organizations are also planning to continue with the breathtaking work of finding life and our counterparts in a more nuanced way. We can definitely say that we are growing in the pursuit of curiosity. 



PC: Fermi's Paradox



As the author has highlighted in the book a couple of times, I too marvel and I am sure you will as well that we are curious and enthusiastic to find life beyond Earth and yet there is still a lack of complete knowledge on what actually life is. The author aptly calls it one of the paradoxes of astrobiology. 


Lets marvel together❤️


Happy Reading!

Bibliosmia!

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