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Light of the Stars

Alien Worlds and the Fate of the Earth

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Light of the Stars

By: Adam Frank
Narrated by: Kevin Pariseau
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About this listen

Light of the Stars is science at the grandest of scales, and it tells a radically new story about what we are: one world in a universe awash in planets. Building on his widely discussed scientific papers and New York Times op-eds, astrophysicist Adam Frank shows that not only is it likely that alien civilizations have existed many times before, but also that many of them have driven their own worlds into dangerous eras of change.

He explains how dust storms on Mars, the greenhouse effect on Venus, Gaia Theory, the threat of nuclear winter, and efforts to prove or disprove the plurality of worlds from Aristotle to Copernicus to Carl Sagan have contributed to our understanding of our place in the universe and the growing challenge of climate change. And he raises what may be the largest question of all: If there has been life on other worlds, what can its presence tell us about our own fate?

©2018 Adam Frank (P)2018 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books
Astronomy Physics Solar System Space Station Mars Interstellar
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What listeners say about Light of the Stars

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Fantastic

This book leaves you pretty sure they isn’t just us on little old earth out there….

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Incredible book

It's a must read for anybody who cares about what will happen to us as a civilization and what possibly could be done to consciously mitigate the worse. Explained in clear and easy for non-scientists to understand based on scientific research that I wouldn't think was carried out.

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Great review of the space exploration history

The author describes the matters with good depth and understanding.
The narrator did a fabulous job and kept me comming back to the book even in its less interesting parts.
Overall a great experience

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Whether we stand or fall as a civilisation is up to us

This was a thoroughly thought provoking book. It’s about how science and our exploration of nearby planets has evolved and how the discoveries made help us in going forward. Through a series of great minds and the ideas and theories they brought to the table, each building on the last the book looks both forward and back in time. About how life evolved on our planet. About the possibility of life on other worlds and how society and technology evolve over time and how it might be rare for a civilisation to get past climate change and get out to explore the galaxy. It has expanded my mind and given me hope for the future.

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1 person found this helpful

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Essential reading go anyone concerned with the future of mankind

This timely book, not too long, not too short, not too highbrow not too lowbrow, brings together the latest work on the effects that advanced civilisations have on their home planets. It paints a necessarily honest picture of what we need to do to avoid the worst effects of climate change.

Every world leader should read and digest this book.

I only have one small comment on the narrator. I’ve given Kevin Parisesu 5 stars for his work. His voice is very clear and easy on the ear but for an English listener the American pronunciation can be a little confusing sometimes.
It took me a little while to realise that what I took to be the word error was in fact era.
There are other examples but please don’t let that stop you listening to this very important work.

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Fascinating and well narrated

This is one I'll listen to again. Really mind-expanding and the narrator did a great job too.

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Great new perspective on the big problem.

Finished it in two days, found it truly inspiring. Easy to digest, clear explanations of more complex ideas and very sobering perspective on climate change, hopefully will resonate with more people.

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    2 out of 5 stars

Narrated by a Speak n Spell

Very interesting content but killed dead by poor narrator. I genuinely thought it was being read by a computer voice of some sort.

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1 person found this helpful