Light of the Stars by Adam Frank

By the time I was two chapters into this book, I was texting my brothers and friends telling them that they need to go read it right away. The premise of the book is an exploration about the possibility of life on other worlds, but it is about so much more than that. Frank covers everything any space-geek anthropologist might find worthy of consideration, from the early days of SETI and planet-finding technology to how humanity might find its place among a larger galactic community.

“…we're not the first, all of them probably push their planets into some era of

climate change, that it's almost inevitable if you build a world-girdling

civilization that's sucking up a huge amount of energy that they will all push

their planets into climate change.

And then the question is, does anybody make it? Does anybody make it to sustainability?” – Adam Frank

Light of the Stars isn’t just a scientific exploration of current conundrums, though. What Frank is really able to accomplish is what probably was most successfully done by Carl Sagan – brining the science to a population with little scientific knowledge, and doing so in a way that makes it fascinating. Frank makes the science of life “out there” completely relevant to life “down here.” He covers in a friendly, conversational tone everything from ethics and climate control to technology and economy. This is not just a book for people interested in astronomy or aliens or space exploration – this is a book for anyone interested in humanity.