Contemporary culture often tends to think of extraterrestrial life in terms of acronyms, such as UFO, the film E.T. or SETI (the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence). In a new book, though, science journalist Marc Kaufman points out that there is a far more central question at stake: What is life? In fact, the answer to that question, far more difficult than it might seem, could mean we already have proof that life exists off planet Earth.
To say that Kaufman's book, First Contact: Scientific Breakthroughs in the Hunt for Life Beyond Earth, surveys a huge range of possible haystacks is an understatement. He takes us from beneath the surface of our planet, where scientists hunt for and study "extremophile" microbes that alter our views of what is necessary for life to exist, to observatories and labs searching deep space for extraterrestrial signals or exoplanets, planets outside the solar system. Not only does the book suggest the breadth of the effort, it reveals how each aspect reveals ideas and science never before suspected.
For example, there is the question of what Kaufman calls "a possible shadow biosphere." Is there life on Earth that was not previously considered life? First Contact takes us to research at an alkaline lake in California that led NASA to announce in December 2010 the discovery of an organism that uses arsenic in its cellular structure, an element that is not one of the six essential elements necessary for life on Earth. If terrestrial "life" can be arsenic-based and extremophiles can exist in circumstances previously thought incapable of supporting life, it becomes that much more likely that life exists off the planet.
In exploring these investigations and their ramifications, Kaufman does what excellent science reporters do—he translates at times difficult concepts into language those of us who barely passed "Bonehead Chemistry" can understand. This is no small feat, given that Kaufman himself was new to the field of astrobiology and, as he puts it, some of those involved in the effort use "a language that can often seem mysterious and impregnable." Perhaps due to the need to keep the information as accessible as possible, Kaufman tends to a bit of repetition. That is a relatively minor flaw in light of his approach. Whether descending into the South African mines, visiting observatories in Australia, or going to California's Mono Lake, First Contact also introduces the reader to the scientists. Readers aren't left with just the science and what the scientists are studying. Kaufman, science writer and national editor at The Washington Post, also personalizes the researchers and their work.
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