Fascinating read, the sad thing is that I don’t recall the media reporting on this story at all when it was occurring, probably because they were so easily distracted by Donald Trumps 3 am 💩 tweets. The idea that a possible alien civilization would send out machines to search the universe shouldn’t be that controversial as we too send out plenty of satellites, telescopes etc .

I went into this quite open, knowing the subject matter a little before hand. There have been a lot of videos made on this event - from physicists to alien enthusiasts, from religious fanatics to conspiracy theorists. Whole Loeb takes time in explaining everything that happened surrounding the asteroid, the deferential unfortunately moved more towards history of science, anecdotes than exploration of theories or Oumuamua itself.

There is a lot of info out there but credit must be given to Loeb for somewhat collating it together and putting it all together in a scientific context.

<i>Thank you to Netgalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for providing me with a free copy of this e-book in exchange for an honest review. </i>

I was so looking forward to this book and all of my friends loved it. I think I wasn't in the mood for it, I'll pick this up at a later time.

This is a type of book that fascinates me. It's well researched, informative and gripping.
I liked the style of writing and the clarity of the explanations.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

While Loeb's theory is fascinating and exciting, I'm ultimately left somewhat depressed due the clearly visible outcome, what with it being influenced by politics and insular views.

The appearance of 'Oumuamua in autumn of 2017 was, excuse the obvious pun, a blip on my screen. At the time, the prevailing scientific voices quickly buried the early excitement, telling us that this was nothing more than some super odd, incredibly rare, but naturally occurring object.

There's so much understatement in those claims, as Loeb goes into great detail to explain just how incredibly infinitesimal some of these likelihoods are, and then the compounding of those elements in one object.

Early on in my reading of Extraterrestrial (ARC provided by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) I googled the artists' rendering of the object, and stumbled across multiple recently published articles immediately refuting Loeb's hypothesis and allowed myself to read one of them. The ferocity of and patronizing, incredibly dismissive words in that article were so offensive compared to Loeb's sometimes caustic rants in here, against the very community that publishes these articles, that I absolutely understood and accepted his gripes.

No less than Hawking himself encouraged the theoretical possibilities and need to search for extraterrestrial intelligent life, but so many scientists dismiss it so quickly out of hand that they instantly show their biases. I imagine there are scientists out there that - like the hipster-style I'm-more-intelligent-and-above-the-rabble stereotype - dismiss even Hawking, and regular peons such as myself (I could track Loeb's scientific explanations here, which is admirable for a book written for a regular reader, but I'm sure it's elementary to actual astrophysicists) for considering this sort of stuff.

I'm inclined to be on Loeb's side, here, and that shows my own bias (because I'm inclined to be open to these big ideas, and see little fault in at least entertaining them). But even if I weren't, I'd commend his honesty and academic bravery in continuing to step forward to bring his theories and concerns to our attention.

I found it a strange you-can't-have-it-both-ways thinking that Loeb repeatedly and disdainfully dismissed his young students' obsessions with social media and yet also praised them as being the only possible saviors of his theories, as enthusiastic and open-minded scholars who may help revive the SETI program and similar searches. I know that, technically, these are separate things, but surely the access these students have to the wider world and to finding others outside their immediate in-person-communities who share their curiosities and desires to think on larger scales can't help but foster their ultimate inclusion into worldviews like those that Loeb presents.

Subtitle: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth

I received an advance reader copy of this book from the publisher through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

In 2017, a mysterious interstellar objected passed through our solar system, shot around the sun, then picked up velocity as it left the solar system again. It was the first such interstellar object in human history and defied easy explanation. Avi Loeb chair of astronomy department at Harvard believes the best explanation of the data collected about it indicates it was a device constructed by an alien intelligence.


After describing the unusual object – subsequently named ‘Oumuamua (the single apostrophe is part of the name) – we get a chapter-long version of Loeb’s autobiography. The meat of the book is a discussion of how the pursuit of science is harmed by the conservatism of the mainstream scientific community. The primary example of this conservatism is the hesitancy of the establishment to consider the possibility of alien intelligence being responsible for the object regardless of what available data may indicate.

Science is built on trial and error and according to Loeb, the conservative nature of the establishment discourages young scientists from conducting experiments in frowned-upon disciplines. I happen to agree with a lot of what he has to say on this point. Just imagine how much more we might know about potential life on other planets if that line of inquiry had been encouraged for the last sixty years instead of being discouraged.

I gave Extraterrestrial four stars on Goodreads. The topic was interesting and Loeb is clearly an expert in his field, but some of the philosophical points were hammered home a few too many times, and at times the scientific jargon was too much for me and I began skimming.

An astrophysicist chooses to probe the questions his colleagues think they already have answers to. In doing so, he creates a strong case for bravely exploring the unknown with wonder and an open mind. His conclusions are as surprising as they are inevitable.

A wonderful and engaging read that urges its readers bravely out of popular consensus and into a rare purified scientific inquiry. Suspension of disbelief is part of that journey, and the payoff is a recovery of childhood wonder without sacrificing truth. This is a rare book that holds both.

Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth is a provocative and fascinating book written by American theoretical physicist and Harvard University astronomer Avi Loeb. The book describes the 2017 detection of ʻOumuamua, the first known interstellar object passing through the Solar System. Loeb speculates that the object might possibly be from an alien civilization in a far distant star system, a conclusion that is considerered unlikely by the scientific community. Earlier, Loeb demonstrated that the interstellar object was not an asteroid, was moving too fast in a very unusual orbit and left no gas trail or debris in its path to be a comet. Loeb believes, due to the observed acceleration of the object near the sun, that ʻOumuamua may be a very thin disk that acts as a solar sail of some sort.Further, Loeb and colleagues demonstrated that the object was unlikely to be frozen hydrogen as proposed earlier by other researchers.

Besides ʻOumuamua, another interstellar object, the comet 2I/Borisov, has been detected passing through the Solar System. In comparison, 2I/Borisov has been found to be clearly natural, whereas ʻOumuamua has not been so determined. Accordingly, the possibility that ʻOumuamua may be alien technology has not been entirely ruled out, although such an explanation is considered very unlikely by most scientists. Nonetheless, according to Loeb, "We should be open-minded and search for evidence rather than assume that everything we see in the sky must be rocks”. His peers contend that just because something can’t be immediately explained by natural phenomena it doesn't mean it’s not natural. It is clear from the very beginning that Loeb strongly believes there is evidence of extraterrestrials out there and he postulates that many humans aren't prepared to accept that as fact. Many of his fellow astronomers aren't ready to accept that fact either.

Loeb counters that it is arrogant of humanity to assume that we are alone and that the indisputable discovery of ET life would transform our way of living. Impacting religion to philosophy and a multitude of other areas, this is a thought-provoking polemic for those interested in the meaning of life and if indeed we are alone or whether we share this vastness with alien beings far superior to ourselves. Engaging, intriguing and academic though accessible, this is a deep probe that thoroughly examines the possibilities. Highly recommended.

Extraterrestrial : The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth (2021) by Avi Loeb is a really interesting book that examines the case for finding extraterrestrials and looks in detail at Oumuamua, the strange object that passed through our solar system in 2017. Loeb is the chair of the Astronomy department at Harvard which lends more credibility to the book.

For anyone interested in the theme who is wondering if it’s reading the book it’s well worth listening to Lex Fridman podcast interview with Loeb. It’s an excellent interview.

The book first examines the details surrounding Oumuamua. There Loeb details how the shape and behaviour of Oumuamua was incredibly irregular. Loeb describes how he thinks it’s more likely that the object was a probe fitted with a lightsail. It’s a remarkable hypothesis that seems to really have something to it.

Loeb also writes about the Breakthrough Starshot Initiative. The Russian billionaire Yuri Milner wants to fund a probe to travel to another solar system and send information back within his lifetime. A solar sail propelled by a powerful laser would appear to be able to do this.

Loeb interleaves his description of Oumuamua and the star sail with events from his life. He also uses the statement from Sherlock Holmes ‘When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.’ to forward his hypothesis of intelligent extraterrestrial origin for Oumuamua.

Loeb then makes a very strong case that humanity should be investing considerably more into searching for extraterrestrial life. He suggests that searching for many esoteric objects that physicist’s theories predict, such as superstrings or exotic particles, is a considerably worse way to spend money. He undermines his case slightly by pointing out that various new telescopes will be used to search the skies and will also be able to look at celestial items in more detail and that this will be, in part, used to search for extraterrestrial life. But Loeb does make the case well that more deliberate effort should be made for the searching for extraterrestrial life and it definitely should be something that isn’t a fringe activity or something that is unlikely to advance an academic career.

It would be interesting to read a counterpoint to Loeb’s proposals. Just having read the book it’s hard to see why Loeb’s ideas don’t make sense.

The book does really make you suspect that proof of extraterrestrial life will be found in the next few decades. With increasingly powerful instruments and hopefully more powerful instruments we will finally find conclusive signs of alien life. This book is definitely worth a look for anyone interested in the subject.

5 / 5 ✪

https://arefugefromlife.wordpress.com/2021/01/26/extraterrestrial-by-avi-loeb-review/

In October 2017, astronomers at the Haleakalā Observatory in Hawaii discovered something not of our solar system. The object—since named ’Oumuamua after the Hawaiian word for "scout" or "first"—had already rounded the sun, only detected after it sped past Earth and was on its way out of our system once more. It was quickly determined that this was something we as people had never seen before; an interstellar visitor to our solar system, the first ever detected.

But this was something we had never seen before for another reason.

Instead of rotating smoothly, the object tumbled and spun through space, albeit at an incredible rate of speed. It was fairly small; under 1 km in length and maybe a tenth of that in width and thickness. It showed no signs of a coma—the nebulous envelop surrounding a comet which gives it its fuzzy appearance—nor did it share the shape of any asteroid that scientists knew of. It left no trail of gas or debris, and showed signs of non-gravitational acceleration (it sped up attempting to escape getting trapped in our Sun’s orbit), neither of which are heard of for an asteroid or comet. So what was it?

Scientists initially waffled between asteroid or comet, but once it was identified as an extrasolar object, they began pitching wilder theories. In addition to the remnant of a planet, a rogue satellite, or an exocomet (a comet that escaped orbit from another star)—astronomers began to speculate it might be an alien object.

Now, if you don’t know much about serious astronomers, know this: they generally don’t react well to the topic of alien life. Most don’t even take it seriously. Others take it as a joke, or an insult, or a stigma. Other scientists that genuinely suggest or search for extraterrestrial life are often regarded with derision, pity, skepticism, and even hostility. I know I’m generalizing this a bit, but it’s not an uncommon reaction for astronomers to scoff at the mention of alien life.

So in the summer of 2019, when scientists affirmed that ‘Oumuamua was of a purely natural origin, effectively closing the manner, it was no surprise. But by then Avi Loeb was already writing his book.

Israeli born American Avi Loeb is the former Chair of Astronomy at Harvard, an astronomer of renown, and proponent of extraterrestrial life. His book, Extraterrestrial, is an examination of ‘Oumuamua as Loeb sees it as: proof of alien life.

Honestly, I started out bashing this book. The ostentatious tone, the use of academic language, the fact that he introduces his biography in the second chapter, whatever. But by Chapter 3, Extraterrestrial how already won me over.

Mostly because Loeb makes a really good case.

I’ve always been fascinated by the unknown. That’s what led me astronomy, archaeology, and the other pursuits I’ve taken in my professional life. It’s what has drawn me to scifi and fantasy in my personal life, mostly in the form of books and games. So, maybe I’m not impartial on the existence of aliens (I believe in them, for the same reason that Loeb points out: “With billions upon billions of worlds in our galaxy alone, it seems arrogant not to”). But it’s still enough to recommend the book on the basis of scientific curiosity alone.

I mean, it’s a really thorough argument. While Loeb does tell us a decent amount about his life—his upbringing in Israel, his early professional work, and research papers and investigations of late—everything colors his opinion of the existence of extraterrestrial life. More to the point, why he gravitates toward the idea that so many of his colleagues shun. In addition to his life, there’s quite a bit of background into techniques and events that common folk may not be well read on. But it is a science book, and there’s quite a bit of science in it. If you’re not strong on astronomy, math and physics, some parts of Extraterrestrial might be over your head. There were a few paragraphs that were borderline for me, and, I’m not going to lie, I had to look some things up. But if you’re interested in potential scientific evidence of aliens, anything astronomy, or science fiction with grounds in reality, I’d implore you to check this out. It’s really quite good.

TL;DR

Is ‘Oumuamua proof of extraterrestrial life? The exosolar object whizzed through our system in late 2017, but left a trail of questions in its wake. But is this the evidence of aliens that we’ve been waiting for? While most of the scientific community would scoff at the idea, Avi Loeb would have you believe it is. Through this book he argues his case—through math, astronomy, history, events, circumstance, and more—so that by the end, either you leave more swayed to his opinion, or thoroughly pissed at his arrogance. Personally, I quite liked it, and would recommend. While it may not be for the faint of heart (or the unscientific and uninitiated), Extraterrestrial is a deep and fascinating read that pushes the bounds of imagination, and births way more questions than it provides answers, keeping you curious for days, weeks or even years to come.

This was an absolutely fascinating book about Oumuamua, the first known interstellar object passing through the solar system. The author presents compelling evidence for why he thinks the object was not an asteroid, but rather a piece of tech from a different civilization.

The book also goes over the problem of a resistance mentality among scientists and outright dismissal of feasible theories, which can result in profound missed opportunities.

This is an incredibly thrilling book and found myself researching topics that the author talked discussed. The author is a brilliant astrophysicist and mentions time spent with Stephen Hawking. I think this book will really give credence to his theory and makes an incredibly compelling case about Oumuamua.

Overall, I would recommend this to book to just about anyone as I extremely enjoyed it and will absolutely learn more about the work of the author.

While ostensibly an investigation of 'Oumuamua - the first interstellar object to traverse our solar system = this fine book emerges more as a polemic against the inertia and intransigence of the established astronomy field and its unwillingness and inability to allow for possibilities and hypotheses outside of the mainstream. The book starts off with a curious but enjoyable blend of memoir and science and, using 'Oumuamua as the hook, uncovers the internecine battlers and explains how similar 'disagreements' over the centuries have held astronomy and human knowledge back by decades each time. As someone who's had a keen interest in all facets of popular astronomy since Carl Sagan's Cosmos originally aired, I have to admit to surprise at the revelation that the SETI project is so thoroughly looked down on by the majority of astronomers. This book by such a significant figure in the field of study really exposes the schism within astronomy and the rivalries between individuals. His approach to studying the object is essentially that if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck then at least be willing to consider the possibility that it is a duck.

The 'science-y' bits are written in reasonably plain English but even those more technical pieces don't have to be fully comprehensible to understand the trust of the narrative.

This really is a stirring manifesto as to why science should be more open about the possibilities, as long as they're supported by data, and should be more answerable to the public from whom much of the its funding is derived.

Recommended.

I like to read space and astronomy book.
This book is by scientist who is at a very respectable postion in space science community.
Author focuses book on an atypical comet
( unidentified object) that sped through solar system in 2017.
It was atypical in its speed, trajectory and many things which made author to assume that it was from extraterrestrial civilization. A very big claim.

Alongwith that book focuses on projects working to find alien life including SETI program. And book also has concepts like Sail for interstellar travel.

A good book that is written in enjoyable prose. A treat for reader wanting to read about our efforts to search extraterrestrial life.
An intresting book to read but claim seems too far fetched.

On October 19, 2017, astronomer Robert Weryk at the Haleakala Observatory in Hawaii discovered the first interstellar object ever detected in our solar system — a “wildly anomalous object” that would eventually be named ‘Oumuamua (Hawaiian for “scout”, or more poetically, “a messenger from afar arriving first”) — and although this object was only detected as it was exiting our Earthbound field of vision (racing toward and then beyond the sun), scientists were able to observe ‘Oumuamua for eleven days before it disappeared; gathering data that matched no previously known celestial object. The majority of scientists filed ‘Oumuamua away as a weird comet or asteroid (that behaved like no known comets or asteroids) but Dr. Avi Loeb — the chair of Harvard University’s Department of Astronomy, founding director of Harvard’s Black Hole Initiative, director of the Institute for Theory and Computation within the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, chair of the Breakthrough Starshot Initiative, chair of the Board on Physics and Astronomy of the National Academies, etc., etc. — came up with a competing theory: All of ‘Oumuamua’s strange composition and erratic movement could be accounted for if it were a piece of technology manufactured by some nonhuman intelligent lifeform. This theory, despite explaining the anomaly simply as per Occam’s Razor, met with official resistance and dismissal, and Extraterrestrial:The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth seems to be Loeb’s longform explanation of the facts, how the data fit his theory as proof of extraterrestrial intelligence, and ultimately, why the mainstreaming of this theory matters. Loeb’s writing is clear and easy to understand, certainly persuasive to a lay reader like me, and as his first love was Philosophy, Loeb is able to connect the arrival of this extrastellar object to all the big questions facing us Earthlings. This is everything I love, told engagingly, and I recommend it highly.

I have just finished this book and find I have mixed feelings about it. My first question is, "who is this book written for?" It has a very intellectual feeling to it like it was written for a scientifically minded reader who is interested in ET's. So is it meant to be an academic book or meant for the common person? I'm a common person who thinks research into ET's is interesting, but this book had very little information for me. I think the author's views about Oumaumau were not widely accepted by his fellow scientists so he has brought his story to the public to enlist their help in promoting his concepts. But, I'm afraid the scientific tone of the writing is a little over the head of the common person. So who is the target audience? Not his colleagues because they have already heard his views. Not the man on the street who fell asleep after the section describing the incident. Is it people who control the assignment of research funds? I doubt they will read a book that appears to be about ET's.
The main message seems to be to his colleagues and he is saying, "stay humble". OK, I get it. So why am I reading it when it was written for other scientists?
If it was meant to educate me, the common person, about keeping an open mind about the possibility of life on other planets then he is preaching to the choir. That's why I wanted to read a book about ET's in the first place. I now feel there isn't much that is exciting about them and I don't care if we ever meet them or not. If we do they are going to be much like us or extinct anyway so why bother.
Maybe I missed the point of the book, but since it probably wasn't written for me that's OK. I hope it finds the target audience and is successful.
If I ever met the author I would want to tell him I'm sorry he was treated so badly by his colleagues and media people who didn't accept his interpretation of the event but he can forget about their treatment now as he has done everything he can to get the message out. He has done his best and that is all a person can do. He should move on to other great astrophysics accomplishments and let it go.