Michael Robinson

Out There: Scientists, Exoplanets, and the Search for Extraterrestrial Life takes an inside look at the scientists researching planets outside our solar system and their attempts to find life there. Since 1992, thousands of planets orbiting suns in other solar systems have been identified by astronomers. Dozens of these extrasolar planets exoplanets are within a habitable zone around their stars, suggesting that they might support life. As the promise of discovering extraterrestrial life has captured the public imagination, it has also boosted the status of exoplanet research. Yet this heightened attention has come with risks and challenges. As more and more scientists stream into the field, it has increased the pressure to publish findings prematurely, raising the risk of false-positive discoveries that could damage the reputation of exoplanet research. It has also created an interdisciplinary Tower of Babel, as researchers from many different disciplines—physics, astrobiology, climatology, and the social sciences—struggle to find a common language and approach for the discovery of extraterrestrial life. How this community of scientists navigates these challenges will not only reveal a behind-the-scenes look at one of the most important interdisciplinary projects of our age, but also offer a critical analysis of interdisciplinary science itself: how it functions, where it fails, and why it may bring revolutionary change to a scientific field.