Five Billion Years of Solitude: The Search for Life Among the Stars

Written by Lee Billings

Narrated by Lee Billings

Since its formation nearly five billion years ago, our planet has been the sole living world in a vast and silent universe. Now Earth's isolation is coming to an end. Over the past two decades, astronomers have discovered thousands of "exoplanets" orbiting other stars, including some that could be similar to our own world. Studying those distant planets for signs of life will be crucial to understanding life's intricate mysteries right here on Earth.



In a firsthand account of this unfolding revolution, Lee Billings draws on interviews with top researchers. He reveals how the search for other Earth-like planets is not only a scientific pursuit but also a reflection of our culture's timeless hopes, dreams, and fears.



This is a compelling story of the pioneers seeking the meaning of life in the infinite depths of space.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Oct 3, 2013
• ISBN: 9781452685489

Reviews for Five Billion Years of Solitude

[clmerle · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It had some nice tidbits in it, but it wasn't the book I was expecting. About half of it was about the people and their stories, do it's as much biography as it is about SETI.

[dlmorrese · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Subtitled 'The Search for Life Among the Stars', the author first looks at the one planet we know most about, Earth; how it began, how life came about, what it was like before humans came into the picture and what it will be like after we're gone. It's a good overview. The one inescapable take away from this book is an appreciation for how rare Earth is. So far, it is the only planet we know of on which life exists...and for most of our planet's existence, life could not exist even here. Billions of years ago it couldn't, and a billion years from now it probably won't. Our sun is gradually growing hotter and eventually this source that brought life to our planet will take it away. Not to worry, we probably have half a billion years until then. Still, it's a sobering thought. We have reached the point in our technologically augmented civilization in which we can plan our escape when the time comes, assuming our species or its evolutionary children are still around. There are other worlds out there. Those they might support life aren't easy to find and even harder to reach, but they probably exist. Most of this book is about the search for them. Apparently the only reason we don't already have Terrestrial Planet Finding telescopes in space isn't technological. We have the technology. What we don't have is the funding and political stability to make it happen. It's not that we're not building telescopes. We are, but they are susceptible to political whims, and several TPF telescopes have been abandoned before completion. The most important one remaining is probably the James Webb Space Telescope, a NASA lead international effort that is intended to be the successor to Hubble. The program originated in 1996. I just checked, and the telescope is supposed to launch in 2018. That date remains uncertain. The U.S. House of Representatives proposed cutting funding for it in 2011, and then reversed itself. I can only assume that many politicians don't think the search for another life-bearing planet is all that important. I think they're wrong. Imagine how historically significant such a discovery would be. It would define our era.
The author conveys the sense of dedication and commitment of the people involved in the hunt for earth-like planets around other stars. Sometimes, the biographical and personal accounts are more detailed than necessary for a book on this subject, but they show that these scientists are not ivory tower academics. They have personal lives and personal tragedies as well as a higher purpose.
The book is neither long nor technical. It's a good read for anyone with an interest in space science or the future of humanity.

[dougcornelius_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Will we ever discover intelligent life beyond our planet? Is there is intelligent life beyond ours? Are there habitable planets other than Earth? Will humans be around long enough to to find out? Or be discovered by other civilizations?

This book offers both hopeful and melancholy answers to these questions. The truth is that we don't know. There are a multitude of factors to consider. This book discusses many of them in a thoughtful and wonderful way.

[stellarexplorer · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Since I was a small child I’ve dreamt of the stars, and of the myriad forms of life that no doubt dwell on distant planets. We are on the threshold of that journey, via the only mode of travel available in our lifetimes. This book is about exoplanets, planets in orbit around stars other than the sun. Billings conveys the successes and hopes of the scientists who are using the most subtle signals from telescopes to reveal what only two decades ago was a matter of speculation: planets are ubiquitous, and therefore life elsewhere that much more assured.

Billings walks the reader through the science, but ultimately offers his own passion for the topic with no small dollop of poetry. Along the way, we encounter the chemistry of climate change, new notions of how solar systems are configured and (highly) theoretical strategies that might be employed to protect the Earth from its ultimate fate, when the sun enters its planet-incinerating death march. And it is perhaps some comfort to learn that even the complete burning of our planet’s stores of oil and coal is unlikely to lead to a Venusian runaway greenhouse effect.

I recommend this one, if the topic speaks to you as it does to me. Ad astra per aspera.

[nmele_4 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Once one gets past the first two chapters, which seemed to me an unfortunately starry-eyed account of Frank Drake and SETI, this book turns into an engaging tour of the people, technologies and ideas behind the search for planets orbiting other suns; along the way, Billings conveys some of the scientists' own stories, visions and motivations. Very enjoyable read even for a skeptic.