About the book




		Rare Earth is a book based on a simple two part hypothesis The Rare Earth hypothesis Microbial life is common in planetary systems. Advanced life (animals) is rare in the Universe. We did not quantify what "rare" means in the book but the main intent was to convince readers that advanced life is much rarer than implied by movies, TV and many science fiction books. The abundance of advanced life in the Universe is not known but it is much more likely to be extraordinarily rare than as common as usually portrayed in the media. The hypothesis is based on what is known or is predictable about the physical environments that exist in the Universe and what is known about the history of the Earth and its life. From an astronomical perspective, the Earth is a very special place that differs drastically from the other planets in the solar system. Its surface temperature, atmosphere, oceans and long term stability cannot be expected to be common in the Universe. Our planet as-we-know-it is even rare for Earth if the full history of the planet is considered. Only in the last 10% of its lifetime has Earth had plants and animals on its surface, an unusual state that many consider to be "normal". It is a sobering reality that on Earth, a magical planet that provides a seemingly ideal habitat for life, it took 4 billion years of planetary and biological evolution just to develop animals. Microbial life was easy and it occurred early in Earth history but animals only recently arrived and they have already been nearly wiped out several times during mass extinction events. The main conclusion of Rare Earth is that Earth is a very special place. Many circumstances and events had to happen just right for Earth to remain a healthy habitat for advanced life. It appears the our planet won the comic lottery and we should cherish our very special place and time in the Universe.
			Imagine There's No Spacemen - the Rare Earth Song -click to hear- Terry Horton now living in Hawaii was inspired to write this song while pondering the possibility of our rarity in the cosmos. He posted it on Amazon as a review. David Edgeworth of Seattle sang it at an openhouse at the University of Washington and made a special recording in his home studio for use in a classroom lecture. Carson Brownlee converted David's CD to MP3 for this web page. The Rare Earth authors are grateful to Terry, David and Carson. Due to their efforts, Terry and John's wonderful song can be appreciated by Rare Earth fans and possibly even a few alien rock and rollers somewhere way out there in the great unknown. Terry Horton's lyrics: Imagine there's no spacemen except the ones we launch No alien rock n' rollers to listen to Sagan's hunch Imagine we're all stuck here and must confront ourselves .. uh oh! Imagine now that Star Trek is just a TV show No cosmos full of life forms just earthlings here below Imagine there's no 'contact' to make 'cause no one's there ... uh oh! You may say I'm a realist but I'm not the only one Who knows there's zero data from SETI - or anyone! Imagine your dream's over no Yoda to soothe you And your only choices left then boil down to two Imagine you're unique here and must opt for love or hate ... uh oh! You may say I'm religious but I'm not the only one to say if you seek communion it's the heart that must be won! note: If the mp3 file is slow to load or does not play, the chorus of the song is also available in streaming RealAudio format on David's website.

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