Light of the Stars Read online

  Townes, Charles, 207

  trade winds, 87–88

  transit method, 139–43, 145–47

  Trantor, 212

  Trinity atomic bomb test, 23

  Turco, Richard P., 93–94

  Type 1 civilizations, 209, 211

  Type 2 civilizations, 209–11

  Type 3 civilizations, 210

  UFOs, 23

  ultraviolet radiation, 73, 117

  United States

  atomic weapons of, 34–35

  in space race, 35–36, 61

  universe, beliefs about other worlds in, 28–34

  University of Chicago, 67

  University of Maryland, 142, 143

  University of Washington, 152

  Unparalleled Discoveries of T.J.J. See, The (Webb), 137

  Uranus, 30

  V-2 missiles, 35

  Valles Marineris, 83

  Venus, 61–76

  beliefs about climate of, 63–67

  climate of, 11, 86, 89

  energy transformations on, 217

  formation of, 109

  greenhouse effect on, 67–71, 184, 198

  Mariner 1 mission to, 61–63

  Mariner 2 mission to, 71–76

  proximity of Earth to, 148

  speculation about life on, 32

  Verhulst, Pierre, 177

  Vernadsky, Vladimir Ivanovich, 118–22, 119, 129, 221, 224

  Viking landers, 83

  visible light, 36, 41, 69

  volatility, 250n.15

  volcanic eruptions, 72–73

  Volterra, Luisa, 176, 176

  Volterra, Vito, 176, 176–79, 182, 183, 185

  von Däniken, Erich, 181

  Wallace, Alfred Russel, 33, 34

  War of the Worlds (Wells), 80

  WASP-12b (exoplanet), 149

  waste products, of civilization building, 187–88

  water

  on Mars, 82–84, 87, 90–91

  and runaway greenhouse effect, 73–74

  Watson, James, 129

  weather, 83, 84, 89

  weathering, 73, 74, 216

  weather satellites, 57, 57

  Wells, H.G., 80

  Wentao Ma, 164

  Whewell, William, 32–33, 158

  wind power, 189, 191

  Wonderful World of Oz, The (Baum), 38

  World War I, 122, 175, 179

  World War II, 35, 36, 104, 122

  Wright, Jason, 210, 233n.6

  Yerkes Observatory, 67, 70

  “Yes, There Have Been Aliens” (Frank), 156, 157

  Yockey, Hubert, 163–64

  York, Herbert, 22, 23

  Younger Dryas period, 106

  young technological civilizations, 188–90

  Zell-Ravenheart, Oberon (Timothy Zell), 127

  Copyright © 2018 by Adam Frank

  All rights reserved

  First Edition

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  Book design by Daniel Lagin

  Production manager: Lauren Abbate

  JACKET DESIGN BY ERIC WHITE

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  The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:

  Names: Frank, Adam, 1962– author.

  Title: Light of the stars : alien worlds and the fate of the Earth / Adam Frank.

  Other titles: Alien worlds and the fate of the Earth

  Description: New York : W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., [2018] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

  Identifiers: LCCN 2017061640 | ISBN 9780393609011 (hardcover)

  Subjects: LCSH: Cosmology—Popular works. | Earth (Planet)—Popular works. | Human ecology—Popular works. | Exobiology—Popular works.

  Classification: LCC QB982 .F73 2018 | DDC 523.1—dc23

  LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017061640

  ISBN 978-0-393-60902-8 (e-book)

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