New astronomy and space titles reviewed
Interstellar
Avi Loeb John Murray £20 • HB
The central argument of Interstellar is that humanity is unprepared for the realisation that advanced extraterrestrial civilisations are common, and that we have not even begun to explore that possibility to the full extent of our capabilities.
Theoretical physicist Avi Loeb introduces us to the Galileo project whose aims are: to obtain high-resolution, multi-spectral images of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP); to design a launch-ready space mission that can intercept and image objects of known interstellar origin; and recover one of only two known meteorites of interstellar origin off the coast of Papua New Guinea.
Although these aims are admirable, and possibly warranted, it is still a leap of faith to conclude that anything unexplained or anomalous is due to alien intelligence. Much is made of the discovery of ‘Oumuamua, an odd-shaped asteroid-like
