Includes bibliographical references and index.

Alien dreams -- Making SETI into science -- Extremophiles and exoplanets -- Answering Fermi -- Joining the conversation.

"In this EK title Roush investigates a topic that has fascinated him since college -- the possibility and probability of life, intelligent or otherwise, in the universe. The book covers the history and science of our search for extraterrestrial life, and investigates what that search means for us as a species, as well as what the implications of finding life on other planets might mean for life on Earth. The book covers various iterations of SETI, or the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, both in listening for messages from space as well as sending them. Roush also covers more recent efforts to find exoplanets, worlds similar enough to our own to possibly harbor life in even very basic forms. Some of this research is driven by discoveries of 'extremophile' life here on Earth in places and conditions previously considered to be unconducive to life forms. Roush co-taught a course on this topic last year at MIT"--