Are we alone in the universe? What are the "limits" of life on Earth? Questions like these have piqued the interest of scientist's for centuries and we are no closer now to finding all the answers then we were when Aristotle first speculated about biological life. In "Weird Life" author David Toomey, an English professor who's research interest are in science writing, has written a fascinating summary of our efforts to answer these questions and define the parameters of life. As far as we know, all life on earth is based on DNA and has descended from a LUCA ( last universal common ancestor ), making us all, more or less, related. But what exactly is "Life As We Know It" and how would we recognize it if it was "Life As We Do Not Know It"? For well over a hundred years now men of science have been speculating on what "non-LUCA life" would be like and how it would differ from our everyday "DNA-life". Practitioners from such varied fields of science as; Theoretical Physics, Astronomy, Biology and all the various combinations of those fields, devote their lives and careers in exploring these "shadow biospheres" for the alternate possibilities of life beyond the norm. Starting with an overview of our most familiar life forms and their ecological limits, Toomey moves beyond the fringe of known life to explore ever more hostile realms of extreme temperatures and caustic chemicals. With the discovery of "extremophiles"; hardy organisms living near deep sea vents, in thermal pools and hypersaline lakes, we learned that life is far more varied than we ever imagined. But even these alien biospheres, as different as they are, contain only our familiar DNA-life. Toomey starts his hunt for weird-life with a look at some Earth bound oddities that might fit the bill. From there he explores other, less likely, abodes of possible, or impossible life. The farther you get into the book, the stranger and more extreme these speculations become. For example; Could life exist if, instead of oxygen, it metabolized methane gas or used "liquid hydrocarbons" instead of water for a solvent? Some bizarre microorganism have been shown to survive in the vacuum of space, is it therefore possible that Earth was seeded by life from elsewhere in the cosmos? As humans leave Earth and travel through space to distant world's we'd better be ready for the unexpected. Life could be lurking in places that we least expect it; on gas-giant planets or worlds covered with oceans of "exotic-liquids". In his research, Toomey has compiled and read the thoughts and ideas of a wide variety of scientists and thinkers; people like Carl Sagan, Arthur C Clark, Brian Greene and Fred Hoyle are just a few of his sources. Toomey's writing style is engaging and thought provoking with just a hint of humor. Part biology and astronomy, part science-history, "Weird Life" explores a little known realm and provides plenty of food for thought. Just keep an open, but skeptical, mind and you may discover a different way of looking at nature, the world, and even the Cosmos. While I had no downloading or technical issues with this Kindle edition there were problems with the "link system" that connects you to the Notes: The links to the "end of chapter" notes (indicated by an *) work just fine but the links to the "end of book" notes (indicated with a number) do not function. This is too bad because there were some interesting things within the note section. This is not so much a Kindle issue as it is a Publisher oversight. Anyway, if you're up for things like "SETI" and life beyond the "Outer Limits" you may get a kick out of this book. I certainly did.



Last Ranger