ZOOLOGIST'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY

'What Animals on Earth Reveal About Aliens - and Ourselves', from noted Cambridge zoologist is a wildly fun and scientifically sound exploration of what alien life must be like, using universal laws that govern life on Earth and in space. Scientists are confident that life exists elsewhere in the universe. Using his own expert understanding of life on Earth and Darwin's theory of evolution, Dr. Kershenbaum explains how these creatures will move, socialise and communicate. For example, by observing fish whose electrical pulses indicate social status, we can see that other planets might allow for communication by electricity. As there was evolutionary pressure to wriggle along a sea floor, Earthling animals tend to have left/right symmetry. On planets where creatures evolved in midair or in soupy tar, they might be lacking any symmetry at all. Might there be an alien planet with supersonic animals? A moon where creatures have a language composed of smells? Will aliens scream with fear, act honestly, or have technology? Will they have sociality with cooperation, competition and have teatime? And with Artificial Intelligence will we have a universe full of bots? As humanity glides and scuttles across space, we ask what are animals and what are aliens? Tiny remainder mark, 356 pages, some illus., the book really connects the dots between factual science and imaginative exploration. Diagrams.