The Problem with The Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy

Alien planets may be subject to similar evolutionary pressures to those on Earth

Where are the aliens? No, this is not a reference to Enrico Fermi (of Fermi's Paradox fame). He was a physicist who wondered why we don't see evidence for alien life when the odds of their existence are high. Instead, it's the question I had while reading The Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy by Arik Kershenbaum. The subtitle of this book is "What Animals on Earth Reveal About Aliens - and Ourselves." Readers are promised "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." The book, I'm sure, is scientifically sound. After all, Dr. Kershenbaum is a zoologist, a college lecturer, and a Fellow at Girton College, University of Cambridge. He has spent years researching animal vocal communication and has published several academic papers on the topic. He is involved with METI (Messaging Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence), a non-profit that transmits interstellar messages in an attempt to communicate with possible alien civilizations.

Despite promising readers aliens, he mostly focuses on how natural selection and evolution works on Earth and why it is or isn't likely to be similar on other planets. He argues that extrasolar forms of life are, in all likelihood, subject to the same kinds of natural stressors found on Earth. Much of the book focuses on these natural stressors. Despite its title and subtitle, The Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy is mainly about evolution with hypotheticals about extraterrestrial life sprinkled in.

I went into this book expecting a scientifically-backed thought experiment. A lot is known about the environments of various bodies in the Solar System like Ganymede and Titan. What kinds of life could potentially emerge on them? Based on what we know about the TRAPPIST system, what life might evolve there? What is the possibility of non-carbon life forms existing on other planets? Could life evolve on tidally-locked planets and moons? What kind of life might develop outside Goldilocks Zones? How might low gravity or high gravity impact evolution? When Dr. Kershenbaum touches on topics like these, that's really all he does. He touches on them rather than doing any in-depth exploration.

The Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy

Despite these criticisms, the book is worth reading to better understand evolution and why natural laws that apply on Earth may apply everywhere in the universe. Some science fiction writers and filmmakers let their imaginations run amok when creating alien beings with little thought given to how evolution might shape them. Creatives like sci-fi authors, movie makers, or video game designers may find some value in The Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy if they want to design realistic aliens. The book Aliens & Alien Societies: A Writer's Guide to Creating Extraterrestrial Life-Forms is another book to consider because it "explains science to help you make your fiction plausible. You'll avoid bringing characters from solar systems unlikely to support life."

Aliens and Alien Societies

Overall, I enjoyed The Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy and I recommend it to anyone interested in what life on other worlds might possibly be like, but it didn't answer any of the questions I had before I opened it. If you are brimming with questions relating to what alien life might look like and are hoping for science-backed speculation, lower your expectations because this book is very Earth-focused.

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