دانلود کتاب Perfect planet, clever species : how unique are we?

'This book may provide the most balanced and readable non-technical overview in print of how life and intelligence developed on the Earth. Burger covers an amazingly wide variety of scientific issues, ranging from the probability of planetary systems around other stars to the evolution of our basic technologies. Unfortunately, Burger's balanced presentation falls apart in the last chapter when he turns to his primary purpose, which is to discredit the idea that intelligent life and technological civilizations may exist elsewhere.' & nbsp;Read more... No ordinary star -- A really good planet is hard to find -- The first 4,000 million years -- Life explodes: the last 560 million years -- Why are there so many kinds of plants and animals? -- Random walks or progressive trajectories? -- The escalation of intelligence -- Building the world's best brain -- An appetite for energy: revolutions in living -- The origins of western science -- Perfect planet, but how unusual an odyssey? For many years the federal government funded the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI), later popularised by Carl Sagan's novel "Contact" and the movie starring Jodie Foster. Though in actuality SETI never did make contact with signals from an alien civilisation, the search continues to this day through privately funded endeavours. How likely is it that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe? This is the intriguing question that has prompted William Burger's illuminating and absorbing exploration of the unusual circumstances surrounding life on earth. Burger's enlightening evaluation of evolutionary and cosmic history, full of fascinating details, shows that the human achievement may be unique in our galaxy