Exploring Space: The Quest for Life

Exploring Space: The Quest for Life, a two-hour PBS-aired documentary, is a remarkably comprehensive survey of our current knowledge regarding the possibility of life beyond Earth. At first it seems as if producer-writer Scott Pearson (in collaboration with Japan's NHK network) is trying to cover too much territory, since any one of a dozen topics presented here could easily warrant a program of its own, from theories concerning how life on Earth might have originated elsewhere (transported here via meteorites, comet dust, etc.) to surveys of our planet's harshest environments to determine how life could have survived travel through space. As Exploring Space progresses, however, Pearson's methodology becomes apparent as each newly established idea is used to introduce the next topic of study, such as the ongoing SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) explorations and the latest developments in astrobiology. Wide-ranging interviews with scientists are combined with computer-animated imagery to effectively illustrate such dynamic events as meteor collisions on Earth and Mars, the possible physical characteristics of alien life forms (as determined by environment), and the mathematical calculations which suggest that extraterrestrial life is not only likely but diverse beyond our wildest imaginations. Accessible to general viewers without compromising the complexity of the science under discussion, Exploring Space will appeal to anyone who's ever doubted we're alone in the universe. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. Aud: H, C, P. (J. Shannon)