How reasonable is it to think that we are alone in the vast expanses of space? And how significant is life on Earth on the Universal (or multiversal) scale? These are the questions that astrobiologist Caleb Scharf addresses intelligently and comprehensively in his beautifully written The Copernicus Complex
Nature
An intoxicating collection of questions answered with other questions, ... Read moreand startling discoveries that make creation even more mysterious . . . Books such as these remind us that we are lucky to be here at all, and even luckier to be here now
Guardian
[A] witty, adroitly marshalled treatise on human significance
Robin McKie
Observer
A tantalising approach to the mysteries of the universe
Peter Forbes
Independent
The Copernicus Complex addresses a perennial mystery: the cosmic significance (or perhaps the insignificance) of life on Earth. Caleb Scharf summarizes current debates on how life began and how pervasive it is, explaining how our perspective has been changed by the recent discovery that there are millions of Earth-like planets in the Milky Way. He sets his theme in a historical context, writing in an engaging and accessible style
Sir Martin Rees, author of Just Six Numbers and From Here to Infinity The Copernicus Complex delivers its argument with comparable clarity, insight and humour. There is much to enjoy along the way, including a compelling account of the extraordinary diversity of planetary systems we now know to exist
Telegraph
Mind-blowing stuff . . . An original and gripping look at the universe and our place in it . . . I am pleased to report that this book, which aims to show us our place in the grand scheme of things, will not make you lose your marbles. However it may, to use the parlance of a bygone era, blow your mind a bit. In one four-page period, my marginal notes went from ! to !! to !!! . . . A mind-expanding book . . . You won't be quite the same after reading it
Nicholas Lezard
Guardian
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