Exoplanets and Alien Solar Systems

Overall, it is interesting book worth reading. Although the author claims that the book is intended for laypersons, personally I feel that it is rather for "advanced amateurs". The book is subdivided into five chapters. The first one is brief introduction. Second chapter deal with composition of our solar system and some basic questions regarding exoplanets (e.g. how many exoplanets have been discovered so far etc.). The third chapter is dedicated to methods how exoplanets are found and observed. The author also describes Kepler and CoRoT missions searching for exoplanets. In the fourth chapter, current results (valid for year 2011, however, as the author suggested, it is not problem to look at current data to some exoplanet catalogue on the Internet - hyperlinks are of course provided). The author uses predominantly histograms and simple cluster analysis based on scatter plots to explain links among exoplanets properties (it seems that Earth is really special case :-) ). I appreciate that the author tells something about data interpretation approaches in order to avoid premature conclusions. Last chapter is dealing with possibility of life on exoplanets. First part of this chapter is dedicated to definition of life, rest of the chapter is disscusion how life forms could look like. As I see it, this last chapter is rather speculative but interesting . The author himself emphasises this fact (in his words: "I am sorry if you are disappointed that there have been no answers in this chapter, only questions"). The reason for that is simple: current state of knowledge about evolution of life forms on Earth is not very clear. Two appendicies are attached as well. First one brings disscusion what is actually planet. Second one contains many Internet hyperlinks to other sources, including two exoplanets encyclopedias (I recommend visiting these webpages for latest exoplanet data because number of exoplanets is nowadays about five times higher than it was in 2011, the year of publishing the book).What little bit disappointed me is two times repeated wrong definition of deuterium (so-called "heavy hydrogen"). The author stated that deuterium is "hydrogen with two neutrons per atom instead of one". In fact, two neutrons are in nucleus of tritium ("super heavy hydrogen"). Personally, I suppose that the word "neutrons" was interchanged with "nucleons" because deuterium has one proton and one neutron in its nucleus, i.e. two nucleons. I know that it is a subtle detail but on the other it seems to be "basic mistake". Rest of the book seemed to me to be right, however, I am not professional astronomer.

In this book, Dr. Yaqoob takes the reader to a journey of recent discoveries. He is able to translate complex subjects and techniques using a very simple language and make those more accessible to the general audience. Exoplanets and Alien Solar Systems is a book not only about extrasolar planets but also about our own solar system and our presence in the universe.I can enthusiastically recommend the book to anyone who does not necessarily have a strong math or physics background but who is curious about the recent discoveries of a large number of planets around other stars in our galaxy, and also wants to reflect on other issues, such as origin of life. There are chapters also about the missions dedicated to search for planets and the author explains very clearly the difference between planets like Earth and the large planets discovered by those missions. I also enjoyed the discussion about Exomoons and how they could be important in hosting life.The author talks to the reader and keeps the reader wanting more and more. It was hard to avoid flipping fast to the next page and see what was next. I also liked the links and references provided in the ebook and thought they were quite helpful specially coming from an astrophysicist.I teach Astronomy in college and will recommend this book to my non-Science majors. But I am sure they will complain about the lack of pretty pictures in the book. However, all links provided by the author in the Appendix B contain a lot of pictures to anyone connected to the internet. One just need to click on those links in order to complement this great book with pretty pictures.

As other reviewers have mentioned 'Exoplanets and Alien Solar Systems' is very accessible to all readers and includes a thorough overview of the current status of this field, without miring down into too much individual detail in any one area. Differing techniques for inferring the presence of exoplanets are explored with thoughtful commentary regarding the possible consequences for astrobiology and our overall understanding of the evolution of the Milky Way & surrounding Universe.What I particularly like about the book is Dr. Yaqoob's head on tackling of several problematic issues and inconsistencies that exist between old models and new observations. Previously held beliefs and hypothesis about the formation processes of alien suns and the exoplanets they host are in some cases being challenged by unexpected findings; a fair and tempering discussion of where the deficiencies lay in our current observation techniques and theoretical models is of additional value both to the public and astronomers-in-training.Considering the rapid pace of new detections I also enjoyed seeing that the author did not shy away from references to online Web based databases and publications for further reading on confirmed & candidate exoplanets; these appendix listings should remain valid and useful into the near future.

The book starts out very understandable and quickly progresses to a much deeper level. If you can keep up with this detailed science then this is a good read, but that is the challenge. I would not suggest this as an introduction to Exoplanets as it expands into the science at the current depth of scientific cosmological understanding. Obviously an expert in his field, the book is more for those who already have a clear understanding of this topic than the general readers might have.

A nicely written and thoughtful book about a very exciting and relatively (no pun intended) new area of science. The author explores interesting thoughts about what really constitutes life and about the possible mechanisms of planet formation. As an avid reader of science nonfiction I found the book answered quite a few questions for me about exoplanet research. This will be an area of fascination and discovery for a long time to come. Are we alone? Probably not but the aliens are a long way from home!

I have been interested in understanding more about the discoveries of exoplanets in the last 2 decades and have downloaded kindle samples of many books on this topic. Ultimately this is the one I decided to purchase first after I read the sample as I found that Yaqoob's writing was easy to understand for such a complex subject and very down to earth (pun intended). His honesty and non-biassed position in presenting the major problems in the current theories on how life appeared and how planets are formed is a great eye opener and just shows how much work still needs to be done in this field.This book is definitely a great companion to anyone who wants to understand what is being published through the media which is often overhyped and lacks clarity on what is assumed and what is confirmed. Highly recommended.

I'm currently reading this book (about 70%) of the way through. This is an excellent read for anyone who already knows a bit about physics and has a keen interest in astrophysics. While the author says this book is written for the layperson, anyone without some knowledge already will probably have a tough time understanding everything the author talks about. The book tackles important questions and admits where current theories fall down.

Neat-looking book. Interesting content with overall slightly non-mainstream perspective, slightly cynical of mainstream, even, which is refreshing but bordering on being carping. I'm knowledgeable on this subject and have studied and thought about it for decades - even so, this book gave me views and ideas which I'd neither come across nor come up with myself, so it was unusual and rewarding beyond the ordinary. I'd recommend it and would look out for other books by the author.

A really good read. Well written by an expert in the field with a nice touch of humour. The book is also not afraid to challenge current thinking on planetary formation and migration. It also has excellent appendices to help you learn more and keep your knowledge up to date in this fast moving field of exploration.