“Grow Up!” is Adam Frank’s exhortation to humanity who he likens to “teenagers” in the evolution of our project of civilization. We’ve been given the keys to the fast car of control and impact on planet earth but yet to demonstrate the maturity to convince us that we won’t run it over a cliff putting an untimely end to our civilization building efforts.

Light of the Stars is light Science reading which while not presenting any major new insights—at least to those that follow developments in astronomy—nevertheless presents several known ideas calling out their relationship to make a cogent case for a wake up call if we are to survive into “adulthood.”

The book starts off describing the Fermi paradox (“Where are the aliens?”) and the famous Drake equation and the colorful stories behind them, which I found to be fascinating bits of history. The rest of the book effectively goes on to discuss the Lifetime of Technological Civilizations factor in Drake’s equation and how it might be a critical factor and filter in understanding the Fermi paradox, and consequently, the risks it poses for humanity’s own future. 

While we’ve not met or heard from any exo-civilizations—yet—we do have the benefit of knowing how planets can undergo massive changes to their climate and terrestrial conditions: from Earth’s history and equally importantly from the planets our probes have visited. Life as we know it would not exist but for the evolution several billion years ago of organisms that used Sunlight and CO2, releasing oxygen as a by product completely altering the atmospheric makeup on the earth. By the same token, Mars and Venus have each undergone similar if not more dramatic alterations to their own atmospheres and climate. There is a preponderance of evidence indicating Mars had flowing water on its surface—only possible with much greater atmosphere than it has today! These alone should be warning signs for all—especially the climate change deniers, that planetary climate and biospheres can change radically, driven by biological agents!