Avi Loeb

Esteemed professor Avi Loeb heads up the Galileo Project at Harvard University, a science-based effort to understand the nature of UAP (UFOs). Interstellar is our glimpse into this astonishing project and importantly, its potential impact on human society.

For the skeptical mind wondering if there is any reality to the notion that extraterrestrials are behind UAPs, Loeb is the perfect person to guide the reader. He’s a well know and highly credible scientist. And of course, he speaks the language of science, helping the reader to understand the extraterrestrial hypothesis is a hypothesis not a conspiracy theory. That this highly credentialed scientist is willing to stake his reputation on the investigation into extraterrestrials and UAP is a statement on Loeb’s perceived importance of the topic.

At the same time, Loeb is knowledgeable on the UAP topic. Throughout the book, he discusses recent government activities and lawmaking on UAP. He covers people active in the UAP community such as Ryan Graves and Luis Elizondo as well as various related government offices and task forces like AATIP, UAPTF and AARO. He’s clearly plugged into the current state of affairs regarding UAP.

All of this positions Loeb to be the perfect person to provide the general public with greater depth on UAPs. He explains that the UAP phenomenon is simply another unknown that can and should be addressed by science. No need for government proclamations or blurry photos. Just hard data, expertly gathered and parsed by scientists to validate or invalidate a hypothesis. The book is the perfect combination of Loeb’s personal credibility, hard science and an introduction to the extraterrestrial hypothesis to help onboard the skeptical to the topics of UAP and extraterrestrials.

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The Galileo Project’s fundamental precept seems to be this: Humans were very likely born into a mature universe that has been richly populated by many interstellar, non-human entities for billions of years. It should be possible to find some of their junk. From this junk we prove the existence of non-human intelligences (NHI) and perhaps get a leg up on our own technological advancement.

The project’s numerous efforts on UAP study are comprehensive. Complex hardware and software sensing packages capture photographic, infrared, radar, magnetic, audio and other inputs, using AI to process the data down to just the truly anomalous observations deserving investigation. Satellite imagery is computer processed to identify potential UAP. Remnants of Interstellar Object IM1 are scraped off the bottom of the Pacific Ocean and analyzed. And more.

The Galileo teams are taking gigantic, never before considered steps to generate hard scientific data to help resolve the questions of whether the earth is or has been visited. For those that follow the UAP topic, it’s a dream come true.

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Equally important, Loeb explains to us why the potential discovery of NHI is important to humanity. Those reasons revolve around maturing ourselves as a race, which, in combination with technological advancement are viewed as humanity’s pathway to both an interstellar future and survival of the race.

Loeb’s big concern for the future of humanity is straight forward. He sees humanity at great risk due to the fact that we all live on a single planet. Accordingly, he believes that humanity needs to inhabit multiple planetary bodies in order to ensure our survival.

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One of our most respected and decorated scientists, Avi Loeb appears to be at a place in his career where he is free to address the untouchables of science: UAP, extraterrestrials and the intransigence of the scientific community on these topics. Interstellar gives us a view into his efforts and the possible impact of these discoveries on humanity. It’s a very enjoyable read.… (mehr)

A particular quote stood out to me in Avi Loeb's book, "Interstellar: The Search for Extraterrestrial Life and Our Future in the Stars." To win their trust, we'll be wise to invoke the spirit of the Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman, who once remarked: "Science is the belief in the ignorance of experts. When someone says 'science teaches such and such,' he is using the word incorrectly. Science doesn't teach it. Experience teaches it." That's what we must share with the public, worldwide—our search for observed experience." In my passion for science-related endeavors, I have stated nearly the same thing to people who talk about Science as if it were a person or entity and that "Science" does this or that. I felt this was a particularly great quote for Loeb to put into the book and is the perfect foundation for how to look at what Science is.

In a religious service, the Rabbi Emeritus, Rob Dobrusin had a sermon and spoke about the book, and one of his quotes also resonated with me. Religious institutions often refused to entertain the belief in other life forms in the Universe. Dobrusin said, "there is nothing in traditional Jewish faith that would in any way be threatened by assuming or even proving the presence of intelligent life elsewhere in the Universe. Perhaps some of our texts even presuppose this reality." I am so happy that Loeb brought this up in his book. It is another argument people have against alien life forms, and I appreciate this mention in the book.

Loeb also gives you much to think about what finding alien life would do for us. It would have us asking questions that we've all thought about, to questions, at least, I hadn't thought about yet. He explains why we might not have seen alien life yet to answer that age-old question about whether alien life exists.

I'm not good at math, even if I did get As in college, so when I saw equations (like the Drake Equation), I had to stop and consider them more because I had to understand them before I moved on. I don't believe math being mentioned in this book to be a bad thing; quite the contrary. Mentioning math is something that humanity needs only proves how important math is to teach our youngsters.

Loeb's enthusiasm and passion for this subject are evident in everything he says in this book. There is a lot of information put forth in the book, as well as a lot of resources mentioned that you can look up on your own. Yes, there was a lot of opinion in there, but who doesn't have opinions? When you feel passionate about something, you write to convince others that it's a worthy subject to study, or in this case, worth enough to be funded the way other invisible science endeavors are pursued. When you want to get people on board, you speak your mind, which Loeb does effectively.

Another great point made is about how we must learn to thrive without reliance on the Sun. Most realize the sun is going to die on us, but few people state how important it is that we learn to thrive without it and the need for interstellar space travel.

Loeb's ideas of space travel are a mixture of common sense and an enlightened view of what our space neighbors would be like. Loeb makes you want to board any spaceship you can find and sparks an interest in making friends of our space friends. Loeb makes the case that whether or not you believe in any other life in the universe, it is still important to search and important to progress to the point where we could leave this planet and survive in space or on another planet. he is effective at pointing out the reasons why it's so important to put more money into these searches. From equipment to ships, we have a lot of work to do.

This is my first book of Loeb's and after reading this one, it won't be my last. I read the other book reviews and if so many others think his other book is even better, then I cannot wait to read it. If you are inquisitive as to the evidence there is, reasons for spending more money looking, and the eventuality of humanity having to survive on other planets, then this is the book for you. I always believed there was life out there and even assumed that their civilization must be more advanced than ours. This is a must-read!… (mehr)