Presenting an easy introduction to the multiplicity of life forms on the earth, their requirements of oxygen, liquid water, radiation, etc., the authors go on to point out the rarity of these essentials in the rest of the solar system [in Life in the Universe]. Then, there is a brief but stimulating chapter on the attempts to discover other intelligent life in the universe…. [The] presentation is excellent, but the bits of original verse at the beginning of each chapter are silly; the authors are not poets. Nevertheless, they teach well.