While working on my Harvard Summer School project about the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) in Prof. Massarotti’s class Planets, Moons, and Their Stars: The Search for Life in the Cosmos, I read Life in the Universe, 5th Edition by Jeffrey Bennett, Seth Shostak, Nicholas Schneider, and Meredith MacGregor. I was immediately fascinated by how the book blended astronomy, planetary science, and biology to ask the ultimate question: could life exist beyond Earth? It felt

like the perfect companion to my project because it gave me both the scientific background and the excitement of exploring something so profound.

What I loved most was how the book explained astrobiology in a way that connected theory with discovery. Reading about the conditions for habitability, the diversity of exoplanets, and the ways we might detect biosignatures made me even more excited about SETI. I was especially inspired by Seth Shostak’s contributions, since he is directly involved in the SETI Institute, which I am also a member of. The book helped me see how the search for extraterrestrial intelligence is part of a much larger story of science—one that stretches from microbial life to advanced civilizations and combines physics, chemistry, biology, and technology.

For me, Life in the Universe was more than just a textbook. It made me feel like I was part of a scientific journey that humanity is still writing. It connected perfectly with my final project on SETI and gave me both the tools and the inspiration to think about how we might one day discover intelligent life. Reading it during my summer at Harvard left me feeling more motivated than ever to keep studying astrophysics and astrobiology, because it reminded me how exciting and meaningful it is to ask the question: Are we alone?