Life on Other Planets

As a child, Aomawa Shield's first great love was the sky - she would bump into things on the ground because her neck was always craned upward - and she longed to become an astronaut. Determined to make her dream a reality, Aomawa applied for and attended an elite high school with an astronomy observatory, graduated with a degree in astrophysics from MIT, and began studying for a PhD. But one year into her studies, a white male professor recommended that she consider other careers. Was he saying this because of her aptitude, or because there were no other astrophysicists who looked like her? Struggling with her own doubts about whether she'd chosen the right path, she left academia to become an actor.

After acting professionally for a decade in Los Angeles, temping to pay the bills, Aomawa took a day job at NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and realised she missed the stars and planets. She applied again to grad school and became the oldest and only Black student in her PhD cohort at the University of Washington. This time, no professor, and no voice in her own head, would stop her from getting her degree. She finished acclaimed research about the ice on other planets, and the weather in other worlds.

Stars shine in many colours: there are yellow stars like our Sun, fast-burning blue stars, and red dwarf stars. Aomawa's research has studied these red dwarfs in particular, which are especially abundant in our own Milky Way galaxy, and which may be more likely to harbour planets that support life. There are as many ways life could thrive in another world as there are ways life could be crushed - or never develop at all. If life existed in a red dwarf system, it would thrive differently from life in the world that we know. But the universe is a very big place. There is room for us all.

A riveting memoir of crossroads, choices, and triumph. I could not put this book down. Shields is an astronomer whose writing miraculously feels like the night sky itself - vast, elegant, luminous. Tara Mohr, author of Playing Big: Practical Wisdom for Women Who Want to Speak Up, Create and Lead
This book is so good, so gorgeously written, covering with integrity so much: being smart, scared, taking your power, humour, family, being different and the same, science, stars, sky, being a woman, being black; it is a triumph and a pleasure. It compels the reader to learn more about the planets, and how to stretch our unlimited capacity to live fully in this universe. Natalie Goldberg, author of Three Simple Lines and Writing Down the Bones
Shields took my breath away with her candour on these pages. An inspiring account of the struggles of a hero who is both scientist and artist. Ann Druyan, writer, director, and producer of COSMOS

Life On Other Planets is a beautiful meditation on space, identity and belonging . . . As one of the few black women in her field, Shields' story is one of resilience - battling detractors and imposter syndrome to become a prominent
astronomer. Her writing style is lyrical and readable, and while Shields might not be a household name in the UK, her story is well worth knowing

Independent
This riveting memoir is relatable and personable BBC Sky at Night
Author Aomawa Shields bring[s] a lot of science into her tale, but it comes with a lot of gentle wide-eyed wonder and explanations that are easy for an average reader to grasp. There's beauty in what Shields sees, and she shares her excitement in a way that will make you see the sky with fresh eyes Houston Style Magazine

Dr Aomawa Shields is an astronomer, astrobiologist and the Clare Boothe Luce Associate Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of California, Irvine. She was named a 2015 TED Fellow and is the recipient of the NSF CAREER Award and a NASA Habitable Worlds program grant, among others. She is the founder and director of Rising Stargirls, a program dedicated to encouraging girls of all colors and backgrounds to learn, explore, and discover the universe using theater, writing, and visual art.

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.