The Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy: What Animals on Earth Reveal about Aliens--And Ourselves
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- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Arik Kershenbaum
- ISBN：1984881965
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Summary
From a noted Cambridge zoologist， a wildly fun and scientifically sound exploration of what alien life must be like， using universal laws that govern life on Earth and in space。
Scientists are confident that life exists elsewhere in the universe。 Yet rather than taking a realistic approach to what aliens might be like， we imagine that life on other planets is the stuff of science fiction。 The time has come to abandon our fantasies of space invaders and movie monsters and place our expectations on solid scientific footing。
But short of alien's landing in New York City， how do we know what they are like？ Using his own expert understanding of life on Earth and Darwin's theory of evolution--which applies throughout the universe--Cambridge zoologist Dr。 Arik Kershenbaum explains what alien life must be like: how these creatures will move， socialize， and communicate。 For example， by observing fish whose electrical pulses indicate social status， we can see that other planets might allow for communication by electricity。 As there was evolutionary pressure to wriggle along a sea floor， Earthling animals tend to have left/right symmetry; on planets where creatures evolved mid-air or in soupy tar they might be lacking any symmetry at all。
Might there be an alien planet with supersonic animals？ A moon where creatures have a language composed of smells？ Will aliens scream with fear， act honestly， or have technology？ The Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy answers these questions using the latest science to tell the story of how life really works， on Earth and in space。
Scientists are confident that life exists elsewhere in the universe。 Yet rather than taking a realistic approach to what aliens might be like， we imagine that life on other planets is the stuff of science fiction。 The time has come to abandon our fantasies of space invaders and movie monsters and place our expectations on solid scientific footing。
But short of alien's landing in New York City， how do we know what they are like？ Using his own expert understanding of life on Earth and Darwin's theory of evolution--which applies throughout the universe--Cambridge zoologist Dr。 Arik Kershenbaum explains what alien life must be like: how these creatures will move， socialize， and communicate。 For example， by observing fish whose electrical pulses indicate social status， we can see that other planets might allow for communication by electricity。 As there was evolutionary pressure to wriggle along a sea floor， Earthling animals tend to have left/right symmetry; on planets where creatures evolved mid-air or in soupy tar they might be lacking any symmetry at all。
Might there be an alien planet with supersonic animals？ A moon where creatures have a language composed of smells？ Will aliens scream with fear， act honestly， or have technology？ The Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy answers these questions using the latest science to tell the story of how life really works， on Earth and in space。
Reviews
R。C。
，
Really a 2。5。 In my opinion， needed way more aliens， as I think what I was looking for was not what the author was really there to discuss。I approached wanting to hear some good， science-based speculation on various logical ways alien life could evolve， backed up by zoological and evolutionary principles。 Instead， this book is a book about Earth zoology and evolutionary principles， with a mention every now and then about relevance to alien life。 Many， many times that mention was along the lines Really a 2。5。 In my opinion， needed way more aliens， as I think what I was looking for was not what the author was really there to discuss。I approached wanting to hear some good， science-based speculation on various logical ways alien life could evolve， backed up by zoological and evolutionary principles。 Instead， this book is a book about Earth zoology and evolutionary principles， with a mention every now and then about relevance to alien life。 Many， many times that mention was along the lines of "We don't know if these are all the possible ways to deal with Problem， but because X and Y immutable properties hold on other planets， we expect that these possible ways of dealing with Problem will evolve there， too。" which。。。just wasn't that much fun？ The author would discuss a lot of Earth-based things for a whole chapter， and then maybe have a throw-away sentence or two of juicy speculation about how a certain sensory suite or locomotion would evolve on another planet， and that was just not the balance I was looking for。There were also whole chapters where the author really lost my attention。 It started with a whole chapter about how we couldn't really define "intelligence"， and then another about how we couldn't really define "language"， then a chapter about "artificial intelligence" that didn't even attempt to touch on the actual field of AI at all， and by the time we got to the last chapter where the author was discussing how we couldn't define "humanity" （when I thought that was way too specific and that the more interesting concept was how we would define "person"）， I was ready to be done。So。。。yeah。 A nice refresher on evolutionary theory and Earth animals， but not what I was looking for。 。。。more
Steven
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Great detail while only requiring logic to understand。
Dipra Lahiri
，
Sometimes dense， but mostly informative and educative。 The "aliens" angle is a clever way to hook readers， and may work well getting students to develop an interest in zoology and science。 Sometimes dense， but mostly informative and educative。 The "aliens" angle is a clever way to hook readers， and may work well getting students to develop an interest in zoology and science。 。。。more
Pat Pujolas
，
How and why did we evolve to be the kind of animal that looks at the stars and ponders the existence of life on other planets？ Are we really that unique in the cosmos？ Find out the answers to these questions and many more in this fascinating guide to the biological galaxy。 Though a little dry at times （and under-represented by visuals）， this book deserves a yellow highlighter plus an ink pen for additional notes/underlining。 If you're too busy for all that， just skip to the final chapter for a c How and why did we evolve to be the kind of animal that looks at the stars and ponders the existence of life on other planets？ Are we really that unique in the cosmos？ Find out the answers to these questions and many more in this fascinating guide to the biological galaxy。 Though a little dry at times （and under-represented by visuals）， this book deserves a yellow highlighter plus an ink pen for additional notes/underlining。 If you're too busy for all that， just skip to the final chapter for a condensed （two-page） summary。 After all， we're only human。 。。。more
Foggygirl
，
A good read， although some of the science writing went over my head。
Emily
，
Gotta say， this is the first book I've read on the subject of astrobiology， and it's certainly something。 The only reason this book doesn't get 5 stars from me is because I found the chapters to be extremely long and dense and with very few diagrams or images to break up the text。 But maybe that's my 8 year old self talking。 Overall I've learned so much about what we could realistically expect alien life to look and act like。 This is definitely a book that I will pick up and read again and again Gotta say， this is the first book I've read on the subject of astrobiology， and it's certainly something。 The only reason this book doesn't get 5 stars from me is because I found the chapters to be extremely long and dense and with very few diagrams or images to break up the text。 But maybe that's my 8 year old self talking。 Overall I've learned so much about what we could realistically expect alien life to look and act like。 This is definitely a book that I will pick up and read again and again。 。。。more
Mark Andersen
，
This is a thoroughly enjoyable， and very accessible， book about what we can surmise about life on other planets based on our knowledge of life on Earth。 The author approaches the topic， not from the standpoint of anatomy， physiology， or biochemistry， but of evolution。 Specifically， he assumes that natural selection will operate on alien life forms just as it does on Earthly life。 Therefore， the evolutionary processes that occur on Earth are most likely universal， and the anatomies and behaviors This is a thoroughly enjoyable， and very accessible， book about what we can surmise about life on other planets based on our knowledge of life on Earth。 The author approaches the topic， not from the standpoint of anatomy， physiology， or biochemistry， but of evolution。 Specifically， he assumes that natural selection will operate on alien life forms just as it does on Earthly life。 Therefore， the evolutionary processes that occur on Earth are most likely universal， and the anatomies and behaviors that natural selection has produced are solutions to problems that are also likely to be universal。 The numerous examples of convergent evolution on Earth strongly support this assumption。 He applies this approach to questions of locomotion， communication， and sociality （among other things）。 Along the way， the author provides an excellent introduction to the basic principles of evolutionary biology， and to the way in which the constraints imposed by Earth’s physical environment have shaped the history of life on Earth。 。。。more
Owlseyes
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https://www。wsj。com/articles/alien-la。。。 https://www。wsj。com/articles/alien-la。。。 。。。more
Michele Pinto
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Davvero fantastico viaggiare nell'universo e immaginare - con estremo rigore scientifico - come potrebbero essere le forme di vita che lo popolano。L'autore usa argomenti molto convincenti， solidi， eppure cono certo che quando finalmente avremo notizie certe di forme di vita aliena la natura ci stupirà andando oltre quanto previsto da Arik Kershenbaum。Una lettura che consiglio。 Davvero fantastico viaggiare nell'universo e immaginare - con estremo rigore scientifico - come potrebbero essere le forme di vita che lo popolano。L'autore usa argomenti molto convincenti， solidi， eppure cono certo che quando finalmente avremo notizie certe di forme di vita aliena la natura ci stupirà andando oltre quanto previsto da Arik Kershenbaum。Una lettura che consiglio。 。。。more
Matthew Galloway
，
It may just be a failing in my own current knowledge， but while I enjoyed this book for it's explanations and thought experiments about evolution on our planet， I never quite bought into the books central conceit that these could be confidently applied to other planets （seeing as how we are basing all of our conclusions off a sample size of one）。 Still， I was quite engaged until we got to the much more theoretical bits about things like self-replicating artificial intelligences。 It may just be a failing in my own current knowledge， but while I enjoyed this book for it's explanations and thought experiments about evolution on our planet， I never quite bought into the books central conceit that these could be confidently applied to other planets （seeing as how we are basing all of our conclusions off a sample size of one）。 Still， I was quite engaged until we got to the much more theoretical bits about things like self-replicating artificial intelligences。 。。。more
Peter Tillman
，
Good review at the WSJ。 They liked the book: https://www。wsj。com/articles/the-zool。。。Excerpt:"“Zoologist’s Guide” is a wonderful mix of science-based speculation and entertaining whimsy。 Each chapter examines a different aspect of animal behavior on Earth that， according to the author， would likely be replicated on other planets: sociality， cooperation， communication， intelligence， language and so forth。 He’s always mindful to anchor his conjectures on what is already known—not just about well-s Good review at the WSJ。 They liked the book: https://www。wsj。com/articles/the-zool。。。Excerpt:"“Zoologist’s Guide” is a wonderful mix of science-based speculation and entertaining whimsy。 Each chapter examines a different aspect of animal behavior on Earth that， according to the author， would likely be replicated on other planets: sociality， cooperation， communication， intelligence， language and so forth。 He’s always mindful to anchor his conjectures on what is already known—not just about well-studied terrestrial species but， crucially， about universal （hence universe-wide） evolutionary principles。 Mr。 Kershenbaum proceeds to argue， persuasively， that “we have enough of a diversity of adaptations here on Earth to give us at least potential mechanisms that seem appropriate solutions even on worlds almost unimaginably different from ours。” 。。。。“If alien animals use sound for their alarm calls， their screams will probably be very much like ours，” he writes。 “Don’t believe it if they say ‘no one can hear you scream’—screams evolved to be heard， and to be disturbing。 Even if aliens don’t use sound， it’s likely that alien alarm calls will be similarly chaotic in whatever medium they do use。 They will have whatever properties are characteristic of the alien signal-production organ when you jump out from behind a rock and give the alien a fright。 ‘Scary’ is going to be similar on every planet。”（Paywalled。 As always， I'm happy to email a copy to non-subscribers） 。。。more
Ladymidnight
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I've always been fascinated by what form alien life would take， and whether it would be intelligent in the same way as us。 It's part of the reason SF & F are my favourite genres--they open up the possibilities of what might be out there。This book covers so much of this while being well written & researched。 It would be a wonderful resource for SF & F writers who wanted to make their alien life more realistic。 Thanks to Netgalley & Penguin Press。 I've always been fascinated by what form alien life would take， and whether it would be intelligent in the same way as us。 It's part of the reason SF & F are my favourite genres--they open up the possibilities of what might be out there。This book covers so much of this while being well written & researched。 It would be a wonderful resource for SF & F writers who wanted to make their alien life more realistic。 Thanks to Netgalley & Penguin Press。 。。。more
Andrea Wenger
，
In this book， the author uses the principles of natural selection to logically deduce what the characteristics of alien life might be: how alien life might resemble life on Earth， and how it might differ。 I enjoyed those insights—they seemed sensible， enlightening， and persuasive。 The book kind of fell apart for me at the end， when the author got into a philosophical discussion of whether intelligent extraterrestrial life should be considered "human。" That seemed fairly pointless。 The term "huma In this book， the author uses the principles of natural selection to logically deduce what the characteristics of alien life might be: how alien life might resemble life on Earth， and how it might differ。 I enjoyed those insights—they seemed sensible， enlightening， and persuasive。 The book kind of fell apart for me at the end， when the author got into a philosophical discussion of whether intelligent extraterrestrial life should be considered "human。" That seemed fairly pointless。 The term "human" refers to our species， or more broadly， our genus。 It's kind of like arguing about whether the term "dog" should refer only to Canis familiaris， or to all animal companions of intelligent species who join with them in cooperative hunting。At some point—most likely decades or centuries from now—we may be forced to confront the ethics of how to interact with intelligent alien life forms。 For now， I think we'd be better off exploring the ethics of how we treat nonhuman earthly creatures that demonstrate self-awareness: apes， dolphins， and elephants， for example。 The author touched on that question， but didn't seem to make a persuasive argument one way or another。 That seemed to me a lost opportunity。 It's a much more pressing question， especially given the endangered status of our nearest relatives in the animal kingdom。 I care a lot more about chimps and gorillas than I do about hypothetical intelligent beings living light years away。 Ultimately， this book is a thought experiment that invites us to think more logically and critically about the role of life in the universe。 I hope it inspires people to think more logically and compassionately about life on our own planet as well。 While it's important for us to explore other bodies in our solar system for evidence of life， it's even more critical for us to protect the species here at home， in all their diverse beauty。 I hope readers go away from the book with that message in mind。 Thanks， NetGalley， for the ARC I received。 This is my honest and voluntary review。 。。。more
Elisa
，
A year ago I’d never even heard of Astrobiology and now I’ve read two really great books about this field。 They both have similar conclusions， but differ in other significant ways， which makes clear how much we still don’t know。 Most of my non-fiction library is about animals and space， so a book about animals in space seems written just for me。 The author starts by analyzing all animals on Earth， including humans， and extrapolates it to how our biology would work on a different planet。 Of cours A year ago I’d never even heard of Astrobiology and now I’ve read two really great books about this field。 They both have similar conclusions， but differ in other significant ways， which makes clear how much we still don’t know。 Most of my non-fiction library is about animals and space， so a book about animals in space seems written just for me。 The author starts by analyzing all animals on Earth， including humans， and extrapolates it to how our biology would work on a different planet。 Of course， no one knows for a fact but once he explains the reasoning behind his conclusions， they make sense。 Since The Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy needs to understand earthlings before it can focus on ETs， there’s a myriad of facts about animals that are simply fascinating。 The author also explores other more non-scientific fields， such as Philosophy and Linguistics。 The text is clear and easy to understand， and it’s peppered with anecdotes and pop culture that make it fun。 This doesn’t mean that it’s an easy or quick read。 If I got even remotely distracted， I’d lose my place and had to start the paragraph and sometimes the chapter from the beginning， but it was really worth the effort。 Since I probably won’t get to meet aliens in my lifetime， I hope that at least I’ll be able to see the Yellowstone wolves that helped Kershenbaum with his research。 Bonus points for thanking his dog Darwin in the acknowledgements， animals make everything better。 I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased。 Thank you， NetGalley/ Penguin Press！ 。。。more
Jenna Rideout
，
I was granted eARC access to The Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review。 My thoughts are my own and my review is honest。 The Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy is a very well-written and entertaining work of non-fiction that explores the world of animals around us， discusses how the environment influences form and function， and deep dives into topics like purpose-based evolution。 Once these things are established， this book also makes room for speculation on I was granted eARC access to The Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review。 My thoughts are my own and my review is honest。 The Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy is a very well-written and entertaining work of non-fiction that explores the world of animals around us， discusses how the environment influences form and function， and deep dives into topics like purpose-based evolution。 Once these things are established， this book also makes room for speculation on what alien species might be like and how we can make predications based on what we see here on Earth。 As a former science geek kid who had graduated to the status of science geek adult， I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Earth's fauna in such a richly narrative way。 This didn't feel like reading an academic textbook or journal article， it felt like a book I would pick up for pleasure。 I would give this book to sciency kids in their teens at the youngest， because there are high-level concepts and language in here that middle school readers are likely to struggle with， but other than that I do think anyone looking to know more about animals in any capacity would enjoy this book。I'm also a massive science fiction nerd and I was absolutely quite influenced in my decision to pick up this book by the title。 I see that Douglas Adams reference！ Far too many sci-fi authors creating alien beings really do seem to forget or willfully ignore the fact that so much about the way creatures on Earth look and behave is influenced by Earth and resort to creating galaxies full of bipedal humanoid dominant species with pets and prey that resemble our own current or past quadrupedal Earthly neighbours。 Not every planet that produces an intelligent species is going to have that result！ That's not even considering how a species would change if it moved off-planet and lived entirely in space for many generations。 I think this book would be a great resource for science fiction， screenwriters， and special effects designers everywhere， and I completely intend to revisit this book when its time to finally tackle that alien species sci-fi I've had on my own writing backburner。 。。。more
Ula
，
With a new rover just delivered to Mars， the question about extraterrestrial life is once again on the headlines。 If we want to be prepared for finding it， we have to answer some fundamental questions - and this is exactly what is this book about。This book is certainly on the science， not science fiction side - you won't find here detailed descriptions of little green people。 The parts about potential aliens are not the most interesting - you can even consider them as a little unimaginative （eve With a new rover just delivered to Mars， the question about extraterrestrial life is once again on the headlines。 If we want to be prepared for finding it， we have to answer some fundamental questions - and this is exactly what is this book about。This book is certainly on the science， not science fiction side - you won't find here detailed descriptions of little green people。 The parts about potential aliens are not the most interesting - you can even consider them as a little unimaginative （everything will work as on Earth， in short）， but well-argued。 After all， physics， chemistry， and mathematics are universal， so their effects will be similar on every planet， depending only on the local conditions。Much more engaging is the main core of this "Guide"， which is explaining how evolution works。 With a considerable amount of humor and typical British love for puns， Dr。 Arik Kershenbaum describes many interesting species and mechanisms， and tries to answer such questions as "what is animal" or "what is intelligence"。 If you liked "Your Inner Fish" by Neil Shubin， you should like this one， too。Thanks to the publisher， Penguin Press， and NetGalley for the advance copy of this book。 。。。more
Steve
，
Great debut book I loved this book。 It is as much about ourselves and life on Earth as it is about life elsewhere。 Dr Arik Kershenbaum writes with a conversational tone and some humor， as he clearly explains natural selection and why it might be applicable elsewhere in the universe。 He doesn't make actual predictions about aliens and what they might look like， but still discusses how natural selection could impact alien life。 This book is the debut for Dr Kershenbaum， but I hope that it is not h Great debut book I loved this book。 It is as much about ourselves and life on Earth as it is about life elsewhere。 Dr Arik Kershenbaum writes with a conversational tone and some humor， as he clearly explains natural selection and why it might be applicable elsewhere in the universe。 He doesn't make actual predictions about aliens and what they might look like， but still discusses how natural selection could impact alien life。 This book is the debut for Dr Kershenbaum， but I hope that it is not his last。 I look forward to reading more of his work。Disclosure: I received a complimentary advance reader copy via Netgalley for review purposes。 。。。more
Nicola
，
I read this book through Netgalley with thanks to the publishers， in exchange for an honest review。 What might aliens look like？ A question I think everyone has thought of at least once in their lives。 Arik takes you through a sea of possibilities - like how might aliens communicate？ Language？ Intelligence？ Reading this， you don’t only come to speculate life on other planets but come to further understand your own and the life we have on earth。 I loved reading about the parallels between biology I read this book through Netgalley with thanks to the publishers， in exchange for an honest review。 What might aliens look like？ A question I think everyone has thought of at least once in their lives。 Arik takes you through a sea of possibilities - like how might aliens communicate？ Language？ Intelligence？ Reading this， you don’t only come to speculate life on other planets but come to further understand your own and the life we have on earth。 I loved reading about the parallels between biology and physics too， with the field of astrobiology a fascinating burgeoning field of science。 This book definitely captures all the wonders of the stars and deep questions of other life as well as being informative and just an overall， great fun read。 This book provided a unique spin on astrobiology， veering away from the more common questions to address and discusses those that often aren’t included。 Focusing on just what complex alien life may look like and the forms they may take and what they may act like based on the science and what we know from our own research and experiences on earth。 It makes for a very novel book and it’s just so so interesting， I don’t think it could fail to grab your interest or attention at least once in this book。 You’ll definitely come out of it learning something new！ The author writes in such a beautifully legible and easily understandable way， where the writing just flows effortlessly。 It makes it a perfect book for those who perhaps don’t read a lot of a science as well as catering for those who do- no discrimination， there’s plenty of explanations and laying the foundations in this book and really helps build the reader up to knowing a fair bit about this topic。 I also love the name for this book。 It’s so aptly named ！ Overall， a great and informative read and one of the best popular science books in its field that I’ve read so far！ I devoured it in two days！ 。。。more
Irene
，
Thank you to NetGalley for my advance digital copy！This book started out great， but I have some issues with it。 The first four chapters are my favourite， because they explore a lot of ideas I just hadn't considered。 For instance， the way in which the environment an organism lives in determines how the organism is able and likely to move and communicate。By the time we got to animal intelligence and language is where I started to come to different conclusions than the author， which is perfectly al Thank you to NetGalley for my advance digital copy！This book started out great， but I have some issues with it。 The first four chapters are my favourite， because they explore a lot of ideas I just hadn't considered。 For instance， the way in which the environment an organism lives in determines how the organism is able and likely to move and communicate。By the time we got to animal intelligence and language is where I started to come to different conclusions than the author， which is perfectly alright， considering we're all speculating。 However， Kershenbaum， as a Cambridge lecturer， is much more educated in his field than I ever hope to be and there were several things that I found odd。First of all， while Richard Dawkins may have been a pioneer in his field back when The Selfish Gene was published in 1976， he has since discredited himself so thoroughly as a scientist with his ridiculous transphobic views about human gender that it's very hard for me to take anything he has to say seriously。 Here's a Dakwins quote: “‘I would say if she wants to be called she， I am very happy to call her she。 That’s a matter of courtesy。 But if she wants me to say she’s a woman， when she has an XY karyotype， then as a biologist， then I would say that I would define a woman， as a biologist， as a member of the species Homo sapiens with XX karyotype。’” So I guess， according to Dawkins， intersex people with a karyotype other than XX or XY don't exist and genes are apparently the only thing that matters when it comes to determining biological sex。 ANYWAY。 Took me right out of the text every time his name pops up， which is very often。Something else I found strange was his insistence that anything that doesn't serve an evolutionary purpose doesn't evolve。 If that's the case， explain to me why the ability to curl our tongues is an inheritable trait while granting us absolutely no evolutionary advantage。 It's stated many times in the book that evolution doesn't have agency， but there's this background flavour to the text that implies "evolution happens for a reason"。 Either mutations are completely random， or Lamarck wasn't 100% off the mark and the environment does play a role in which traits evolve， but you can't have your cake and eat it too。 To be fair， the author gives this more nuance than I'm implying， and I feel he acknowledges it as a false dichotomy， but some of his ideas on this topic seem contradictory。 I'm of the opinion that while Darwinian evolution is definitely happening， mutations may not always be completely random。 This is， of course， speculation， but the notion that cells that can react to their environments are completely powerless to respond to changes seems absurd to me。Which brings me to why his approach to Lamarckism left me completely baffled。 On one hand， I'm sure that Kershenbaum understands what Lamarck meant better than I do， given his credentials， but for some reason， this got lost in translation when he went to write it down。 What I understand Lamarckism to be， is the passing on of physical traits， from one generation to the next。 What I understood the author was saying in the book is that Lamarckism also includes the passing on of cultural and social knowledge。。。 which， and I may be horribly mistaken， it doesn't。 So when we got to AI， everything got very confusing。Kershenbaum seems to dismiss the entire field of epigenetics as Lamarckism because of all these blurred lines between what constitutes communication and cultural knowledge and actual inherited traits。 There seems to be evidence of epigenetics playing a role in psychological traits， e。 g。 children of genocide survivors have different stress hormone profiles than their peers and seem predisposed to anxiety disorders at a higher rate。 Whether this is something inherited or a product of upbringing is not for me to say， but it seems like an oversight on Kershenbaum's part to ignore it completely。 Again， to be fair， the author makes it clear that this book is a gross oversimplification of matters， but considering the amount of time spent on Lamarckism and its implications， this merited mentioning。Another topic left completely out of the book is asexual vs sexual reproduction。 The epilogue mentions this in a joking fashion （something along the lines of "I'm sure I've disappointed the people who wanted to read about whether we can have sex with aliens"）， but considering that the step between asexual and sexual reproduction was absolutely crucial in the way life evolved on this planet， and the fact that most of the competitive behaviour and expensive physical traits passed on to other generations have to do with outperforming others in order to become more sexually desirable， I don't know why the author spent so much time talking about sexual reproduction in general， but didn't talk much about the ways in which it is superior or inferior to asexual reproduction， considering genetic variability is such a big driver of adaptation。 Surely， even if aliens have completely different ways of reproducing， adding variation in order to increase survival is something likely to happen in other planets。This book is definitely worth a read， and the topic at hand is fascinating。 I hope I didn't make an absolute fool of myself by misunderstanding the author。 。。。more
Justine
，
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin for providing an ARC！
Lilli Tiger
，
Dr Arik Kershenbaum’s ‘Zoologist's guide to the galaxy’ is a fascinating look into what the appearances and traits of animals on our own planet could tell us about those living their lives in other parts of the universe。 I myself picked up this book due to my own interest in animal behaviour and was pleased to find that despite the book’s clear focus on alien species， there was no shortage of interesting information when it came to those much closer to home， as well as a particularly fascinating Dr Arik Kershenbaum’s ‘Zoologist's guide to the galaxy’ is a fascinating look into what the appearances and traits of animals on our own planet could tell us about those living their lives in other parts of the universe。 I myself picked up this book due to my own interest in animal behaviour and was pleased to find that despite the book’s clear focus on alien species， there was no shortage of interesting information when it came to those much closer to home， as well as a particularly fascinating section focusing on the very start of life on earth。 Kershenbaum spares no effort in ensuring his book can easily be understood by anyone， regardless of their previous knowledge of zoology or evolution， making this a perfect first step into the subject for those wishing to learn。 However， it must be noted that it is clear that Kershenbaum is a Zoologist first and an author second， as the flow of the book seems to be interrupted fairly frequently to repeat sections which have already clearly been described。 Whilst this further highlights the authors focus on making his work accessible to all， these circular patterns would become frustrating at times， especially to those who are already fairly knowledgable on the subject。 He also seems to make an unfortunate habit of summarising future and past chapters which provide no clear benefit to the reader。 Regardless， if you’re willing to look past the slightly strained writing style， the knowledge ‘Zoologists guide to the galaxy’ provides is invaluable and makes for a brilliant read which can be picked up and put down again with any duration in between。 。。。more
David Arvidsson
，
A thoroughly interesting scientific book on aliens。 A great overview of zoology。 A great introduction to evolutionary biology。
Rory Galloway
，
I loved this book， necessary reading for any science fiction authors out there， it explains evolutionary biology and the constants that we would expect to see in any evolving systems exceptionally well。
Jordan
，
I was provided a free， advanced copy of this book and I consider Dr。 Arik Kershenbaum to be a friend， but my review below is honest and written with pride。 I am not a scientist， just an ordinary person with a myriad of interests。 I enjoy learning from the experts about the unknowns and anything involving space and aliens captivates。 Dr。 Kershenbaum's book was a joy to read。 Simple enough for a layman like myself to understand， but clearly backed by research and science。 He convinces the reader t I was provided a free， advanced copy of this book and I consider Dr。 Arik Kershenbaum to be a friend， but my review below is honest and written with pride。 I am not a scientist， just an ordinary person with a myriad of interests。 I enjoy learning from the experts about the unknowns and anything involving space and aliens captivates。 Dr。 Kershenbaum's book was a joy to read。 Simple enough for a layman like myself to understand， but clearly backed by research and science。 He convinces the reader that we can predict what aliens could look like and also how they may behave。 I found myself asking unexpected questions about alien life， but also about life on Earth。 Above all else， the book inspires the reader to acknowledge the deep connections between all life forms and somehow managed to the impossible: nurtures EMPATHY that I fear this world so desperately needs。 Highly recommend！ 。。。more
Holly
，