Religions and Extraterrestrial Life

Dr. Weintraub is a Professor of Astronomy and co-Director of the Scientific Computing Program at Vanderbilt University. He earned his PhD in Geophysics and Space Physics from UCLA. His two previous books, Is Pluto a Planet? (2006) and How Old Is the Universe? (2010), were published by Princeton University Press.

• Part I: Discovering Extrasolar Planets.- Once Upon a Time.- Pluralism Through Western History.- The Discovery of the Century.- Detecting Exoplanets.- Are Angels Extraterrestrials?.- Part II: Major Religions of the World and Extraterrestrial Life.- Judaism.- Setting the Stage for Modern Christianity.- Roman Catholicism.- Orthodox Christianity.- The Church of England and the Anglican Communion.- Mainline Protestant Christianity.- Evangelical and Fundamentalist Christianity.- From Christian Roots.- Mormonism.- Islam.- Hinduism.- Buddhism.- Jainism.- Sikhism.- Bahá’í Faith.- Are We Ready?.- Appendix: The Exoplanets Revealed by the Kepler Mission Through 2013.

"This is a valuable and interesting survey of how many of the world's major religions think about extraterrestrial intelligent life (ETIs). And for those with an interest in, but limited knowledge of, these religions the book also provides a handy introduction into their basic ideas." (Alan Penny, The Observatory, Vol. 135 (1246), June, 2015)