Life in Our Universe cover art

Life in Our Universe

Preview
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free
Offer ends December 16, 2025 11:59pm GMT.
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just £0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 bestseller or new release per month—yours to keep.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Life in Our Universe

By: Laird Close, The Great Courses
Narrated by: The Great Courses
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly. Offer ends December 16, 2025 11:59pm GMT.

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £25.99

Buy Now for £25.99

Only £0.99 a month for the first 3 months. Pay £0.99 for the first 3 months, and £8.99/month thereafter. Renews automatically. Terms apply. Start my membership

About this listen

Are we alone in the universe? This is one of the most profound issues facing mankind - and one of the unresolved questions that science may finally be able to answer in this century.

These 24 mind-expanding lectures reveal the cutting-edge research leading scientists to believe that life is not exclusively the domain of Earth. Professor Close offers an unparalleled look at the subject of life and the mysteries that remain. You'll examine the remarkable coincidences that created our planet and sustained its habitability for 3.5 billion years. And you'll join the hunt for microbial life elsewhere in our solar system and Earth-like planets in alien solar systems.

With Professor Close's expert guidance, you'll delve into some of the biggest questions facing science today. What can the Earth and its current and past life tell us about life in our universe? Where else in our solar system can there be life? Are there habitable planets and life around other stars? Is there other intelligent life in our universe? Is there a new home for mankind? If so, how can we find it?

Suited for the scientifically inclined and curious alike, these lectures make even the most complex content highly accessible. And they’ll give you the essential context necessary to make sense of the news on emerging discoveries and their implications.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2013 The Great Courses (P)2013 The Teaching Company, LLC
Astronomy Astronomy & Space Science Science

Listeners also enjoyed...

How the Earth Works cover art
The Learning Brain cover art
In Search of Schrödinger’s Cat cover art
The Search for Exoplanets: What Astronomers Know cover art
Think like a Stoic cover art
Einstein's Relativity and the Quantum Revolution: Modern Physics for Non-Scientists, 2nd Edition cover art
The Theory of Everything: The Quest to Explain All Reality cover art
Black Holes, Tides, and Curved Spacetime cover art
A New History of Life cover art
The Other Side of History: Daily Life in the Ancient World cover art
Understanding the Brain cover art
Alien Oceans cover art
Existential Physics cover art
How to Die in Space cover art
Under Alien Skies cover art
Exoplanets cover art
All stars
Most relevant
Interesting lectures pitched at a level to interest every listener

Every lecture subject comprehensively covered

Brilliant

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Nice listen, good pacing and not too technical so it’s quite comprehensible for a simpleton like me.

Very informative

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

During the formation of planets around a star it is possible that one or more may be ejected. There may be millions of these at various stages of evolution. I would have liked the possibility of life on these bodies to have been considered.

What about the ejected planets?

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

The narrator is clearly an accomplished scientist/astronomer, and the delivery is excellent. However, this course was clearly developed for a video audience. Visuals are frequently discussed, but these are not included in the accompanying PDF. There are also some nuggets of information which I noticed were slightly outdated. At a guess, I'd say the recording was made ~2012, and to the best of my knowledge, some new information is now available. I suggest that the entire course is reviewed & edited to bring it up to date; and key visuals added to the accompanying PDF.

Great Narrative, but missing visual aids.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

This is interesting. Every lecture is decent. Some of these lecture series from the Great courses get dull very quick but this is up to date and interesting. Also you can imagine the narrator is Kermit the frog quite easily, which for me is a plus.

This is a good one. Credit worthiness

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

See more reviews