The Extraterrestrial Encyclopedia is a fascinating reference book about life beyond Earth. It explores the idea, beginning among in ancient Greece, that what we know as life on Earth may not exhaust the kinds of life that other comers of the universe may harbor. Darling couples a serious scientific approach to the topic with an infectious enthusiasm and probing intellectual curiosity about the very nature of life. Although he is no gullible repeater of stories about abductions and visitations by little green men, he has entries on even the wildest stories from the UFO literature. The book is organized alphabetically, and includes cross-referencing and several indexes that encourage curious readers to browse. There is a resource guide listing dozens of web-sites about ET life, and a timeline that shows the history of thinking about the possibility of life beyond Earth. Sample entries include: hoaxes, the Socorro incident, the Lubbock Lights, Nikola Tesla, rogue planets, neutron stars, "War of the Worlds, " C.S. Lewis, and dolphin language.

Darling's restless curiosity inspires readers to gain an understanding of life in its widest possible context -- biological, chemical, historical, philosophical, and spiritual. Through the ETE, readers will chart a course through their own passions -- whether it be learning about the history of extraterrestrial aliens in fiction, our fascination with Marsthroughout the ages, or cutting-edge work in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.