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EDITORIAL INFORMATION

Beginning with the first widely heralded discoveries of planets outside the solar systems decades ago, Looking for Earths - The Race to Find New Solar Systems by Alan Boss tells the story of cyclical hope and dispair as astronomers searched for irrefutable evidence of other planets, leading to the moment of discovery - a rich crop of Jupiter-sized gas planets orbiting suns like ours, in solar systems that may well harbour other "earths".

Looking for Earths is the ultimate insider's account of astronomy's fantastic voyage in search of brave new worlds in faraway galaxies, revealing the tortuous past that led to this epochal moment, as seen from the perspective of a scientist actively involved in the worldwide effort.

Taking readers deep inside the astronomers world, and reporting from the front lines of a thrilling, real-life star trek into new frontiers, Looking for Earths guide us into the elite realm of cutting-edge research, examining how these brilliant explorers have profoundly altered our view of the universe.

Alan Boss, a theoretical astrophysicist at the Carnegie Institution and an advisor for NASA, is one of the world's leading authorities and lecturers on planet formation. His articles have appeared in Scientific American and Nature.

(Extracted from the press release).

GENERAL TABLE OF CONTENTS

-Acknowledgments.

-Contents.

-Preface.

-Prologue.

-1. Barnard's Remarkable Star.

-2. Other Stars, Other Planets.

-3. Barnard's Star Changes Its Course.

-4. Making Planets for Fun and Profit.

-5. I Thought I Saw a Brown Dwarf Last Night.

-6. We Know You Are Out There...

-7. ...And We Are Coming to Get You.

-8. Brown Dwarfs by the Handful.

-9. A Fresh Start.

-10. Who Ordered THAT?

-11. The Battle of Palomar Mountain.

-12. The Road Goes Ever On and On.

-13. The Swiss Hit.

-14. The World Finds Out.

-15. That's No Planet, That's My Dwarf.

-16. Where's the Beef?

-17. The Planet-a-Week Club.

-Epilogue.

-List of Acronyms.

-Selected Bibliography.

-Index.