Nathalie A. Cabrol is a French-American explorer and astrobiologist and the Director of the Carl Sagan Center at the SETI Institute. She researches habitability and life beyond Earth, develops science exploration strategies for NASA for Mars and Titan, designs robotic field tests, and leads projects in planetary science and astrobiology. Cabrol documents life’s adaptation to extreme environments and the effects of rapid climate change. She has written over six hundred peer-reviewed publications and conference proceedings and has published four books on planetary science. Cabrol also holds the women’s world record for free and scuba diving at altitude. Born in France, she lives in California.
‘In this cutting-edge, wide-ranging survey of a truly extraordinary subject, the celebrated scientist Nathalie Cabrol takes us on an odyssey full of astonishing possibility, crossing vast distances and many scales to tell the story of our search for extraterrestrial life. The Secret Life of the Universe weaves together the history of space exploration, planetary science, the changing technological and intellectual frameworks of SETI, and deliberations on the very nature and meaning of life. It’s a mind-altering and exhilarating read for anyone who has ever wondered: are we alone?’ -- Helen Macdonald, author of H is for Hawk ‘Of all the popular books on the search for life that are now being published, this one is quite special. Written by an outstanding astrobiologist, Dr. Natalie Cabrol, The Secret Life of the Universe takes you step by step through each of the top candidates in the solar system and beyond into the Milky Way where life could exist, and how we are looking for it. Natalie tackles advanced concepts and explains them with ease. I highly recommend this book!’ -- James L. Green, former NASA chief scientist