Rating: 
Summary: Light reading and light weight
Review: I was really disappointed by this book. It is "entertaining," but very light on new information on the subject of ETC's in my opinion. If you have read much on the subject before you will find little new here. I was really disappointed by the time I finished the book.Add to that I worked out the math error pointed out in another review in detail. The author gives his solution to the Fermi Paradox at the end. At the top of page 238 the author states an estimate of 10x11 stars and 10x12 (1,000,000,000,000) planets. (10 planets per star) The author's Step1 calculation is that 20% of STARS fall into the GHZ yielding a result of 2 x 10x10 PLANETS. However, 20% of 10x11 stars is 2 x 10x10 and by applying the author's own estimate of 10 planets per star we have 2 x 10x11 PLANETS remaining. Step 2 calls for 5% of the 2 x 10x10 STARS to be Sun-like, yielding 1x 10x9 STARS, or 1 x 10x10 PLANETS, not the 10x8 PLANETS as stated in the text. Beginning in Step 3 the calculations change from number of stars to number of planets.
It calls for only 1% of planets to be hospitable (10x10 PLANETS /100), yielding 10x8 planets, not 10x6. Step 4 allows 50% of the planets to have life, which the author calculates to be 500,000 planets, not the correct 50,000,000. This is an error of a factor of 100, caused no doubt by switching between stars and planets in the early calculations and forgetting which was being used. Hence when the author comes to Step 6 he has a result of 10x5 (100,000) potential planets when the correct number is 10x7 (10,000,000). In Steps 7 and 8 he argues no one can be sure of the impact for the reduction effects in Steps 7 and 8, but that given the small population of 100,000 potential planets (not the correct 10,000,000) that Earth is the only planet with intelligent life. This answer - Earth is alone - may be right, but the author's math is wrong and makes the rest of the book suspect.
Rating: 
Summary: Where Is everybody??
Review: If the Universe is Teeming With Aliens. . .Where Is everybody? 50 Solutions to Fermi's Paradox and the Problem of Extraterrestrial Life by Stephen Webb is quite a read. It presents, as the title states, 50 possible solutions to the Fermi Paradox, all of which cannot be disproved. It also provides a history of Fermi, a physicist who first posed the question "Where is everybody?" For me, this book was quite good at explaining the solutions. I had always wanted to yell at SETI and NASA for not coming up with the thought that perhaps extraterrestrial civilizations communicated telepathically. This book contained that as a possible solution, which made me quite happy, so now I no longer have the want to yell at them, since it has been considered.
I have never read a book that hurt my brain. This book did just that. Webb, a physicist, presented difficult concepts somewhat simply so the reader wasn't in the dark. Regardless, these concepts, like Drake's Equation, were still confusing. I understood them, but just as a warning, Webb asks you to be open minded taking in concepts that are usually not heard of. Brain hurting will occur. :P
If you're into astronomy or anything of the like, or if you're a science fiction fan, read this book. It categorizes the solutions into 3 categories; They are Here, They Exist but Haven't Communicated, and They Do Not Exist. It made me think, because you can neither prove nor disprove any of these solutions, regardless of their absurdity, like we exist in a zoo, made by extraterrestrials.
All in all, it was a great book and I recommend it to anyone questioning the Universe. I think any book that makes my head hurt is a good read, making you think and question the world around you. Happy Reading!
Rating:
Summary: The Twilight Zone Debunked?
Review: If the Universe is teeming with Aliens...Where is everybody? Fifty solutions to the Fermi Paradox and the Problem of Extraterrestrial Life by Stephen Webb is a fantastic look at whether extra terrestials do exist. Enrico Fermi, world reknown physicist, asked the paradox that Webb now tries to answer. Webb's book is clearly laid out, catergorizing the 50 solutions to the paradox into 3 main groups; They are Here, They have not yet communicated, and They do not Exist. Webb does a superb job of summarizing and explaining the various theories that fall into these catergories. He also provides an interesting solution of his own. All of the amassed information in this book allows the reader to formulate their own opinion about the paradox.
While the solutions are well thought out and interesting, many were overwhelming and difficult to understand. Webb does try to easily explain the complex subjects but some of the topics were still a little confusing to me. Also, so much information is brought up by this book that it is often hard to comprehend it all. However, eventhough some areas of the book were a little difficult it still did not take away from the fact that it is very thought-provoking, letting the reader experience the profound mysteries of the Universe.
I would recommend this book to those who enjoy abstract thinking, astonomy, science fiction or who simply want an explanation as to why we have not yet encountered extra terrestrials. It is a somewhat difficult read but at the same time a very interesting one.
Rating:
Summary: A lively, stimulating book, but not definitive
Review: In this engagingly readable book, physicist Stephen Webb offers fifty solutions to the Fermi Paradox concerning the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence. He focuses on communicating civilizations, the ones that would be easiest to detect. Webb divides the solutions into three broad categories: They Are Here, They Exist but Have Not Yet Communicated, and They Do Not Exist. Most of the proposed solutions are meant to be taken seriously, but others seem whimsical. Some of the most interesting material is in the notes at the back of the book. In the end, Webb sides with the third theme: They Do Not Exist. Such a conclusion is almost certainly premature. Given the very limited searches conducted so far, we easily could have missed evidence of a technological civilization. Our assumptions about what to look for may be wrong. Radio may characterize a phase of technology that more advanced cultures leave behind. Even those intelligences that never broadcast interstellar radio signals and never send interstellar probes to check out other planetary systems could be of great interest. The search is far from over. While Webb's fifty reasons are indicative, they are by no means comprehensive. Nor is his conclusion definitive. There still is plenty of room for disciplined speculation about this fascinating question.
Rating: 
Summary: My Book of 2003
Review: It has been my practice to give as Christmas presents copies of the book I found most stimulating in the past year. Where Is Everybody is my personal "Book of the Year."
I enjoyed this book immensely and I thought about it long after I had finished reading it. I am sure that my children and friends will also enjoy it. I usually try to gather used books, not because I am stingy with Christmas presents but because the effort of finding them conveys something more personal and loving than merely going to a bookstore.
Rating:
Summary: The best book I read in 2003
Review: Of the 47 books I read in 2003, this one was my favorite. It is engaging and entertaining, truly a thought-provoking read. It is not a "fringe" book, it deals with serious scientific thought of where life could exist in the universe, how long it could survive, how it could communicate or travel and therefore be known to other civilizations. The author's conclusion is profound and chilling and quite convincing after reading all the solutions that come before it. If you are at all interested in astronomy or astrobiology, this book will be worth your while.
Rating:
Summary: Depressing but brilliantly written and articulated.
Review: Stephen Webb is obviously a VERY bright guy. He's also a damn good writer. This is a really good book if you have some experience in reading about such things. I'd love to hear what Frank Drake and Seth Shostak think of it. Anyway, I am going to take the liberty of quoting Mr Webb and using his own words to review his book.
"A surfeit of hypotheses is a sure sign we do not understand something."
I'm still hoping to live to see a glimmer of understanding that is incontestible.
Rating:
Summary: A romp through astrobiology, but a little too much fluff
Review: The 21st century looks to be an era of interdisciplinary science: a meeting ground of physicists, biologists, astronomers, and even philosophers to attack problems that defy study within one narrowly-defined field. There is probably no scientific question that attracts interest from a wider cross section of scientists than the Fermi Paradox -- "Where Is Everybody?" -- that is the subject of this book.
Webb does a fine job here of summarizing some of the thinking on this question over the last ten or twenty years, but the effect is spoiled somewhat by his overreliance on fluffy, fantastic "answers" to bring his total number of answers up to a nice round figure that looks good on a book title. The sections based on real science are generally very good indeed; one can find here introductions to some of the relevant issues in at a dozen different sciences packaged in a way that demonstrates nicely how they interrelate. My interest in several of his areas is that of a professional, and I certainly couldn't have written a better introduction myself; I therefore fully appreciate the polymathic skills Webb needed to bring to bear, in order to examine not only the solutions I know something about but all of his others that are equally skillfully outlined. Yet to mingle these bits of sound (if introductory) science with the "hypothesis" that the aliens are really living among us as Hungarians (an inside Los Alamos/Manhattan Project joke revolving around Teller, von Neumann, etc.) makes his valid hypotheses appear more trivial than they are.
This reservation aside, I definitely recommend this book, as long as the reader can tolerate a mingling of lay science with whimsy. It packages well with "Rare Earth" by Ward and Brownlee, a rather more serious study that follows one of Webb's solutions through to its pessimistic -- and disturbing -- conclusion. Get them both and get a taste of how science in the 21st century will work!
Rating:
Summary: Where is everybody
Review: The book If Universe Is Teaming with Aliens Where Is Everybody? Fifty Solutions to the Fermi Paradox and the Problem of Extraterrestrial Life by Stephen Webb is a book I will never forget. This book is a collection of solutions to the famous question asked by the great physicist Enrico Fermi, where is everybody? This book takes you back in time to when the first mind boggling thoughts of the Fermi Paradox came about. Its amazing to think that all these scientists worked together to come up with equations to try and prove or disprove if extraterrestrial civilizations really exist. It is also amazing to see the many different views and thoughts on if these extraterrestrial civilizations exist. This book changes your beliefs on your opinion of the Fermi Paradox because you cant say that any of the solutions make sense or do not make sense because you can not prove it either way.
Many scientists believe that they do exist and have been here on earth or in our universe at some point in time. This chapter opens your eyes to believe that we could in fact be aliens or people living around us could be and we have no prove of it. This brings you to many questions concerning things such as UFOs are they real or is there a scientific explanation to them.
Many people believe that they do exist but we haven't communicated with them. This cant be wrong either. We don't know how to communicate with them, or they could be. Its amazing to think that everyday things could be alien signals but we just think of them as something else or barely even notice them.
Then there is the crowd who believe they do not exist at all and if they do, it wont be for a very long time. Earth is such a rare place. This chapter makes you realize how amazing life is and how rare it is. All these little things put together allow us to live and breathe and there is no other place like it.
This book leaves you in shock and in confusion. There is no right or wrong answer. No way to prove it. Makes you crave the answer to the unforgettable question, where is everybody?
Rating:
Summary: A great starting point
Review: The Fermi Paradox is an amazing thing, an interdisciplinary question that touches on biology, astronomy, history, philosophy, archaeology. It's a deeply profound issue about humanity's place in the universe, but (unlike "Does God exist?") offers the possibility of a solution some day. Webb surveys the possible solutions in three groups: "They Are Here", "They Exist But Have Not Yet Communicated" and "They Do Not Exist". Along the way he covers a fascinating array of topics, from why China gave up exploring the world to the likelihood of proteins forming. At the end, Webb offers his own solution (which is essentially a restatement of the Drake Equation with pessimistic numbers) and says we're probably alone in the immediate universe. However, he freely admits this is his own, idiosyncratic take on the subject. Since we have so little hard data on this problem, and what we do know is growing and changing all the time, Webb can't be faulted for not writing the definitive work. I recommend this book for anybody with an interest in the big issues, and especially for young people to bridge the gap between science fiction and science.
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