Other Suns, Other Worlds?: The Search for Extra Solar Planetary Systems Book

Recent announcements of the discovery of extrasolar planetary systems have made headlines worldwide. But the belief in and search for other worlds dates back almost to the beginning of recorded history. Since the time of the ancient Greek philosophers, many of history's greatest thinkers have argued that our planetary system cannot be the only one in the universe. Mammana and McCarthy, both working astronomers, recount and explain the history of the search for other planets, explore the technological means by which the search has been and continues to be conducted, and show the impact that this search, the holy grail of astronomy, has had on the way that humanity perceives the cosmos.