The story of life has always been one of great transitions and of crossing new frontiers. The dawn of life itself is one, as is the first time two cells stuck together rather than drifting apart. Most dramatic were the moves from the sea to land, land to air. Each transition has ushered in waves of innovation, opportunity, and hazard. It might seem there are no more realms for life to venture, but astrobiologist Caleb Scharf contends there is one: space.
He proposes that journeying into space isn’t simply a giant leap for humankind—it’s life’s next great transition, an evolution of evolution itself. Humans and technology are catalysts for an interplanetary transformation, he says, marking a disruption in the story of life as fundamental as the movement from sea to land and land to sky.
Scharf shares stories from the past, present, and future of space travel, drawing inspiration from Darwin’s account of his journey on the Beagle and marveling at life’s creativity and the technologies that have propelled humans into the cosmos.
Scharf received the 2022 Carl Sagan Medal while director of astrobiology at Columbia University and is currently the senior scientist for astrobiology at NASA’s Ames Research Center. His book, The Giant Leap: Why Space Is the Next Frontier in the Evolution of Life (Basic Books), is available for purchase.
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