The Search for Worlds Like Our Own

Abstract The direct detection of Earth-like exoplanets orbiting nearby stars and the characterization of such planets—particularly, their evolution, their atmospheres, and their ability to host life—constitute a significant problem. The quest for other worlds as abodes of life has been one of mankind's great questions for several millennia. For instance, as stated by Epicurus ∼300 BC: “Other worlds, with plants and other living things, some of them similar and some of them different from ours, must exist.” Demokritos from Abdera (460–370 BC), the man who invented the concept of indivisible small parts—atoms—also held the belief that other worlds exist around the stars and that some of these worlds may be inhabited by life-forms. The idea of the plurality of worlds and of life on them has since been held by scientists like Johannes Kepler and William Herschel, among many others. Here, one must also mention Giordano Bruno. Born in 1548, Bruno studied in France and came into contact with the teachings of Nic...