> Skip to content
  • Published: 4 May 2012
  • ISBN: 9780141047966
  • Imprint: Penguin Press
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 240
  • RRP: $32.99

The Reason Why

The Miracle of Life on Earth




Our civilization is alone, and special. This book tells you why

There are several hundred billion stars in our Milky Way Galaxy, yet out of all of these Earth is the only planet with intelligent life on it. Why?

In The Reason Why John Gribbin shows just what it is that makes our planet so special. For the first time, he makes the link between the whole series of cosmic events that gave rise to our civilization - a unique set of circumstances that have not, and could not, occur anywhere else.

John Gribbin is our best, most accessible guide to the big questions of science. In this book, he explores the biggest questions of all: why are we here, what does it mean to be alone in the universe - and do we have a future?

  • Published: 4 May 2012
  • ISBN: 9780141047966
  • Imprint: Penguin Press
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 240
  • RRP: $32.99

About the author

John Gribbin

John Gribbin gained a PhD from the Institute of Astronomy in Cambridge (then under the leadership of Fred Hoyle) before working as a science journalist for Nature and later New Scientist. He is the author of a number of bestselling popular science books, including In Search of Schrödinger's Cat, In Search of the Multiverse, Science: A History and The Universe: A Biography. He is a Visiting Fellow at the University of Sussex and in 2000 was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

John Gribbin is one of today's greatest writers of popular science and the author of bestselling books including In Search of Schrodinger's Cat, Stardust, Science: A History, Deep Simplicity and The Fellowship. He is famous to his many fans for making complex ideas simple, and says that his aim in his writing - much of it done with his wife Mary Gribbin - is to share his sense of wonder at the strangeness of the universe with his readers. John Gribbin trained as an astrophysicist at Cambridge University and is currently Visiting Fellow in Astronomy at the University of Sussex. He also enjoys working on science-fiction stories in his spare time, and does most of his writing in a shed in his back garden.

Also by John Gribbin

See all